Schooling

Assessing Academic Potential and Performance

How is your child doing at school? Many parents remain confused about how their child is doing at school; with the best of intentions, a short appointment at a parents’ evening and a standard school report cannot give them the full picture. To make informed decisions about their child’s future, and to be sure they are aiming for the senior school that will best suit them, parents need to know…
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Schooling

The Gift of Reading

Holiday fun with reading!   The Christmas holidays are the ideal time for family fun, great food, party games and outings. The learning needn’t stop at this time, but it should be kept fun and festive. Classic board games help improve word power, from Boggle to Scrabble to Articulate, and others such as Monopoly require numeracy (and cunning!). Puzzles, reading Christmas…
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Schooling

Parental Impact on Success at School

  As an experienced educator, I know that parental involvement is key to children performing well at school.  It can really make the difference between under-performance and success! Nature vs. nurture Science has yet to identify the gene responsible for intelligence and there is disagreement about the amount of intelligence that is inherited. However, attributes such as hard work and…
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Schooling

THE IMPORTANCE OF READING – AND HOW TO ENCOURAGE IT

  Reading is vitally important in the development of thinking, expressing ideas, expanding vocabulary, and communication skills. Of course, it’s also important for pure enjoyment! Some children are reluctant readers. They need encouragement and stimulation with whatever type of reading matter you can find that interests them. Other children would happily have their head…
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Schooling

Summer Tutoring. Yes or no?

  My previous two blogs have covered the question of when you should and shouldn’t tutor your child and, if you decide to do so, what you should look for in a tutor. At this time of year, parents’ thoughts turn to the summer holidays and whether a child will need tutoring support during that long break. In principle, the summer holidays should be a time of play and relaxation for school…
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Schooling

Exams and How to Survive Them

  Exam season is upon us and stress levels are high. This can be a challenging time of year for everyone in the family. It is not just the children who lose sleep, but also their parents who agonise over academic pressure and worry about studying techniques and results. That being said, with the right approach, exams can be managed and conquered while the family’s sanity remains…
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Schooling

What to look for in a tutor

This month, I’m following up my last blog on “When should (and shouldn’t) you tutor your child” with one that gives advice on what to look out for if you decide to find a tutor, or a tutoring company. The tremendous surge in the number of parents looking for help, assessments and tutoring, expresses their deepest desire to help their children do well, in whatever ways they can. It can…
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Schooling

When should and shouldn’t you tutor your child?

In this month’s blog, I’m going to address this key question, which is asked by many parents. When you should tutor your child In certain circumstances, tutoring can help a child reach their potential, but there always needs to be a justifiable reason to tutor. These reasons are likely to include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following situations: When achievement is…
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Schooling

There's no doubt about it - teachers are heroes!

There’s no doubt about it – teachers are heroes! You may not thought about it, but teachers in the UK not only teach our children the fundamentals of education, helping them develop into fully fledged adults, but they also take on a number of other roles throughout the day. To highlight how many jobs teachers really do in one day, ITN Mark Education, the education recruitment…
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Schooling

How to choose the right school for your child

This article aims to shed some light on one of the biggest dilemmas for parents: How to choose the right school for your child. The homework Choosing a school for your child at any stage can be daunting and bewildering. This true whether it’s a change in school driven by a family relocation, or the move from primary to secondary education.  However, armed with the right information and your…
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