At 121 Home Tutors we’re very aware that when you take on a private tutor you are inviting a stranger into your home.
And this person is going to be spending intensive alone time with your child. The most important thing when choosing a tutor for your child is that you (and your child) feel completely comfortable with them. If you have any niggling doubts then the tutor isn’t right for you. It’s important that both you and your child get to know your tutor well and build a trusting relationship. Many tutors prefer a parent to stay with the child to protect all parties and this can be a good idea to build the bond up during the first few visits. It’s a relationship that has to work both ways – both the child and parents need to be involved, interested and understand the tutoring process to get the most out of it. Your child needs to find the best method of working to get the most out of tutoring, some won’t work well if you are hanging around so it’s worth discussing this in detail with your tutor. You can talk about whether tutoring in your home or the tutor’s home is the best option.
We have a rigorous recruiting processes which include full and continual background checks and ongoing monitoring through student and parent feedback. One of the advantages of using an agency rather than an individual is that we can carry out all the checks you need to keep your child safe. If you are looking for a tutor then these are some of the steps we go through:
– Checking their qualifications and assessing their suitability for private tuition – our tutors include current teachers, ex-teachers, retired teachers, professional tutors, college teachers, trainers, lecturers and expert professionals from specific fields.
– We check at least two references for each tutor; one academic and one from a current/former employer.
– We check for proof of identity and address. We check their passport, driving licence and utility bills.
– We regularly keep in contact with and meet our tutors. It’s a good opportunity for training and for us to share tutoring ideas.
But don’t agencies cost more?
Answer – not necessarily. At 1-2-1 Home Tutors we ask our prospective tutors the fees they currently charge or the fees they hope to obtain. Sometimes a tutor will have a fee expectation or charging structure which, from our experience, we know to be overpriced and not competitive in the subject area/level they tutor. While some tutors will find students willing to pay the higher price we would recommend the tutor re-consider their fee structure to give the client a better deal (and the tutor more tutees). By acting as an intermediary we can offer advice to students, parents and tutors about the fees that are realistic in our area – we also keep our fee structure within these realistic limits.
Finding a tutor on the ‘open market’ can lead to parents/students paying above average for a tutor and a higher fee doesn’t necessarily mean the tutor is more experienced in the subjects they tutor (we often find that it is the newer, less experienced tutors that have the higher fee expectation; maybe because they don’t know the marketplace in the area so well). There may also be costs involved in advertising for a tutor or obtaining their contact details.
If you are looking for a trusted personal tutor for GCSEs, A Levels and 11+ in Manchester and Cheshire then drop 121 Home Tutors a line today.