The teacher who wants to train tutors
V ACCORDING TO a study a few years ago,more than two out of every five children at state schools in London had a private tutor at some stage during their education.
But unless you have a word-ofmouth recommendation, how do you go about picking one for your child?
It was a question that taxed Julia Silver when she went looking for a tutor online. “How do you make a choice? There is no quality mark, no regulation.”
So, perceiving a gap, she decided to try to plug it herself. She has launched a training course, the Qualification for Tutors, which is accredited by Continuing Professional Development, a company which, as its name suggests, specialises in professional development.
Mrs Silver is an experienced educator herself, now deputy head at Beis Chinuch, an independent girls’ primary in Edg- ware.
Her four-part foundation course covers various aspects of the work including safeguarding, planning sessions, professional conduct and assessment.
“I wanted it to be accessible as possible,” she said. “Tutors tend to be young people — graduates finding their way in the world — or older people returning to work or diversifying. “I wanted to provide them with what they need to know. My quality mark will tell parents they have done some training.”
So far she has had 50 members of the community take the course. Lockdown accelerated it as she was able to run sessions through Zoom.
She has proven herself ahead of the game. The government’s newly launched National Tutoring Programme is designed to provide additional support for pupils who have been educationally disadvantaged by the Covid-19 crisis.
But to be eligible for the scheme, tutors will have to show some evidence of training.