How's business?

I have been standing somewhat taller this week since discovering an article in the London student rating tutoring with us as the best part-time job: 5/5 for pay, 4/5 for career enhancement, 4/5 for flexibility of hours and 5/5 for fun. Ref: page 19, http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1ikox/Issue5LondonStudentN/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yudu.com%2Fitem%2Fdetails%2F102153%2FIssue-5-London-Student--Nov-16th-2009-%3Frefid%3D4384

I was buzzing with adrenaline on finding out that the company that I had put so much of my time, money and effort into had been recognised for the service that it offers. In a time where graduate unemployment is rocketing and where graduates are caught in the catch 22 of not having work experience so they can’t get work to get work experience to get work... With us, undergraduates and graduates can get work experience and can earn money befitting of their ability, whilst developing the skills of themselves and others.

The outlook seems bright; the number of our facebook fans is currently lying at 796, our twitter followers now number 232 and the number of tutor profiles on the site just hit 170. Not bad figures for about six weeks of trading.

We have a need for more tutors with enhanced CRB checks and so from now until Christmas we are offering six months free subscription to those who come to us with an enhanced CRB check that is less than three months old from another company of to those who purchase a CRB check through us. (Currently £41.50 for those who live in Scotland and £55.60 for those who live in the rest of the UK)

As always we really value your feedback so if there is anything that you would like to share with us please just drop us an e-mail to ed@tutorlink.org.uk

Best wishes,

Ed

Director Tutorlink.org.uk Ltd

Tutorlink.org.uk Ltd. University of Leeds Union, Lifton Place, Leeds. LS2 9JT

Registered company number: 06978456

Underachievement - By Mr Chips

Given that my last blog was somewhat critical, I felt that it would be appropriate to write some pieces about criticism. I intend to give some thoughts on the overused phrase ‘underachievement’. I’ll break this into three sections which I believe the press enjoy spreading liberally across their media; schools, bright kids, and less able kids.

Bright Kids

We so regularly perceive underachievement as being a complete lack of achievement. For example we consider Tim Henman and Mark Ramprakash to have underachieved when their talent and potential are considered, and thus judged as failures. This black and white picture is one propagated in academia mainly by an obsession with higher education. If a student doesn’t achieve the grades required for a university place, they have a feeling of failure, and forget that they have achieved anything at all. This is a mentality which has percolated throughout secondary education and one which eats away at student confidence. Most schools now have a ‘Gifted and Talented’ programme which aims to identify and stretch talented students. When run poorly this scheme sets high expectations of students, and when these expectations are not met at each assessment of their learning, they are told they are ‘underachieving’ and not meeting their potential. Why do we do this? As teachers we rarely put this much pressure on C/B grade borderline students, instead we provide support to help them breach the boundary. By behaving like highly competitive fathers on the football sidelines, educators create additional pressures for talented students. We view the unfulfilled sports talents above with a warm heart when we consider the pressure they came under, both from the public, the establishment, and most importantly themselves. Pundits talk of ‘big game players’ and how so many sports are played mostly in the mind. It is important for us to consider this when dealing with students who are underachieving. They may have peripheral issues which are affecting their performance, and most students have more than enough pressure without us adding to it, so instead of criticising students in this situation, it is important that we give them the support and guidance they need to fulfil their potential and for both you and the student to enjoy this achievement.

Speculate to acumulate

As I zoom through the Wiltshire countryside as the sun sets on what has been a spectacular day, I would just like to elaborate on a question posed to me by a prospective tutor.
The lady in question enquired as to the qualifications required to sign up as a tutor on the site. Knowing the lady to have a high class degree in Maths I explained that all she would require would be a CRB check and that the price of this would be covered in her monthly subscription. "Monthly subscription?" She exclaimed "I can't afford one of those, I am buying a house." At this point I demnonstrated that the money for one months subscription would easily be re-couped in just one hour of tuition.
At this point I beg tutors not to be put off by the initial payments and think of the bigger picture, the long term and the potential of entering into this highly lucrative industry.
Thank you for reading. Thank you also to all those who have registered their interest so far at www.tutorlink.org.uk
Best wishes

Welcome to tutorlink

As I sit at my desk to start my first blog on the advice of my development team, I consider just why it is that people should visit tutorlink; it will do great things for customers seeking private tuition and with the impending ISA (a further check additional to the CRB) due to be implemented soon we can hopefully help tutors to be in the right place for the new legislation. We can also give tutoring companies greater visibility by adding their tutors to our site.

At present the market is complicated and quite often very expensive. Our aim is to provide a search engine free to use for those seeking tuition that will show clearly on a map tutors, who have been fully checked by CRB and soon ISA, in their area. The customer will see tutors from multiple companies in their area removing the hassle of going through companies one by one only to find that each requires you to register and give certain details. We do not require your details and therefore do not take them.

With the current economic uncertainty hopefully drawing to a close now is the perfect time to invest in advertising if you are a tutor or tutoring company and education if you are a tutee.

We have a great deal of work to do between now and August when we plan to go live and I will keep you update on our progress.

We can be followed on twitter at www.twitter.com/tutorlink or on facebook, search tutorlink and become a fan. If you would like to register your e-mail address to hear when we go live please visit www.tutorlink.org.uk and submit your e-mail address there.

Thanks for reading and best wishes for the future.