Choosing a Good Tutor for your Child

Every parent wants the best for their child, especially when it comes to education. Tutors can be very expensive with many tutors charging over $60 per hour for their time. Looking for a tutor can also be a very overwhelming process. Parents / carers can be inundated with advertisements and private tutors advertising their services.

Unfortunately, tutoring is an unregulated industry. Unregulated means that anyone can call themselves a 'tutor' and provide tutoring services. Tutors are not required to meet any minimum standards in capability or qualifications.

It's left up to parents to decide on an appropriate tutor for their child and to vet potential tutoring services.

So, how do you choose a good tutor?

1. Child Safety

   The safety of their child is the main priority for any parent. Over a term or year, tutors spend hours of time with tutoring students (children!). Tutors are in a position of authority, but are often more relatable to students than their teachers are. To keep children safe, parents/carers need to be sure that the tutor understands and maintains professional boundaries and always acts with child safety in mind.

At a minimum, tutors should:

• Have a working with children check relevant to the state in which the child is bring tutored (Blue card in QLD, WWCC in NSW etc).

• Have a clear child safety policy which outlines ways in which children will be protected when interacting with tutors.

• Never contact children outside of tutoring sessions - all contact should be with the child's parent/carer. This includes for senior students who are under 18 years old.

As a parent, you have the right to ask:

• Can I see your Blue Card or WWCC?

• Do you have a child safety policy? What is it?

• Where will the tutoring take place?

• Can I observe or be present for the entirety of the tutoring session?

• How will you send communication outside of tutoring sessions, for example, if you need to send notes to my child?

2. Qualifications

   Tutors are not all created equally. Tutoring requires content knowledge, an ability to quickly assess a student's current performance and areas where they need assistance, an understanding of how students learn and evidence-based teaching strategies to support this, and the ability to plan learning and change learning plans with little notice.

Look for a tutor with teaching qualifications. Registered teachers are

required to meet AITSL standards as a minimum. These are comprehensive standards showing that the teacher knows the content and how to teach it, knows how students learn, has a demonstrated application of evidence-based teaching strategies, can cater to students of different cultural background and abilities, and can engage in an assessment - learning - planning cycle (amongst other things).

If you can't find a registered teacher, your next best option is a university student with prior qualifications who is studying a Masters in teaching or a Bachelor of Education student who is a proven high-achiever in the tutoring subject.

Recent school leavers or other professionals are popular options for private tutors. If this is your preferred option, check if the tutor has completed any training in teaching and learning strategies.

The Australian Tutoring Association (ATA) has a tutor directory where you can find qualified tutors and registered teachers: https://ata.edu.au/

As a parent, you have the right to ask:

• What are your qualifications?

• What is your tutoring experience?

• Are you a registered teacher? Can you show me your registration certificate?

• How will you assess my child to determine learning gaps? What will this assessment look like?

• Do you provide a report for the initial assessment? What about at the end of the term?

• What improvements can I expect to see with my child's learning and how will you document these?

• What is your understanding of the curriculum and of different assessment types?

• What is the structure of your tutoring session?

• How would you help my child prepare for an assignment or an exam?

3. Pricing

   It can be tempting to go for the lowest priced tutor who sounds decent, but you need to look at the whole picture when choosing a tutor. Consider the quality of tutoring services offered and the tutor's qualifications and experience.