Whilst I do my very best to find the ‘perfect tutor’ for every student, with the growing demand for home tuition, there are times when I have to ask parents and students to simply look elsewhere. This concerns me not for the reasons you may think, but because I know finding a good tutor is a bit of a minefield and most parents are not aware of what it takes to find one.
Now I don’t want to turn this article into a list of what can go wrong if you don’t find a ‘good tutor’ but instead to give you some tools so at least you are confident in your search.
There are a whole host of ways of finding a home tutor, let’s list a few:
- Personal adverts by tutors in local papers or on pin boards
- The good old Yellow Pages
- Recommendations by friends
- Home tutoring agencies
- Library lists of local tutors
- Asking teachers directly at schools
- Using internet lists of tutors/searching on the internet
If you have other ideas, please share them with us.
Now I hope I don’t sound like I am blowing my own trumpet here because I certainly don’t mean to. Over the twelve years I have been running Progress Tutors the only gripes I have had from unhappy parents (and rightly so) have been about tutors who have been unreliable from time to time. These situations are rare as we continually monitor our tutors. However it does confirm that our search for ‘good’ home tutors has proved successful and is worth sharing with you.
I am going to guide you through our recruitment process in two steps explaining why each step is important.
STEP 1:
We check the following documents to ensure the person is who he says he is and is safe to work with children:
- Passport, driving licence or birth certificate
- We carry out a Children’s Barred List check to ensure this person is not barred from working with children and vulnerable adults, and also a full CRB (criminal background check)
- We carefully check CVs and make relevant enquiries
STEP 2 :
We check the following to ensure the applicant is qualified to tutor and their skills would be of value to a student.
- Qualifications
- Professional references from schools or past students/parents ( We never accept character references in place of teaching/tutoring references
Let’s assume we are always looking for the ‘perfect tutor’ because that is what we all want. It is essential that the tutor is friendly, approachable and always positive. In another post I will look in more detail at what qualities go towards making a good home tutor.
About Maria Charvetto