Introducing Pipkin Tuition
Confidence, resilience, progress
Parents look for tuition for their children for a variety of reasons but the main reasons I hear are that their child is finding learning difficult, is ‘falling behind’ at school or there is conflict during homework time. In my experience, all of these are due to one thing; our education system now is orientated towards teaching knowledge and content and often there is no time to teach the children HOW TO LEARN. My tuition focuses on this key component whilst boosting the child’s confidence, giving them the skills to thrive in their learning and having fun along the way.
My story
I decided I wanted to be a teacher when I was in Primary School myself. Bored and disengaged in the middle of a Science lesson about melting chocolate in which they showed us pictures of someone melting buttons on their hand, I decided there and then that if learning was fun then learning was easy.
Fast forward 12 years and I began my teaching career. To begin with I specialised in Key Stage 1; teaching initially in Year 1 for two years and then Year 2 for another 2 years. I then moved into Key Stage 2 working in a school with mixed age classes; teaching in Years 3 and 4. I became Deputy Head at this school and held this post for 7 years.
However, things change and I missed the pupils and sharing their 'lightbulb moments' so I took a step back and took a job as a tuition and intervention teacher working with Year 5 and 6 children who were at risk of not passing their SATs at the end of Year 6. After 6 rewarding years, and 20 years in total in the classroom, I feel it is again time for a new venture and have therefore established Pipkin Tuition.
As a result of the pandemic, my private tuition pupils moved online and we undertook our sessions via Zoom. This was a steep learning curve for us all! But, it made me see that there is a demand outside of my local area for my approach to teaching. Online learning has enabled more pupils and parents than ever to benefit from my tuition.
So, where does “Pipkin” come from?
A pipkin is an old fashioned earthenware cooking vessel made from clay. Fresh ingredients were added to the pot which had to be gently and slowly heated in the embers of the fire as the pressure of the direct flames would prove too much for the pot and it would crack. This struck a chord with me as a lovely symbol for my style of tuition; give the pupils the raw ingredients they need, a little gentle encouragement and no pressure and watch the transformation occur.