Tutors pros and cons?

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MadMum.com
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:38 pm

Tutors pros and cons?

Post by MadMum.com »

My DD really wants to go to a super selective school, and shall be sitting her 11+ This year. We have been doing work at home but I am now considering a tutor for that extra push.

What is everyones views on tutors? What did you do/doing with your child?
Bestichka
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:29 pm

Re: Tutors pros and cons?

Post by Bestichka »

Depends on your DD's current level, the school you want, DD's committment to work hard, your ability/time availability to DIY, etc etc. In our case, a good VR/NVR tutor really helped. A math tutor did not, so for math i DIY'ed, quite successfully. But it was a huge time commitment, particularly for a full-time working parent like myself.
copella
Posts: 1200
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:51 pm

Re: Tutors pros and cons?

Post by copella »

It also depends on your temperaments. I have a short fuse and struggled when my ds was slow to understand. To avoid too many tears and to take on a more supportive role we used a tutor for English and maths but DIYed VR and nvr. We were then able to moan about the tutor to each other but it must have done the trick as he got into his preferred school. Perhaps sharing the load like the other poster also did ie a tutor for some bits and DIY for others is the thing to do as then you can keep a close eye on their progress and not leave it all up to someone else.

Finally there are always posts from people who decry tutoring and say their children weren't . Each to his own, only you know what your child needs to get them through and you want what's best for them.
MadMum.com
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Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:38 pm

Re: Tutors pros and cons?

Post by MadMum.com »

I work from home luckily so the time commitment is ok for me as I can juggle work. I understand the English and verbal reasoning. My husband is good at maths and non verbal, but also has no patience.

I found someone nearby that does all 4 areas 1 week of each and if it wasn't for the £18 a session price tag I would properly do it no questions asked, but in the same breath I easily spend that a week on new materials.

I've spoke to my dd and she would like to go. (Her friends go) but would that then mean I'm known as a "pushy parent" so many people say that kids then struggle at grammar when they have had a tutor. I know my daughter is bright her levels even her weekest subject are above the national average. She really wants to go up the super selective which last year only had 175 places available, so to get in she has to do amazingly well especially as she is 11 already when she sits the exam. I think it's about a extra 8% on top. ( not that I completely understand the scores!)

It's so tricky to do what is right!
2outof3
Posts: 331
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:21 pm

Re: Tutors pros and cons?

Post by 2outof3 »

Madmum,

One word of advice - ignore all those people who tell you that children who are tutored to get into superselectives struggle.

I don't know how many applicants the schools that you are looking for generally have, but in this part of SW London your DC are up against 1500 + for 120 - 180 places (depending on which school.) If you think that probably the top third of those applying would cope perfectly well in a grammar school - particularly as those sitting the tests tend to be self selecting and "top table material" - that's 500 or so children, but only 120 (or so) of them will get places.

Is your child at state school now? If yes, then inevitably they will need extra help to cover the maths syllabus on time and if your primary is anything like ours, they will also need comprehension practice and practice on how to write a coherent piece in a set time - my DC had never written a timed "essay" at school before they sat their tests.

The other myth I would like to disspell is that superselectives are full of genius children - they are not! Of course they tend to be brighter than average but they also have to be hard working too. I have two at grammar and a third about to start and none of them is scary bright level and very few of their friends are. In fact, in relation to my youngest, three of his friends who I would class as scarily intelligent (particularly in relation to maths) did not get into any of the superselectives. All children need a big dose of luck on the day of the exam as well as being well prepared. And don't forget that no matter how bright or prepared your child is, there is always a chance that they just won't perform on the day, and there is nothing you can do about that. Always have a second choice up your sleeve - hope for the best but prepare for the worst!

Good luck :D
Daogroupie
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Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Tutors pros and cons?

Post by Daogroupie »

How long is the £18 session and is it just for your dd or will it be a class? Getting into a superselective is all about the levels of the other students that are competing with you for a precious place. Places are allocated in ranking order. The more preparation that is done the higher the pass mark will be. My dd is in Y9, the mark that got you a place at our school when she sat the exams now puts you 100 on the waiting list for 65 places. The hard thing is that you really have no idea how much work everyone else is doing so it can be difficult to work out when enough is enough. Doing some mock exams will really help. Sign up for the Sutton mocks with three thousand other students who all are very keen to get into a super selective and you will find out exactly where you are in your peer group. One of my students got 94% in Maths which put him in the top 1% so that was enough but 80% for English which put him in the top 9% which is not enough. So with this result he was able to focus on the English and leave the Maths resulting in a qualifying mark at all three superselectives that he sat, QE boys, DAO and Parmiters. When the results come out, nobody ever posts on the forum that they wished they had not done so much work but I am swamped with sad posts from parents who feel they were misled into not doing enough by everyone talking about natural ability. They then find out too late their peer group had been tutored since Year 4. 11 plus has no retake, it is a moment in time that your dd will need to perform at the very top of her ability. If a tutor can maximise that opportunity for her then it is money well spent. DG
MadMum.com
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Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:38 pm

Re: Tutors pros and cons?

Post by MadMum.com »

Daogroupie its a group session for an hour a week. They have a 95% pass rate.

From Easter we have been doing something every day we have stopped tests for a little while, instead we are focussing on areas of weakness in more depth.

We never did work from yr 4 like a lot of others do. We started doing small amounts from the start of year 5, but we both realise we need to up the work load for the next 5 months!
MadMum.com
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:38 pm

Re: Tutors pros and cons?

Post by MadMum.com »

2outof3 thank you for your advice. Yes indeed with regards to being at a state school.

It's a hard decision trying to figure out what is best for your child! I completely understand the luck on the day. A friend of a friends dd was ridiculously clever and just buckled in the day :(
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