Many children have missed out on time in the classroom both last year and this year and continue to do so if they are required to isolate for any reason. Some parents are worried about this and the effect it has had on their children and want to help them to catch up and so parents are turning to private tutors to support their child’s learning at home. Although the financial commitment of hiring a private tutor is considerable and possibly out of the reach of most families some parents feel that it is necessary to ensure their child progresses well and reaches their academic potential after having such a disrupted period of education due to the lockdown restrictions that have been in place.

Finding a tutor that can help your child to progress in their learning can be a difficult process as it is a good idea to try to get a tutor that specialises in the particular age of your child and has knowledge of the current curriculum that your child is following. Recommendation from other satisfied parents is a useful way to ensure the tutor is capable and approachable as advertising for a tutor may result in applications from inexperienced candidates.

Once you have found a suitable and qualified tutor and have discussed the support your child needs, a timetable for tutoring will need to be agreed. It is sensible to have a couple of sessions a week initially so that good progress will hopefully be made. Prior to any examinations these sessions could become more frequent if it is agreed that this will be helpful. If it is possible to have contact with the school to ascertain the areas of concern it will be helpful to the tutor when planning targeted support. Regular assessment should be part of the learning plan so that both you and the tutor can see the progress that is being made. A good tutor will always be prepared to give a verbal and written report on the child’s progress after a few weeks and set new targets for the next period of tutoring.

Even though paying for a reliable private tutor is rather costly it is a worthwhile investment in the child’s future progress and may be only needed for a short period of time until the child has caught up with their peers and feels more confident in their own ability.