Preparing Your Child for School Admission
Discover how to prepare your child for school admission in the early years with this guide by our expert education consultants.
Primary School & Early Years Tutoring
As a rule, we don’t think children should be tutored before reception, when the majority of their learning is still through play. However, once at school, we do offer online and face-to-face tutoring for ages 4 to 10. At this age the aim is to help fill any gaps in knowledge and to keep their confidence high during their early years in the system.
As you can imagine, we pay extreme care when recommending private tutors for 5 year-olds and 6 year-olds, and we have primary school tutoring specialists who are superb at building enthusiasm as well as attainment through fun exercises and positive reinforcement.
Alongside primary school tutoring, we also offer parents our education consultancy service which can help with everything related to prep-school admission.
Download our guide to 0-5 years Download our guide to 5-10 years
How can a private tutor help a 4-7 year old?
First of all, it’s important to say that if your child is happy, confident and keeping up at school, there’s really no need to worry about tutoring at this age.
When it’s worth considering tutoring is in the run up to the 7+, particularly if your child is moving from a state primary school to an independent prep school. A tutor can provide fun, engaging and targeted ways to prepare for these assessments.Tuition can also help if you begin to notice weaker areas of learning – in maths, for example – or if your child needs a little extra attention due to bigger class sizes. A tutor can come in after school or on a weekend morning, help with homework and negate any concerns about keeping up with their class. They will be able to mirror and reinforce all the teaching methods your child will be experiencing at school, while also making sure your child realises learning can be something to enjoy!
How does private tuition work at this age?
The first step is a detailed consultation with you to make sure we recommend exactly the right tutor for your child, and so the tutor can hit the ground running with knowledge of your child’s interests, what they need help with and what sort of character they are.
We have a specific set of tutors for this age group. They know exactly how 4-7 year olds are learning at school and will use the same techniques, as well as lots of positive reinforcement games to build confidence. They can also be in touch with your school if that helps or is necessary.
At this age, a bit like the children themselves, their tuition might need to change quite regularly. As part of our service you will always have a go-to education consultant who’ll be able to talk to you about where your son or daughter is at, what next, and whether things need to be switched up or scaled back.
How often should my child see a tutor?
Routine is particularly helpful at this age, and we normally suggest around once or twice a week for an hour. In terms of when is best, straight after an after-school snack is a very good time, and can be combined with any homework they need to do. Equally a weekend morning also works well.
Can a private tutor help with UK school admission?
Yes they can. In terms of academic preparation, we often find a child’s work with a tutor will naturally move into school admission preparation when the appropriate time comes, whether that’s 7+, 11+ or 13+. We can also introduce additional tutors to prepare for specific subjects and to help your child prepare for other areas of the assessments, like their interview.
One of our Education Consultants will also be on hand to help you with the process from a parent’s point of view. They can talk you through the big decisions like school choices. On a practical level they can also help with the application itself to make sure it stands the best chance of success.
"Ailsa is fantastic, couldn't recommend her highly enough. She has a natural rapport with Jasper, and is very conscientious, patient and generous person".
Mrs. C, Early Years Art Tuition
"We send thanks to Natasha for her tuition of Will. She was very supportive, solid and thorough in her teaching and really helped our son to get a grasp of the missing parts of the jigsaw. We are very grateful to her".
Ms. H, Early Years Tuition
"I am delighted with the tutoring experience we had with you. George was absolutely fantastic. My son was really struggling with work at school and could not understand his teacher. George had the patience and time to sit with Daniel and go back to basics. Daniel has now had gained much more confidence and they simply need to wait for the results".
Mrs. S, Early Years English and Maths Tuition
“My daughter has just finished her first Year 2 English and Maths lesson, she absolutely loved it, her tutor is a shining star."
Year 2 English & maths Online School parent
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