Emilie Silverwood-Cope: Tutors are busier than ever as parents seek support
I was invited to talk on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire about using a private tutor.
My youngest child has been having one-to-one sessions (via Zoom) since the summer holidays 2022. We didn’t get him a tutor so he’d start getting A*s or to hothouse him for a private school entrance exam. We got him a tutor so he would be able to access the curriculum and cope better in the classroom.
Figures out last month suggest we are far from alone. Homeschooling has risen in this region by 40 per cent since 2019 and tutors report being busier than ever. The rise in homeschooling and using tutors suggest more and more parents are looking at ways to support their children beyond the classroom.
The drivers to homeschool a child are not always the same as getting a private tutor. Nearly a quarter of parents who homeschool cite ‘philosophical’ or ‘lifestyle’ as their reasons. However, the main reason given is mental health and I wonder if we avoided being in this situation ourselves by getting a private tutor. If a child feels humiliated because what’s being taught in the classroom is always beyond their ability, it’s little wonder they’d do what they can to avoid that experience. Behavioural issues, anxiety and depression are an entirely understandable reaction to the daily pressure of not being able to cope in school.
When we started with our tutor, my son had made such little progress within the classroom setting that my expectation of what she could teach him (via Zoom) was extremely low. I approached it with a feeling of “what have we got to lose?” rather than daring to imagine what we would gain. Two years on, however, I can confirm we have gained so much.
After being told he was disruptive in class and could only focus for five minutes at a time, he sat there for his 30-minute session and has never once resisted a lesson. She assessed, reported back and had a targeted plan. She has been invaluable and is a key reason he is now on track to pass his SATs and start Year 7 entirely able to cope with the school work.
More than just seeing him a couple of times a week, she works closely with his school. She advocates for him, has attended our school meetings, written reports, and identified the reasons why he was struggling to learn.
I asked private tutor Victoria Wharam about the increase in demand and what she hears from parents like me. She said: “There has always been a need for specialist private tutors, however, since Covid more and more families have become aware of the learning difficulties their children have and the spectrum of families now looking for support has widened.
“Schools, unfortunately, seem to lack the specialist knowledge students with some SEN (special educational needs) need to support them through the curriculum. This has meant parents are looking externally for help just to get their child through the education system.”
The parents who are able to fill this gap and find alternative provisions will inevitably do so. If your child is struggling at school, I recommend finding a specialist tutor with good references. Interventions only work if the right ones are applied. More of the same is not necessarily going to fix learning delays, and could backfire with more time wasted and another bash to your child’s confidence.
The reality is there’s only so much time in each day and school budgets don’t stretch far enough. Schools are frustrated about the lack of SEN funding and the provisions they can provide for children - and parents are worried. While that happens, homeschooling and tutoring will continue to rise.
Read more Parenting Truths from Emilie Silverwood-Cope every month in the Cambridge Independent.
