It is no secret that schools are over stretched, with brimming class sizes and students of mixed ability requiring different levels of support. It has never been more crucial to secure good grades especially in English, maths and science. We focus our tutoring on these core curriculum areas.
Having been a teacher and tutor for many years, I am sometimes asked, ‘But why does my teacher do it this way?’ or ‘My teacher does it this way at school’. My answer is that tuition, despite addressing the same topics and curriculum, is meant to be a bit different to school. That is surely the point of having private tuition isn’t it?
Part of my tutoring philosophy is to help students to think outside the box, to boldly step out of their comfort zone. This can be a bit daunting initially. Recently, I asked my 11+ pupils top create a number of Verbal Reasoning questions based on the formats they had been answering for some time. I modeled some examples for them, despite some initial uncertainty and reluctance they soon found their feet. At the end of the lesson I asked the students to provide feedback on the lesson: they all agreed that they had enjoyed creating their own questions and answering their peers’ questions. This activity was designed to get them thinking about how the examiners construct the 11+ questions and to think like an examiner. It was a fresh approach that they all embraced.
Often schools do not have the time and man power to implement a wide range of analytical, creative thinking activities which can make students afraid to try new ways of learning a challenging concept. We feel that trying new ideas and approaches is an essential part of creating fearless, bold, empowered learners.