insideKENT Magazine Issue 55 - October 2016 | Page 143

EDUCATION

Can tuition really be
modern and fresh and will my
child benefit from it?
BY ARTHUR PONSONBY OF THE RIGHT TUITION COMPANY

When considering the question of whether supplementary
learning can really be contemporary, rigorous and
invigorating and in contemplating the relative benefits that
a child can gain, it is imperative that we set out a clear
understanding of what tuition is.

Tuition can be experienced in two principal forms:
one-to-one tuition and small group learning.
Whilst these two genres possess a myriad of
differences, they are united in their primary
objective of tackling key gaps in knowledge,
instilling a fresh impetus to the overall learning
experience and enabling a more personalised
approach to a child’s education. Tuition can be
viewed with a prevailing sense of suspicion;
especially in a close knit environment like
Tunbridge Wells or Sevenoaks. Nonetheless, The
Right Tuition Company was established to meet
and deal with the overwhelming challenges faced
today by schools, parents and, most importantly,
the pupils.
There are many wonderful and inspiring one-toone tutors; however, let us not skirt around the
issue. One-to-one tutoring is a largely un-vetted
and de-regulated source of education. If someone
were to ask me whether I had a problem with a
chap called ‘Gerald’, whom arrives at somebody’s
house having printed off an array of haphazard
and indiscriminate worksheets from Google, only
five minutes beforehand, then, clearly, the answer
would be yes. All teaching needs to be organised
systematically and planned with a specific set of
goals in mind that are tailored towards the precise
needs of the child or children. In addition, it is
vital that those providing supplementary education
are held accountable to a child’s relative levels
of progress and are fuelled by the vocation of
inspiring confidence and a love of learning, not
by the pursuit of mammon. I am not calling for
an end to one-to-one tuition. That, certainly, has
its place and many children do indeed benefit
from a plethora of inspirational tutors.
Nevertheless, the ‘Geralds’ of this world are
archaic, stale, do little to benefit children, whilst

fleecing their parents of their Sterling and,
ultimately, taint tuition with a bad reputation.
The issues and obstacles that children and
parents face in education have changed
fundamentally over the past ten years. Ever
burgeoning class sizes, often northwards of thirty,
a rigid curriculum, teachers that are consumed
and distracted by superfluous administration
and an inability to enable children to maximise
their potential.
I have taught classes of fifty, I have taught classes
of thirty and I have been a one-to-one tutor in
London. I founded The Right Tuition Company
based upon an inherent desire to offer a
stimulating academic environment that countered
the aforementioned problems encountered by
schools today. Moreover, for far too long,
supplementary learning has been the unjust
privilege of the anxious affluent. Small group
learning really does have a more modern and
fresh feel to it. Rates can be driven down to make
it more accessible. At The Right Tuition Centre,
we are very proud that 93% of our pupils come
from state sector education. This is not about
positive discrimination; it’s about creating a level
playing field where opportunities within the field
of academe are extended to the many rather
than the few. As an institution that is registered
by Ofsted, the acceptance of childcare vouchers
is a further mechanism that can open the door
to an exciting and rigorous environment that
otherwise might have been closed a
decade ago.
Through a strict policy of never going above eight
in a class, we would argue that this provides the
breeding grounds for a fun and effective

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education. The Right Tuition Company adhere
to a return to the tradit