Elective Home Education Welcome Pack for Parents

Elective Home Education Information Pack

As you will know from reading previous sections in this pack, it is your responsibility to ensure your child/ren is being provided with a suitable education. However, this does not mean you have to be the person to deliver it, so you can employ a tutor or send your child to a tuition centre.

You may feel that you would benefit from expert tuition for your child/ren especially for key subjects like Maths, English and Science especially if you are planning for your child to sit exams as this will help ensure they are exam ready.

There are many tuition centres and tutors in existence but not all of them will be reputable or safe. It is important that you choose wisely and make informed decisions with regard to choosing a centre or a tutor as it is your responsibility to keep your child safe, so take time to carry out proper checks. Don’t forget it is your money paying for this service so you are entitled to question them thoroughly on what you are getting.

So how do you know if they are reputable? A good centre or tutor will have the following safeguards in place: -

1. A DBS certificate (Disclosure Barring Service). This is a check done on anyone who is working unsupervised with children under 18 to make sure there is no known reason why they cannot work with children. People who have a DBS will usually tell you they have one and will show you it, don’t be afraid to ask! If someone does not show you one or does not have one don’t use them!  Many freelance tutors will not have them as you can only get them if you work for an organisation.
2. Personal liability insurance and other indemnity insurance, this protects against injury and accidents. Check what other insurance they have if it is a tuition centre. Is the building safe, has it had all its fire safety checks – again ask to see them.
3. Relevant policies in place such as child protection, bullying, accident policies and ask for copies, reputable centres should have these.
4. Part of a bigger overriding organisation that is registered and reputable and acts as third party overseeing communication and contact keeping your details secure and safe. At the outset you communicate through these until you choose a tutor. Then as tuition progresses if any problem occurs you can contact them for help, advice and assistance. Tutors must operate within the organisations guidelines in order to have their details advertised so if they do not they are removed from the organisation’s books. 
5. A free trial – most centres will allow you to have a free session to see what you think so you are not committed to signing up for sessions or tied into contracts. Some tutors will also do this.
6. Testimonials and references – all reputable tuition centres and tutors will have references from people who know them professionally or who have used their services, follow them up by calling the people to check they can recommend the person or centre.  You can even ask about their current students and most will be happy for you to contact one or two to ask them how their child’s tuition is going.  
7. Qualifications – all tutors and tuition centres should be properly accredited, experienced and qualified to teach the subject, so check what qualifications they have, are they a qualified teacher, what subjects do they hold qualifications in? Ask to see them. There is no requirement for private tutors to have them and some tuition centres will employ people who do not have qualifications but good tutors will always have qualifications and will be prepared to show you them. 
8. Initial assessments, ongoing progress reports and feedback so you can see how your child is doing.

Safeguarding your child

1. Check where tutoring is going to take place. If it is in your home stay in the vicinity, never let the person teach upstairs or out of earshot. If it is in their house always stay even if it is in a room next door.
2. Check who will be teaching your child, will it be the same person each week or will it change?
3. Check how many children will be in with your child?
4. Check how long they have been tutoring? What is their experience of teaching or working with children.
5. And one of the most important checks of all, what is your gut feeling telling you and your child? Does the person have a good rapport with your child? Do you both feel comfortable?

As a home educator there are several organisations offering advice and practical support should you require it.

The following are reputable organisations Sandwell home schooling families currently access, the Local Authority cannot endorse any of these and it is your responsibility to carry out your checks and decide what works for you.

Holiday Playscheme

McConnells Education

This play scheme operates each school holiday (except Christmas) from Monday to Friday 8am – 5pm. They provide educational support as part of the daily programme (Maths & English). For new children they will receive an initial assessment on day one so tutors get a feel for where the children are starting from. They use fully qualified teachers in their staff pool so an understanding of the current national curriculum is second nature. This setting is Ofsted registered. The play scheme is aimed at 5 - 11 year olds and material is up to GCSE, but as they are just dealing with primary they can provide material up to year 6 SATs and 11+. They also do day trips, arts and crafts and outdoor and indoor activities. Prices start from £20 -22 a day with discounts for booking early. For more information you can click on the links provided below or call 0800 0025712.

There are other centres and organisations hosting tutors on line but these ones are used by home schoolers so come with recommendations from the home schooling community. If you need to check out any ask the EHE community for their recommendations, word of mouth is always one way of knowing if something is worth the money. And if you hear of others let us know so we can add them to the list.

Further Information and Support

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