Sunday Times Article

An article was published in the Sunday Times on 15th August about tutoring in the school holidays entitled "Call this a holiday?" The journalists, Karen Robinson and Jacques Testard addressed the topic from the standpoint of the super-rich who take a tutor away on holiday on a yacht to work a few hours a day. There are anecdotes from a number of tutors about the lifestyles of the rich and famous but this is far from most tutors' experiences.

The average family may have a week or two abroad on holiday and won't take a tutor with them. The children may have anything from five to nine weeks off school for the summer holidays. That is a long time for children not to be learning and it is very easy for pupils to forget what they have learned if they are not putting it into practice. Having a tutor allows the pupil to prepare for the year ahead. This is beneficial for younger pupils as it is for older ones. It is fair to say that the more time a tutor works with a pupil, the more progress the pupil will make. We cannot expect tutors to perform miracles overnight when preparing pupils for an exam, be it the 11+ or an A-level. Tutors need time to work with pupils to cover the whole syllabus in depth. An hour or two of tutoring a week during the school holidays keeps the momentum going and pupils often enjoy the academic challenges the tutor gives them.

I thoroughly agree that the quote from the headmistress of a prep school who says that children need to use the holidays to relax. However, children with long summer holidays can benefit from spending a small amount of time revising and refreshing knowledge for the new term. Whether parents hire a tutor or use holiday exercise books, giving a pupil the confidence that he or she can go back to school ready to learn new material with the knowledge that he or she is entirely comfortable with what has been learned the previous school year is invaluable.

It is disheartening that the article ends on such a sour note with the warning to the "tutor-hiring classes" that "you can't buy brains." For a start, the media persists in insisting that those pupils with a tutor must come from extremely privileged backgrounds, in this case families who take a tutor on holiday. The reality is that there are many parents who are scrimping and saving to pay for a tutor because the education system is failing their child and competition to get a university place or to get a job is becoming more and more fierce. Why does the media "blame" parents for hiring a tutor? Let's look behind the label and we will soon see that hiring a tutor is about far more than showing off at the school gate.

I've never come across a tutor who has suggested that brains can be bought. Tutors are there to help pupils with difficulties that pupils might not be able to express in class. The one-to-one situation allows for an individualised and tailored approach to learning which the ultimate aim of instilling confidence in pupils. Pupils who are more confident about answering examination questions because they know that they understand the syllabus will give better answers in exams. Why is the Sunday Times so sceptical about giving young people confidence?!

On a far more positive note, an article in today's Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/aug/17/graduate-tutors-former-offenders about an initiative of Bright Young Things Tuition shows that tutoring is not just for the elite. How refreshing to see an agency engage with those who have not had the academic opportunities they would have liked. Perhaps you can't buy brains but if the tutors involved in this scheme can inspire prisoners to continue in education once they leave prison or begin a career, surely tutoring can have an extremely positive effect on all in society.