Out of teachers, out of pupils, out of pocket. This terse, popular refrain used to mean long-awaited lie-ins, Mr. Whippy, family and friends… a temporary hiatus, a hard-earned break that aided a much-needed vitamin D top up. Now it’s like some humourless house arrest edition of Groundhog Day with slightly more (or less?) hand gel, bog roll, and face masks. Thrilling. Sifting through the bombardment of bulletins flooding our Facebooks, one thing’s for certain: school’s out for the count, and there’s no tangible indication it’ll be returning any time soon.
For most of us, adapting to this ‘new normal’ means ingesting ungodly amounts of Doritos and Netflix whilst being slightly less sociable than we already were. An ideal scenario, perhaps. A picture-perfect distraction. But what does all of this aimlessness really add up to? For most of us, eye ache, weight gain, and the knowledge that we’ve spent the last five weeks of our short, ephemeral lives having achieved… well, nothing. What day is it again?
School may be ‘out,’ but that doesn’t mean learning has to be. After all, what is school anyway? A wrinkled, weathered building urgently in need of refurbishment. Four walls, a whiteboard and some chairs. Learning, on the other hand, is a process. It has no fixed location. Its success isn’t dependent upon a particular setting. With the right teacher, it can flourish and thrive absolutely anywhere, and yes, that includes your computer screen too.
With every new wannabe guru peddling the hottest do-it-yourself guide to a quick-fix victory, self-improvement is a concept that has, over time, become slowly and steadily emptied of its meaning. Yet, in spite of this unfortunate reality, it’s something most of us can seldom do without. We’re all trying to be better.
It would be redundant to oversell the countless advantages of a one-to-one, personalised approach to education. At the same time, it would also be senseless to underplay their value. Put succinctly, a private tutor isn’t juggling a room full of personalities, aptitudes and abilities. Instead, you’re getting a personalised, bespoke system where the focus is on you, and you alone. Pandemic aside, that’s an irrefutably valuable tool that will facilitate progress better than a class of thirty ever could.
What you’re studying is unimportant. Your abilities are equally irrelevant. Try to think of your pitfalls and difficulties as surmountable challenges. Maybe it’s the more niggling aspects of trigonometry (or in other words, all of them). Perhaps it’s the exhaustive lists of music terminology that just aren’t sticking. A new language to fill the time, the kids’ GCSE coursework, the dreaded 11 plus exams. Whatever the focus, there’s an expert tutor on hand to help.
Approach this practically. The surrealism will subside, the lockdown will be lifted. When school’s back in, wouldn’t it be better to be somewhat prepared for that inevitability?
Traversing this new educational terrain is, without question, a daunting prospect for most. So why not lessen that strain with a private tutor today?