December updates :)

Dear parents,

I hope this email finds everybody well, particularly as we approach the festive season! I just wanted to share a few updates and reminders

Placement

As many of my legacy and new tutees know, I am a training teacher, and I have a placement upcoming. This will be from the 8th of January to the 1st April. During this time, I will revert back to previously successful measures. These may include weekend bookings, as well as ‘flexibookings’, for which we will arrange an evening but a specific time will not be provided until that afternoon, based on traffic and commuting. During this time, priority will be given to Year 11 GCSE learners, and as usual I will be offering summer interventions for those who feel this may impact learning.

Semester 2 bookings

I am conscious that parents will be wanting to make bookings for the upcoming second semester. However, I have found that early bookings has been slightly complicated by the everchanging nature of after school clubs changing their timings. As my placement will run January to April, I will be making my Semester 2 bookings in late March. This allows parents to consider after school clubs and programs when indicating availability. Information about this will be sent out in early March.

TutorBird calendar

I am having a few parental issues with TutorBird’s calendar, particularly around confusion of text messages and thinking these are inaccurate. All sessions, including regular ones, will be booked on the App – from time to time, this may include pre-agreed changes to accommodate my seminars and my other learners. Therefore, please can I ask that parents are strictly following the text messages sent via TutorBird about lessons – as I have many students and classes, I rely on this for my scheduling, and follow it rigorously myself. If you are in doubt about upcoming sessions, please log into the App by visiting georgehalltuition.com, clicking Parent Links and logging in. 

Late payment fees

Please may I also remind parents that invoices must be paid within two calendar days of being sent. Invoices are automatically emailed to you, with an SMS sent confirming the amount due and the email of the invoice. Please note that the system is now auto-applying a late payment fee of 15% on the third calendar day, rising to 55% if this is not paid within six calendar days.

Reminder of rules

Finally, please may I refresh parents on some key rules and ask parents to remind their children of the following rules, as I am unfortunately struggling with some behavioural issues

• I would like parents to take mobile phones during lessons and leave these in a separate room. Where this is not possible, mobile phones must be on airplane mode or switched off. Increasingly I am noticing students trying to hide phones out of view, and as an online tutor I am not able to catch every instance.
• IT must not be tampered with. This includes virtual backgrounds, account settings, meeting settings and other IT elements.
• Profanity is allowed from KS3 upwards, provided this is not directed at any particular individual.

These rules are in place to ensure optimal progress and learning. I cannot provide a high quality educational experience when I am competing with a phone for attention or unable to see students through various webcam filters. While I recognise as an educator I have a role in regulating and monitoring behaviour, unfortunately I am constrained in my abilities to do this when working online while students are in their home environment. Please may I ask parents to have these conversations around rules, particularly mobile phones. I will be increasingly enforcing my behaviour policy going forwards, and services may be terminated if I feel this is becoming a recurring issue.

Thank you very much! 🙂

George Hall
Private Tutor and student of Primary Education

GEORGEHALL TUITION

I operate virtually – feel free to ask me about it!

pronouns: he/him/his
mobile: available on request
email: george@georgehalltuition.com

www.georgehalltuition.com

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