Hampstead couple Haleh Babavand and her husband Ash Parsa spoke to the Ham and High about their experience of home schooling.

In this day and age the tutoring of children outside of the school environment is considered to be almost the norm in many areas throughout the UK.

While our children have direct access to excellent education already, many parents still look for additional or alternative assistance using private tutors.

Parents with aspirations of a grammar school education for example, will undoubtedly look for tutoring assistance for the 11 Plus entrance examination, in the same way that older children can be tutored through their GCSEs, A-levels and other entrance exams.

A friendly, well-qualified professional tutor is fast becoming the most important tool in your armoury if you are looking to enhance your child’s learning capabilities.

Finding the right tutor for your child is the most important factor in their extra curricular tuition success story. Who benefits from having a personal tutor?

If you get the right tutor for you child, everyone can benefit from the newly formed relationship. You need a tutor that not only gets along with your child, but can reach out and understand how to break through any existing barriers to learning that they may have.

An unhappy or disenfranchised child can be hard work for teaching staff, and even harder to connect with for parents at home.

Some children fail to engage with their school teachers, or are too easily distracted in a classroom scenario. Some just need to feel a little more confident about areas that they are unsure of. This is where one-to-one tutoring can be beneficial to everyone concerned.

Whatever help you are seeking for your child, you must be sure to always use a qualified teacher who comes to you with experience of teaching children of a similar age.

Perhaps you already have a recommendation in mind from a friend? This could be a great idea, but don’t forget that what works for one child, may not be right for yours.

Call on the professionals If you decide to find a tutor via an agency, make sure that they can provide a tutor that is right for your child.

You want to ensure that the tutor has experience in the subject you want them to teach, as well as experience with children the same age as yours.

An honest opinion speaks volume. By speaking to other parents who have used the same tutor, you should be able to get an honest opinion on the way they teach, their skills with younger children and their personality as a whole. Distance is also a contributing factor, as travel may become an issue over time.

As a consumer, you wouldn’t consider using new products or services without looking at reviews or asking for references.

Your child’s tutor should definitely not be an exception to this rule. A good tutor should be willing and able to supply excellent references from a variety of parents, which will mean you are more confident about employing them.

It is also vital that any tutor you consider hiring, is able to produce an up to date DBS disclosure. Before you commit to a tutor, you need to know exactly how they are going to help your child to learn.

You also need to keep in mind that some children may be very resistant to the idea of tutoring. Communication between yourselves and the tutor is key to making sure that concerns like these are dealt with as seamlessly as possible. Hiring a tutor can be a costly business.

With prices starting from at least £25 per hour for primary level tutoring, you want to ensure that you have found the right match for your child and that you are not wasting your money.

Choosing an experienced and reputable provider of tutors, can help to ensure that your child’s pathway to additional learning is in fact, the beginning of a happy and mutually beneficial relationship to all involved.