Why do some teachers dislike tuition?

Teaching is a profession in which, since time immemorial, the educators have given a lot of themselves to the educated. Teaching is often referred to (wrongly in my opinion) as a vocation, a calling. Leaving aside the view that this exposes many of our teaching professionals to the expectation of overwork and the burden of extra admin, we have to look at how our work here at Chatterton Tuition can best support pupils, and by extension, teachers. 

Tuition is designed to give individual, targeted support, to fill in any gaps left in a student’s understanding. As such, tuition supports the school too. It (ideally) reinforces topics already covered in school rather than introducing new topics. It gives the student time to reflect on their learning at their own pace, without being swept along too quickly and overwhelmed with a deluge of information.  Nevertheless, some teachers see tuition as a bad thing, almost as an indictment of their teaching, that it hasn’t been good enough. In an ideal world, all students will fulfil their potential in every class, in every school. But guess what, our world isn’t ideal.

The sausage-machine view of education is that all pupils get homogenised into one large mass, a grade-achieving academic juggernaut. But what happens if a pupil is more suited to being a rasher of bacon or a lightly fried egg, sunny-side-up? The sausage machine experience will not be pleasant for that child, and countless autobiographies outline the bad school-age experiences of people who turn out to be outrageously successful, creative and happy in their chosen field. 

Fortunately, school league tables (another contentious point) emphasise grades and produce copious stats for parents to deliberate over. If tuition can boost grades, and that makes the school look good, well isn’t that a win-win? Most teachers adopt a reasonable view, that Teacher A cannot get through to all of the students all of the time, and nor can Teachers B, C and all the way to Z. We as tutors want nothing more than just a ‘thank you’ on results day; we let the pupils grab the glory. And if the schools claim some reflected kudos too, well that’s all well and good. We respect the sheer effort that many teachers put in, so if they can get something other than financial rewards for their hard work, assisted by us, well that’s a good thing.

Spanish Tutors

When I was at school I studied German and French at O level.  For me Spanish wasn’t an option.  These days many schools offer so many more languages and most offer Spanish.

There are 480 million native Spanish speakers in the world so it really isn’t surprising that many students choose to study this subject.  Spanish is spoken in over 20 countries (including Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and of course Spain).  The sheer number of Mandarin Chinese speakers in the world has also led to schools offering lessons in that language, to equip students to deal with the international challenges of the future.

To cope with demand we have several Spanish tutors on our books at Chatterton Tuition, some are native Spanish speakers and some speak Spanish as their second language.  However we have recently had an increase in demand for A level Spanish tuition and we just don’t have enough tutors to cover all our enquiries.

Some of our competitors may have some great Spanish tutors (such as First Tutors, Personal Tutors or some of the more local ones such as Up Your Grade or York and Area tutors) and I have no doubt that you will get a good tutoring experience with these.

However we are constantly working to address these imbalances.  We have a widespread network of teachers and tutors in the local area.  We have good working relations with many of our local schools and before you could say “Hola”, we now have several new Spanish tutors who are going through our rigorous recruitment procedure.  We have some excellent new Spanish tutors now working with us.

Will a child learn more by having one to one tuition or by having group tuition?

We are often asked this question by parents who are wanting the most effective tuition for their child.

The most obvious difference between the two is cost.  One to one tuition will be more expensive and group tuition will be cheaper.

However there is a lot more to this discussion than just cost.

Individual tuition can be much more flexible in terms of timing, location and subject matter.  The tutor will work on exactly what is needed for that individual pupil.  By contrast, group tuition has to be more rigid in these matters.  The tutor will need to have planned the lesson in advance and there are the needs of all of the students to consider.

Group tuition has huge benefits in terms of allowing children to share their ideas.  Experience shows that working in small groups has a strong positive effect on learning outcomes.  In a group situation the students will explain concepts to other students thus reinforcing their own learning. Students will develop better communication skills and may form friendships with other students making the learning more fun.  To find that others struggle with particular concepts or topics can often be a boost to a student so that they realise they are not alone in finding some topics hard.

Here at Chatterton Tuition we offer both groups and individual tuition.  In some cases students start with the group and switch later to one to one tuition or vice versa.  We always keep our groups small with a maximum of 8 students per group.  We would be happy to discuss your child’s needs with you.

The Importance of Reading and Writing

It’s not sure when the phrase "the Three Rs" (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) originated, but various theories put it to around the year 1800. Noted educationalists were in agreement that they form the basis of a good education, irrespective of which educational path the learner takes in the world.  In a modern-day setting, even with our 21^st century increased focus on specialist skills, the principle still holds true. I always wondered why the Three Rs are in that order; maybe because only the first one begins with R, but I think there is also a priority order to them. 

As a former science teacher in secondary schools, I liked to ask the classes this question, “OK, Year 8, what would you say is in my mind, as the most important subject in school?”  Various answers would come flying in; “Science, sir!”, “Biology!” etc. to which I would give a solemn shake of the head. “Alright sir, Maths!” Still no. Some classes were surprised to hear that the answer was, “It’s English. English every time”. That’s not to dilute the importance of Maths and Science, or any other high school subject (each worthy in its own right) but our language is our fundamental means of communication, whether verbally or in writing – so we should be as good at it as we can be.  All too often we hear people almost bragging about how bad they are at maths, but we never hear people making a virtue of being barely literate!

Tuition can help of course, but reading is the main key to developing vocabulary, to allow us to choose exactly the right word to convey our meaning, with all the subtleties and nuances that our language contains.  One thing I’ve discovered, through reading primarily on a Kindle or iPad (other e-readers are available!), is that a simple long-press on a word can open up a dictionary straight away to define an unknown word, when it might just have been too much effort to have walked across the room to a printed dictionary and opened it up.  The wonders of technology.  Knowledge of our language can of course assist in our understanding of complicated subject-specific keywords such as photosynthesis, tessellation and glaciation. 

Increased pressure on reading time is all-too-evident, with on-demand viewing of TV and movies, endless online gaming, social media all competing for our eyes and brains.  The same can be said for writing; this is typed by someone who has never had a typing lesson in his life, and I doubt if I have hand-written anything of substance for months. Maybe I’ll forget how to write with a pen. I bought a good quality Lamy pen a year or so ago and try when I can to write with it, on good paper. It’s great!

We make our first impressions using our language, for example a CV and a job interview, as well as the important non-verbal cues such as smiling and a firm handshake. It’s our common currency, and we can’t function without it. 

So whatever field you’re in, whichever path your career takes you down, your command of English Language will help define your role throughout life. It also helps to be able to express yourself clearly, so you don’t have any embarrassing misunderstandings!

Mocks Galore!

It's the summer holidays - so you know what that means! - mocks, mocks and more mocks!  We are running 3 sets of mocks for eleven plus exams per week at the moment and our printers are churning them out.  The mocks are are invaluable way of assessing where children are at with their 11+ preparation for Ripon Grammar school.  As usual, many struggle with the time but it is great to see how much they improve each time they come back for the next mock.  We're seeing common mistakes aplenty - such as:

• Leaving answers blank - it is always worth a guess as a blank guarantees a zero mark.
• Putting answers in the wrong place on the answer sheet.  Despite us warning them about it - many children put section C answers in the space meant for section D on the Non Verbal Reasoning answer sheets - they only do this once though!
• Putting working out on the answer sheets.  The papers get marked by a computer so only the answers should be on the answer sheet.  All workings can go on the question paper.
• Not rubbing out wrong answers well enough.  If there are two answers marked where there should only be one then the question will be assigned zero marks.
• Not reading the question carefully enough.  For example; on the verbal reasoning paper when the question is asking for opposite words, some children put similar words and vice versa.
• looking around the room when they should be checking and rechecking their answers.
• Not eliminating wrong answers on the NVR paper.  Some students will go straight for the answer they think rather than eliminating the wrong ones first.

It is great to see so many new faces, we have a number of pupils who are having tutoring with other local tutors but their tutors have recommended our mocks to them.  Not only that but we're starting to see some of the children forging new friendships.  With this hot weather it is tough for the youngsters to have to sit eleven plus exams but it is all worthwhile when they are able to tackle the actual Ripon Grammar exams in September with confidence.

Skype - "a handy tutoring tool"

Sara Chatterton, of Chatterton Tuition, uses Skype for some Tutoring Lessons – we asked her what she thinks of this ‘handy little tutoring tool’ …

What is Skype?

A way of teaching online.  A great way to tutor without having to be with the student in person.  Its free and I find it really easy to use.

Do you do a lot of Skype tutoring?

One or two hours a week, but this increases dramatically when it snows!  Occasionally I take enquiries from families who live a distance away, perhaps on a farm or outlying area – Skype is definitely a good idea for them!  Also from children away from home at boarding school and the occasional overseas student.

What are the advantages of using Skype in tutoring?

Well, obviously there is one big advantage because it means that tutoring doesn’t have to stop due to the weather.  Also, it saves time in travel (either for me or for my student) and the cost of fuel.  The time that I can spend tutoring increases too because I am able to tutor students in different time zones.  Increasingly children are becoming more and more comfortable and capable with  using technology so it isn’t a problem for them at all!

What are the disadvantages?

If a student struggles with confidence, a lesson via Skype can be limited as I always find a one-to-one personal connection is much more valuable in this situation.  Also, there is the occasional hiccup with a student’s internet connection.  Tutoring by Skype is also dependent on good organisational skills.  You have to be well prepared and I often email what we might cover ahead of time so that we can both be working from the same worksheet for example.  Though you can send files to each other via Skype while you are talking.

Do you like tutoring using Skype?

It very much depends on the student concerned and how communicative they are.  I can’t see what they are writing as they write it so I need the student to speak to me about what they are doing at all stages.  Providing they are communicative then its great! I love the convenience and ease of using Skype.

How do parents pay for their children’s lessons?

Parents either post a cheque to me or the majority pay me by BACS.

Do you recommend your other tutors to use Skype?

Most definitely, though it should never totally take the place of one-to-one tuition for most students.  It certainly has a place in certain circumstances and is a really useful way to keep continuity for students, especially in the lead up to exams or tests.  I’ve learned a lot from using it, and its certainly a ‘very handy tutoring tool’!

Chickens and Tutoring

It can sometimes be quite difficult juggling my family life and my working life. I  suppose it doesn't help that I am based at home.  There are so many advantages to working at home: I have everything here at hand, my commute is non existent, I am here if the children need me.  However I am also having to rescue our four chickens from neighbour's gardens or retrieving the poor things after they've been chased by a dog. Also dealing with frightened lambs who have somehow managed to make their way into my garden but then can't get back into the field. Not to mention removing large spiders from children's bedrooms.

On balance though, I am very happy working away here looking out over the open fields watching the chickens and lambs interact and watching the sheep chase off our kitten when he tries to stalk anything in their field.

This time of year is my favourite time with everything growing in the garden and the promise of summer.  However it is also the busiest time with regard to tutoring.  There just aren't enough hours in the day to satisfy the needs of various pupils who want extra lessons before their all important exams. Also to be able to answer the phone to new enquiries and spend the time making sure that the tutor I place them with is the most suitable for them.

I love to tutor when there is a fixed goal to aim for - it is immensely rewarding helping someone to achieve their academic goals and often to surpass their expectations.  Just recently when the last GCSE results were out it was great to learn that Tamsin had passed her GCSE Maths particularly as she had missed so much school due to illness  She was over the moon as were her parents - it was a privilege to share in that success. 

Most of my own tuition is maths but as the summer progresses the balance switches to more and more 11+ work for Ripon Grammar entrance exams.  I suppose it is my logical brain but I really do enjoy working through the 11+ papers, so much so that I've had fun writing some of my own.  Some of my year 5 pupils are really quite little characters too and I enjoy my hour with each of them.

In August, I am taking on a huge personal challenge, which is to ride 100 miles (102 actually but who's counting) in and around London.  I am doing this with Phil, my husband, and we are trying to raise as much money as possible for Leukaemia Research.  We are busy planning a science activity session on 30th July. All of the money raised is going to the charity but I have to say we're really looking forward to the day - there will be lots of hands on experiments, some of which are going to be explosive!  I am, however, a bit more concerned about the bike ride.  I need to train (and train a lot) but I'm too busy.  Perhaps if I commuted to work by bike that would count as training - but I work at home!