Tutoring was something that I fell into; it was not planned. I came from a business background and studied interior architecture: I did not come through the natural teaching route. I am also a mentor and coach- I mentor a university student in London and students at a school in Kent. Mentoring and coaching has both been fundamental to my success as a tutor. Let me explain why. When I have my initial meeting with parents and their child before we embark on tutoring I always make it known that I have an eclectic background- this means that I bring both my academic and business skills to the table. My main aim however is to really get to know and understand the pupil I am tutoring; taking note of how they think and how they process information so that I can be an effective tutor and mentor. I teach my students the skill of ‘thinking and analysing information, irrespective of age. 

2020, introduced a new set of challenges, we could not have foreseen. In February 2020, I was tutoring face to face and within a few days of lockdown, I had to convert tuition from face to face to online. Many of my clients were apprehension but soon came on board with the transition. Admittedly I lost a few clients as they wanted to wait until things had blown over and we returned to normal. By the time they realised that COVID was not blowing over any time soon and they needed to continue tuition, they had lost their place, and I could not accommodate them. 

 

Covid made me understand very quickly that we have to become adaptable and be prepared to accept that change is inevitable and can present itself suddenly, when we least expect or want it. As a tutor, I had to learn about virtual tuition overnight and adapt that skill to be able to continue tutoring my primary and secondary pupils. If I did not that would have impacted hugely on my tutoring career. 

 

Overall, things ran smoothly, albeit having the internet being overloaded, the screen freezing or losing connection altogether due to the number of people and pupils being online at once. The situation soon settled down and now the glitches are minor, if at all. 

I have successfully tutored my cohort of 11 plus pupils almost solely online. I feel that it also added to a level of responsibility expected from them in terms of being organised and having to further develop both their visual and audio skills. I had to learn to be creative as some topics are trickier to teach online but can be done with creative planning and engagement. Overall, the experience has been a positive and significant change.