12th April 2019 9:00
By Blue Tutors
We’ve written countless times about one of the biggest problems we face; tutors having to stop tutoring before the date to which they originally committed. The reasons for lessons stopping are varied, but this seems to be the one our clients have most difficulty accepting because it can be foreseen, particularly when the entire course of lessons is 6 months or less.
The best tutors carefully consider the commitment they are making when beginning lessons with a student. Missing a regular lesson here or there is completely normal, and a tutor will often ensure they are available for extra lessons around the absence period. However, the absolutely worst taboo is when a tutor stops lessons in May/June to focus on their own exams, because with A Level and GCSE students, and many others, this is exactly when the students need the most help and guidance.
Thankfully it’s very rare for any of our tutors do stop tutoring to focus on their own exams, and when it happens it certainly only happens once, but we really are amazed when a tutor tells us that they have to stop to prioritise their own exams. Of course everyone needs to prioritise their own exams, we wouldn’t be a very good tutoring organisation if we felt differently, but it is fairly unbelievable for a tutor not to consider the combination of revising for exams and tutoring a student as we get nearer to June.
There are so many aspects of being a great tutor, but the top two for us are tutoring according to Tutoring Standards’ pedagogy and keeping the commitment made to your students. Our students speak so highly of everyone who fits that bill.