Schools and tutors share a goal: for our students to achieve their full potential. It’s long been the norm for schools to bring in external tutors for specific activities such as one-to-one music lessons. Yet, there are considerable benefits to getting tutors involved in other ways, coordinating their efforts with the school to achieve the best outcomes for students.
The role of a tutor is usually to focus on the specific individual needs of just one or two students, rather than occupying an entire class as a school teacher does. This means that if you, as a school leader, are aware of a student who would benefit from extra support, a tutor may be able to help.
This can take a variety of different forms. It might be supporting the student after school or during the school holidays. Tuition can similarly be implemented ahead of key exams or in helping students with university applications. A tutor can also address underlying challenges for a student, for instance, by supporting them in developing better study skills and organisational habits. Even a few short sessions could benefit the student for the rest of their school career.
While individual or small-group tuition is most common, tutors don’t work exclusively with individual students. Many can also offer group workshops, providing expertise that a school might otherwise lack. For example, if a school doesn’t usually have students applying to Oxford or Cambridge, a tutor could run a workshop on how to succeed with applications to these universities.
Tutors can work with parents and teachers too. This could be teaching parents ways in which they can support their children’s education, such as if they have special educational needs, or in providing continuing professional development for teachers. The skill-set of tutors, their expertise and their flexibility can thus be harnessed in varied ways to support the needs of teachers, parents and students at your school.
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