Aleeya

Hi Rav. You contacted me on this site a week ago asking for urgent help as your son was to sit exams after the half term break. Tutoring is a commitment - not a quick fix.
You had asked for a few days tutoring, which despite it being last minute, I accommodated. You had booked Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
I had explained that once booked, I couldn’t accommodate too many changes as I have a family and commitments.
In my nine years of tutoring, I have never experienced what I experienced here. Constant calls and messages, changing days and times with shows zero respect for my time and the value I bring forward in helping the student to excel in their subject.
One phone call lasted thirty minutes only to be followed with more messages. Tuesday was cancelled last minuContact Detail Removedaving a big gap between students for me and I had a request last minute to drop Wednesday from 5 to 6.30 down to just an hour which I accommodated. You then called me at 4:55 asking if I could make 5pm after all - which evidently I could not.
When agreeing to change Wednesday - I asked if Friday was to remain the same because I would not be able to accommodate any more changes. I’ve never had a parent behave this way before - I currently teach 12 students (and work with Warwickshire Council) and all parents are very respectful, if we need to adapt anything, we work together on a solution - nothing is ever demanded of me. With all my qualifications and experience, I could never and will never work this way.
Despite agreeing to no more changes - you asked for a change again at a point that I was realising this was not a good fit and certainly not good for my mental health. I work in spaces that I can thrive in so that my students can shine. At this point, I responded to you to say that this would not be a good fit.
I had looked through the list you’d sent me of at least 15 elements (to be covered in three sessions) and one of those was creative writing. I suggested to your son that he write a piece for homework (as he is in year seven) and that I would then look at his positive points and only work on advancing him. This saves you money as otherwise I’d be sitting around while he writes - a better use of time is if he does it for homework. Your son became upset by the word homework, asked to go to the toilet but went to tell you a version of events and instead of me teaching him for the remaining 20 minutes, you and I did a back and forth about creative writing and why homework was or was not a good idea. The student never came up with the idea to cover creative writing, in fact, he didn’t want to write anything at all. It’s a lovely privilege to be able to privately educate our children but to pretend they chose a topic and the tutor was against it is rather repulsive. In the two sessions I did teach, he wrote three lines.
I have one aim in my work - to help the student excel and get the best results they can. Most of my students achieve grades of 5 to 9, even those who were predicted a 3. I have high standards and feed those over to my students, all of who appreciate my teaching and simply excel.
Not sure what you mean about being late or ‘explaining her personal life’. Again, trying to sabotage an individual based on your own errors is repulsive. I had to highlight that the messaging in between sessions was too much, that last minute cancellations were too much (cancelling a 5 to 6.30 session to then call me at 4:55pm and asking me to attend is abysmal) and then when I suggested we were not a good fit for tuition, I received volatile messages from you resulting in me having to block your number. Shocking behaviour from an adult/parent. When all is said and done, we are their role models and if nothing else, how you conduct yourself will influence him throughout his life. Tutors are not there at your beck and call. Most of the parents I work with send me reports or homework or communication in between - none of them has ever harassed me, ever. I’ve only ever turned two students away in the nine years I’ve tutored. This is the first time I’ve turned a task away because of a parent. All the best to you and your son.

Hi Marta,

I’m sorry that you were not happy with the service you received. It is really important to communicate your preference before purchasing a tutor’s details. It is unfortunate that I was unable to change the sessions from weekly to fortnightly or reduce the price, Prices are clearly stated under a tutor’s profile, it would not be fair to others to adapt them.
I think the rating is for the sessions that your daughter had - which you both seemed very happy with. I hope the free resources I sent to you after you’d decided not to continue due to affordability, are of use in assisting your daughter with her GCSEs. I wish her the best of luck in all upcoming exams and I hope that you found/find a more suitable tutor. All the best, Aleeya.