Tuition Rules
Dear parent / student,
I drew up these rules to help you understand my expectations of myself and of the student/
parent and to answer many of your questions.
If you have any other questions, please ask.
Mostly for the Tutor
1. Start on time.
2. Finish on time.
3. Find out what the parent / student requires. - Some parents want the tutor to give
lessons in discipline / organisational skills / homework help / tuition in a subject /
coursework advice - I don’t actually do the coursework or homework; nor would I
“discipline” the student. I try to enable the students to do homework.
4. Find out what National Curriculum level the student is at in Maths., Eng., Sci. e.g. by
considering the student’s last school reports, exercise books, etc.
5. Find out the methods the student has been taught in school - by asking the student, by
looking at the student’s exercise books - and try to keep to these same methods (unless
there is a better method).
6. Find out if there are any barriers to learning the subject - weak numeracy / literacy;
distractions, time wasting . Ask the student / parent. Devise and implement strategies
for removal of barriers to learning.
7. Find out the areas of particular difficulty the student has. Ask the student / parent, or
set a practice paper, if appropriate.
8. Find out what the student knows, understands and can do. . . . and make progress from
there. Ask the student to show you what he / she can do - look at the student’s exercise
books (Maths, Eng,, Sci., if appropriate). Find gaps in the knowledge or understanding and
work on filling in the gaps.
9. Give the student chances to ask questions.
10. Set an hour’s worth of homework per week (at least) that will consolidate or extend the
work done in lesson.
11. Mark and correct the student’s work and provided constructive feedback.
12. Report progress every few lessons to parents / guardians. Report verbally often. A
written report will be provided half - termly.
13. If progress is not satisfactory (e.g. if rules are not being followed, student not learning)
then discuss again with student (and parent if necessary) what the barriers to learning
are, and strategies for their removal.
14. The expectation would be a minimum of 1 hour’s tuition per week in term time, for the
sake of continuity and progress. The tutor is available in school holidays, if needed.
Late Cancellation:
15. A cancellation by the student or parent with less than 24 hours notice would mean
the lesson would still have to be paid for.
16. Same day cancellation by the tutor would mean “next lesson FREE” for the student.
Mostly for the Student / Parent
17. Student, be prepared for the lesson. That means: before lesson look over the work we
did in the last lesson so that you can ask - and answer - any questions before the tutor
moves on to new work.
18. Have a special exercise book for doing all our tutorial work in.
19. Have homework done to best of your ability; show your working out clearly; when you get
stuck on a question - don’t just leave it - work hard to get “unstuck “, use books and
contact the tutor if necessary.
20. Pay attention to neat presentation of your work - date, title of work, underlined, good
use of colour.
Use a “Rough Work Column” in Maths.
21. Do the h/w as SOON as possible after the lesson - the same evening or the next
evening is best.
22. If you are totally stuck then contact the tutor for assistance by text or email. (no
charge for help).
23. In the lesson concentrate hard on what the tutor is saying; if you do not understand what
the tutor is saying then tell him - he cannot read your mind.
24. Lesson Duration The usual session is 60 minutes; the last 10 minutes I will use to finalise
our lesson notes, to scan them, to email the notes to the student, to select a homework
exercise and to email the homework to the student.
25. Booking and Payment
When you book a lesson it should be for the following week, rather than at
the last minute, unless the need is urgent.
For a one-off lesson, paid in advance, the fee is ** per hour for KS3 and GCSE.
For a block of 4 lessons paid in advance the fee would be ** per hour.
Payable at time of booking the lesson or block of lessons, please.
Please let me know by text message or by email when you have made a payment.
by bank transfer, to *******, or Paypal.
26. Rearranging / cancelling lessons.
We need to give each other at least 24 hours notice of changes to agreed
times.
27. Late Cancellation:
If the student or parent cancels - for any reason - with less than 24
hours notice would mean the lesson would still have to be paid for.
If the tutor cancels - for any reason - with less than 24 hours notice
would mean “next lesson FREE” for the student.
28. HOW MUCH TUITION will I need ? It depends on the needs of the student.
A 1 hour session of tuition per week is a minimum, allowing some gaps in knowledge and
understanding to be filled; 2 sessions per week gives better continuity and more rapid
progress.
As exams approach extra lessons are possible in evenings or at weekends, as needed.
Discuss the matter with your tutor for mutually convenient times.
29. FEEDBACK: Parents / guardian will get feedback (either verbal or written) every few
lessons as to the progress of the student and a more detailed written report each term.
Lesson Notes and Homework: The student will get lesson notes and a short homework
exercise related to the lesson content - after every lesson. The homework will be marked
and feedback given to the student.
It’s not possible for the tutor to give a cast-iron guarantee that the student’s grades will
increase,
BUT, if you - the student - do all the things the tutor asks you to do you will make good
progress, learning will become easier and more fun, stress levels will decrease, confidence
will increase, and you should achieve higher grades in your exams.
30. Ending the Tuition arrangement:
The tutor or parents can cancel the tuition arrangement at any time.
Any unused money would be refunded.
If sufficient progress was not being made, the tutor would inform the parent/student and
we would try to solve any issues before considering termination.
There needs to be enthusiasm and commitment from all involved, or else the process
will fail. If you do the work the tutor sets you then you will make good progress, your
confidence will rise, you will enjoy the subject more and you will do better homework, better
schoolwork and better results in tests.
31. Notes for working online:
Before the lesson:-
Make sure that your computer has recently been re-started.
Make sure that no un - needed applications are running in the background on your computer.
(try to ) Make sure nobody else is using your internet line during the lesson.
Work at a table in a quiet place with no background noises or distractions (no machines on, no
dogs running round, no people making noise in the background).
Have a printer / scanner at home. Or use the camera on a mobile phone to take a photo of
homework and then email it to me. A scanner gives a better result, even if it takes a bit more
time.
Graphics Tablet - used for writing on an online whiteboard>
If you would like to write on an online whiteboard - Consider having a graphics tablet & stylus
- look at the Huion 420 (it’s cheap, but is a good starter, and there are cheaper on the
market), OR use an iPad or similar tablet and the stylus that comes with it.
But you don’t HAVE TO do that, because . . .
In the lesson I write our notes on paper, then I scan the notes and send them to you after
the lesson, so you build up a complete set. Just sometimes, writing on an online whiteboard
(eg BitPaper) makes a nice change and can be fun. Or you might want us to use it all the time,
which would be OK too, if you want, let me know.
32. Things the student should get (from Library/Shop/Exam Board/Internet/Tutor)
an exercise book (or A4 Spiral Notebook, e.g. from Tesco) in which you can keep all your
tuition working (preferably not loose sheets)
a Syllabus for the subject ( tutor / Internet / Exam Board )
the formula sheet, if you’re allowed one in the exam (at the back of the syllabus)
Specimen Papers (tutor / Internet / Exam Board)
Past exam papers (tutor / Internet / Exam Board / WH Smith)
Text books (Library / school / www. Amazon.co.uk)
Good Physics Authors: ; A-Level:- Adams & Allday; Breithaupt; Muncaster;
GCSE: Duncan; ***Johnson; CGP Revision Guide AND CGP Workbook; Letts;
Exam Board Revision Guides.
Good Maths Authors: Rayner; Greer, CGP Revision Guide AND CGP Workbook, Letts
Revision Guides; “Succeed in Maths” (KS3) by Barbara Davis
Revision books (e.g. CGP;Letts; via your school or WH Smith)
Workbooks (e.g. CGP; via your school or WH Smith )
Printer / Scanner
Consider a Graphics tablet & stylus ?
(maybe Huion 420 or Wacom Bamboo OR iPad & stylus)
© Copyright Michael's Maths and Physics Tuition