Em Holliday

I've just returned from tutoring one of my students. In year six he is working at an extremely low level in maths and english (In which I tutor him) and we've (the family and I) have been struggling to keep his spirits up and keep him in school. After much procrastinating and "We forgot" from the family (who have very valid reasons for being so busy) I managed to get a letter from them which introduced me to the school and so I could talk to his teachers. I popped into the school who were so helpful, the principal jumped on class so his teacher, myself and the deputy principal could talk about how to unify this child's education amongst us.

The school has been working very hard with him and I'm simply another piece of the puzzle. Since I see him twice a week after school I thought (and they agreed) that I could support his homework and prepare him for what would be happening in the classroom that week. The biggest problem has been getting him to feel a part of the class and feel he has something to contribute. To make him not feel "dumb" as he puts it.

Well the plan looks promising, today we did more work than we have ever done in an hour before and he enjoyed it because it was relevant to what was happening at school. I am so glad I spoke to the teachers at his school and am thus able to tutor him so much more richly and relevantly. Teachers, never underestimate the usefulness of a private tutor because they provide the intense one-on-one you simply don't have time for. And I recommend all tutors to contact their student's teachers in difficult cases, you never know how helpful you might be!