27th December 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
One would have thought that tutoring requests would slow down over the Christmas holidays, and that students would put tuition on hold over this period. Yet increasingly, Christmas holidays are becoming one of the busiest times of the year for tutors. One of the biggest factors in this development is of course that students are increasingly taking exams in January, meaning that they require the Christmas holidays for revision. Many students will sit multiple exams in the same subjects in order to give themselves a number of chances to succeed, which also contributes to the number of exams taken in January. But this trend is not reserved to those taking January exams, and often, the amount of work tutors are required to put in is far in excess of the average weekly lesson.
Amongst circles of tutors, there are a number of common issues that are discussed, and at this time of year the question becomes: Which families are requiring their tutors to work over Christmas? Some students taking exams in January may feel that they are behind, and ask their tutors to fit in as may sessions as possible over the holiday. This is a common request, and most tutors are happy to accommodate them as much as possible. In other cases, where students do not have exams, relations between parents and tutors have become strained when tutors are unwilling to offer booster sessions over the holidays. Some parents are anxious that their children do not fall behind when out of school, but tutors are often concerned that the well-being of the student will be affected if they are not given a break over Christmas.
Then of course there is the issue of the well-being of the tutor. Several tutors have shared stories of parents who were extremely disappointed that they were not able to work the days surrounding Christmas, and in one case, a family demanded that their tutor do a session on Christmas day. Of course if a family has said in advance that sessions are required over Christmas, it is the tutor’s responsibility to let the family know beforehand whether this will be possible. But it is now increasingly assumed that the holidays are the time for tutoring, rather than a break from it, and just as the student is not getting a break, neither is the tutor. The key here is for the tutor to be clear about arrangements for Christmas break in advance, and, where necessary, advise parents that both students and tutors need a break.