Should Tutors Write Weekly Reports ?

I have been involving parents in the process of tutoring their children for 2 years now, and I would say most like the extra involvement in the whole process.

In fact with the new 11+ exam a partnership with parents is important and the only feasible way to tackle what is now a very large amount of material. It has proved popular with parents who subsequently feel empowered and more in control of what can be a stressful process. Here are some example reports: (NAMES OF PUPILS CHANGED)

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Tom and I looked at the harder 10-11+ Bond NVR book this week which Tom seemed to be managing pretty well with. The work is a little more challenging and it would be useful if Tom noted the time taken for him to complete each page independently, and then wrote it on each page. He should aim for about 25 seconds per question. He also needs to eliminate answers carefully, usually by looking at 1 thing (like shading, direction) at a time. It was nice to talk to you both today. I hope you were ok with what was said. Tom is a polite friendly intelligent boy who is doing well. _____

I have been calculating age-adjusted scores from all the work done so far for all the pupils I teach in the 4 areas of English-VR, Comprehension, NVR and Maths. Harrie's scores are: English-VR 72% Average for Group 66 % Comprehension 53%. Average for Group 60 % NVR 63 % Average for Group 70 % Maths 83% Average for Group 80 % I would hope that the NVR weakness may be compensated enough by other scores, and that comprehension will improve. Her marks can be inconsistent too though. The group is academically stronger than an average class of course so it is hard to draw absolute conclusions. ____

This week we first went over any points arising from last week's test (which I have given to Matti so you can look at it if you wish) and discussed where improvements could be made next time. 'Silly' mistakes just needing checking are the main culprit and lost her a lot of marks. We also had a brief look at the Non Verbal Reasoning area for a recap of the types of question that are likely. It is much easier to teach techniques in the Maths and NVR areas that reliably gain marks than it is in the English area. That is why I think the Maths/NVR areas are still important to Matti as the more marks she gets the less pressure there is on the English/Comprehension. I will look at the English area again though, and we could add a lesson after she breaks up if you feel concerned she has not done enough. ____

Despite saying today she was not doing the 11+ (as she got a Level 4 in Maths) we went through more of the Non Verbal Reasoning work this week which Sam enjoys. She did pretty well in many cases though my gut feeling is she would struggle to compete in the test as her speed is still probably too slow. If I have a look at the English work next week it will give me a more full picture of how she would cope. ____

Ellie and I went over some more grammar and vocabulary work. He was usually able to pick the correct terms using the context of the sentence. Also words which are often ambiguous were looked at (like affect, effect). Some meanings of words were difficult though (see below for new words) and I also tried to encourage him to speak clearly and confidently when reading out text. Will Ingenious Forbid Begrudge Principle