About Our Lessons
Learn more about who we are and what we do, the 1:1 primary school teaching we cover with our students, and view our pricing.
Who Are We/What Do We Do?
At the basis of everything we do, across subjects and learning levels, is a foundation of developing problem solvers and analytical thinkers. We do not simply want to teach your children individual concepts, but rather enable them to use these concepts across purposes and interchangeably. We want your children to leave with the ‘big picture’ understanding and not simply various elements that make no sense when put together. We want learning to be transferrable, exciting, enjoyable and supportive, and every lesson we teach is simply another opportunity for us to motivate your children and instil a love of learning that will last a lifetime.
Our tutors are trained in meeting your child at their specific starting level and slowly supporting them in advancing with our holistic teaching program. Since every child is an individual and begins at a different level, our tutors are qualified in teaching the Early Years curricula for students who are not quite working at a Primary 1 level yet and concurrently, are also knowledgeable in extending teaching up to Secondary 1 level for upper Second Level/Key Stage 2 students who require a further challenge.
All of our tutors have vast experience in working with children who have both diagnosed and undiagnosed additional support needs and believe that no child should ever face any barriers to their learning. It is simply about finding what way works for each individual child.
As your childs parents/carer, you have enough to worry about without also attempting to take over the role of ‘teacher’.
Rest assured, our tutors are experts in the Scottish and English Curricula and as such, take over responsibility for your child’s tuition 1:1 primary school teaching progression. We know exactly what your child should be learning and how to get them there – so you don’t need to worry! Having said this, we do always rely on our communication with you to ensure we are addressing school feedback and concerns from home. Our aim is to work collaboratively with you, as part of your child’s ‘team’ while providing 1:1 primary school teaching, to ensure your child is receiving a consistent and dependable experience across the various inputs in their lives.
Homework also forms an optional part of what we do and each of our students are provided with a homework packet when they start with us; your tutor can discuss this with you in more depth.
Whilst English/Literacy and Maths/Numeracy are our most popularly requested subjects for 1:1 primary school tuition, our tutors are trained to teach across the curricula, so please do get in touch if you have any subject-specific requests.
Our tutors are also experienced in providing 1:1 tuition specific to exam preparation for Scottish Private School entrance exams, SATS and 11+ level learning.
How Does Our Holistic Teaching Program Work?
Our first point of contact will be in response to your initial enquiry, either via email or phone call. We will then arrange for you and your child to attend an initial assessment lesson. This sounds far scarier than it is! In reality, this is simply an opportunity for your child and their tutor to get to know each other and begin building a strong and long-lasting relationship.
At LS Tuition, we have closely studied both the Scottish and English Curricula, and have designed our own assessments based on this. Our First and Second Level assessments cover all key learning areas across the curricula, and ensure that we do not miss a single vital learning area when working with your children.
Our assessments are fun, engaging and include various different elements and resource types. In this way, each new child joining us gets a feel for what we provide and what they can expect each week. Our aim, always, is to gather as much information as possible whilst ensuring your children have a fun and friendly experience.
Once our initial assessment session is complete, we spend a considerable amount of time creating an in-depth and professional report about your child based, on our observations. This report details your child’s current learning level across the Curriculum and tailored next steps in line with their specific developmental areas. The aim is to give you a thorough idea of exactly where your child is and how they might best grow during their time with us. We’ve had fantastic feedback on this additional assessment element so far and we are delighted that they’ve helped our students and parents so much!
Whilst our typical weekly tuition slots are 1 hour in length and cost £80 per week with any of our tutors (or £100 per week with Lydia) , our initial assessment lessons are scheduled for 1.5-hours and cost £120 (or £150 with Lydia). This additional time allows for you to meet with your child’s tutor, once the assessment has concluded, to review all areas of the assessment and discuss an individually crafted holistic teaching programme; specifically developed to accentuate your child’s strengths and support their challenge areas.
If you forget to ask something during this time or have any further questions, do not worry! Your child’s tutor will share with you their contact information to ensure a flow of consistent, open communication. Lydia is also available to be contacted at any time, ongoing for support.
This learning level covers Primary 1 – Primary 3, and is your child’s first experience (beyond Early Years) of formal learning. It is therefore vital that your children be immersed in a world of fun, active and exciting learning opportunities.
Our Literacy learning at this stage is split into 3 key areas: Reading, Writing and Talking/Listening. All three of these areas are mostly reliant on the teaching of vital, foundational phonics. Your child and their tutor will work through the Phonics curriculum to ensure that all Phases (1-6) are solid, by which point, your child will be ready to move on to the Second Level/Key Stage 2 Curriculum; typically, by Primary 4.
At LS Tuition, we work with the Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) reading scheme and support your children in slowly working their way through each level until they are ready to progress to larger novels. Writing at this level will include emphasis on correct letter formation, simple spelling patterns and the beginnings of sentence structure including initial grammar and parts of speech.
Your children will be wholly encouraged and supported to begin to think critically, analyse their thinking and share their ideas with their tutor.
At LS Tuition we make a clear distinction between ‘Maths’ and ‘Numeracy’. Maths refers to specific mathematical topics such as, angles, fractions, shape etc. Whereas, Numeracy refers to the foundational understanding of number and how this works, for example; Place Value, Times Tables, Number Operations etc.
In order for any significant understanding to exist in relation to a maths topic, there must first be a strong foundational understanding of numeracy. It is here that we begin with each child and then progress to various maths topics.
At this level and within numeracy, your child will be guided to developing a strong and confident understanding of the most basic numeracy concepts including; the value of number, initial times tables, use of a hundred square, addition, subtraction and inverse operations – to name but a few. Our goal is to ensure that your children UNDERSTAND rather than MEMORISE.
At LS Tuition our focus is always on the WHY and not just on the memorisation of the WHAT. We understand the vital importance of supporting your children in becoming critical and analytical thinkers, able to put together multiple different puzzle pieces, rather than simply teaching them formulas to memorise that make little sense in differing contexts.
This learning level covers Primary 4 – Primary 7, and is the final stage of your child’s Primary School learning journey. This is where we expand upon everything in First Level/Key Stage 1, to ensure your children are confident and thriving individuals, ready to move on to their Secondary School journey; when the time comes. Depending on the learning level of the individual child, we also extend into Third Level/Key Stage 3 (Secondary 1) where such a challenge is necessary.
Our Literacy learning at this stage continues on from the 3 key areas in Key Stage 1 (Reading, Writing and Talking/Listening), and typically takes the form of a Novel Study between your child and their tutor. This Novel Study forms the basis for the cultivation of advanced reading skill, advanced comprehension and extended writing. Your child and their tutor will use all means of questioning styles and writing structures to develop your child’s Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and support them in working towards the Key Stage 3 curricula.
We have a multitude of Novel Studies to choose from at this level, all designed by our tutors, to target all areas of the Key Stage 2 Literacy Curricula (and moving into Key Stage 3). We believe it is of the utmost importance that your child be interested in their reading materials and as such, if your child is unable to find a Novel Study they engage with, our Tutors will work with you and your child to find and develop something new, suitable for your child.
At this level, it is critical for our tutors to ensure that there is a strong foundational numeracy understanding. Your child and their tutor will engage in revising/learning key numeracy concepts including all times tables, place value up to 8-digits, formal and informal division, simple algebra etc. These numeracy concepts will then transfer into the teaching of second level maths topics including, fractions, decimals, percentages etc.
At LS Tuition, we emphasise the WHY alongside the WHAT.
Our mission is to support our learners in developing their understanding of the reasoning behind the skills they are learning so that their time with us can truly be a holistic learning experience rather than an activity of memorization.
Our aim is to enable our young people to build their autonomy, critically analyse the world around them and find solutions to problems.
The latest addition to our Learning Space is our ‘Activity Arena’! This station has been carefully designed by our LS Tuition Tutors to provide our learners with opportunities to engage in tasks that promote the development of problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Each week, a new challenge will be available for our students to engage in, alongside their individualized tutoring programs. These challenges will introduce our students to the fields of Maths, Science, STEM, Geography and Philosophy.
The goal is to think of our students not as receivers of information, but rather users of information and collaborators in the learning process. The goal is to support our students in becoming active members of society who can critically think for themselves, solve real-world problems, and create a better ‘tomorrow’.
“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.” – Christopher Hitchens.
Pricing
Initial Assessment
with any tutor- One hour assessment with you and your child.
- 30 minute discussion with you and your child.
- Creation of individualised learning plan for your child.
- Creation of an in-depth and professional report detailing your child's current learning level across the Curriculum and tailored next steps in line with their specific developmental areas. This is produced outwith the time we spend with you during your initial assessment and will be emailed to you once complete.
Weekly Sessions
with any tutor- One hour face-to-face teaching with your child.
- One additional hour a week spent creating a fully personalised learning plan for your child, and designing each week's individual lesson.
- Sourcing learning materials.
- Ongoing planning for continued learning progress.
- Creating personalised resources where appropriate.
- Tracking progress week-to-week and using this, plus vital curricular knowledge to plan future lessons.
- Weekly supporting homework packets we develop, mark, and discuss with you and your child.
- The resources purchased to use in our lessons/give you to keep.
- Ongoing communication with you, via text.email, etc. outwith our scheduled lesson time.
- The additional benefits provided by the physical environment of the learning and teaching zone; a space that has been specially designed for children, and with the purpose of supporting meaningful learning in a safe, exciting and motivational environment.
- Holistic learning with a focus on developing the 'whole child' through creating and sustaining meaningful relationships, instilling a love for learning and supporting the growth of confidence and resilience.