10:30pm Tuesday 28th April 2009
WITH rising pressure and expectations parents often feel the need to look outside of school to help educate their children.
As British classrooms average a size of nearly 30 pupils, teachers don’t have the time to do a lot of one-on-one work with each child.
As a result individual needs can suffer, especially with key stage testing and exams adding pressure.
Children who have a harder time with subjects don’t necessarily get the help they need leading to parents turning to tutors.
Roy Marsterson, 72, of Churchfields, Shoebury, who raises his two grandchildren with wife Iris, decided to send his youngest grandson, who is ten, to a tutor in order to prepare for his key stages tests.
Roy said: “Teachers struggle to control their students andmany find it stressful, so tutoring is good. The tutor knows what his weaknesses are and can really help him out.”
The tutor is retired teacher David Barrett, 58, from High Street, Shoebury David saw the way the education system was changing and although he does think it’s for the better, he said it came at a price.
He set up his own tutoring service. With the price of tutoring being around £20 per session, he wanted to find a cheaper solution for parents.
By doing group tutoring classes, he’s managed to halve the price charged per child.
David said: “Tutoring is confidence building and gives children methods to cope with what’s going on in the classroom.
“The beauty of working like this is it’s not a classroom atmosphere. We’re on first name terms and refreshments are available.”
This puts a lot less stress on learning and can even make it fun, said David. He bases each session on what is going on in the pupils’ class that particular week, plugging gaps in knowledge and working out their weaknesses David’s tutoring service, Dipidee-Ed, based at Seedbed Business Centre, Shoebury, is also open to people who have special needs, or who need help with reading and spelling.
Mum Natalie Schofield, 30, of Maillards, Shoebury said tutoring has helped her daughter improve at school.
She said: “My daughter improved dramatically. Her grades have gone up. Tutoring is very good at giving children confidence.”
However, Natalie feels a lot of pressure is put on youngsters with tests. She said: “I’m not the greatest fan of standardised tests. All we can do is our best to help our children on their way and see where they end up.”
A lot of David’s tutoring revolves around preparing children for key stages tests, Sats and GCSEs.
He, too, says a lot of pressure is put on children. He has experienced it with his own family.
He said: “My youngest daughter is in Year Six and about to take her Key Stage Two test. If they just benchmarked a child’s progress, I’d have no problem, but it’s used for league tables and that’s why the pressure is on.”
He added he’s glad the Key Stage Three tests have been abolished.
However, Roy thinks the tests are good for children, and says his grandson is excited about taking the test. He admits that may be thanks to the confidence given to him by the tutoring.
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