core educational values

The years of school education are the most formative and influential period of a person’s life. The Holland Park philosophy centres on developing the confidence of the pupil. We have found that a lack of confidence in one academic subject can have a detrimental effect on the all-round performance of a student. The dedicated attention of a tutor to these specific issues can demonstrate that even the most daunting of academic problems are easily surmountable, enabling the correct mindset for high academic achievement.

Confidence is built by focusing on the need to cater for the academic and personal issues of the pupil as opposed to providing a rigid course to which the child must adhere. We believe that this is the approach most conducive to helping a young person achieve his or her full potential, whilst safeguarding individual personal development from the detrimental effects of the “exam-factory” elements of the contemporary education system. The process is designed to be undertaken at a pace individually tailored to the requirements and comfort of the student.

Our tutors are trained to develop knowledge step-by-step as part of a building-block process. Many children begin to fall behind at school as a result of missing key information at an early stage of a given curriculum or course, which can lead to lack of confidence and demoralisation. Such difficulties can be ironed out quickly and yield huge personal encouragement if the issue is addressed early and in a direct manner. The first action of the tutor will be to assess, in collaboration with the pupil and parent if desired, exactly where the problems lie and to determine the goals for the particular course of study. The student is actively encouraged to be as open about his or her concerns as possible as we feel that learning is a process best fuelled by encouraging the pupil to ask questions of everything at every stage. It is not our tutors’ job to provide answers but rather to encourage pupils to achieve the satisfaction of getting it right themselves. This helps commit method as well as the answer to memory.

In general we aim to provide tutors who are considerably closer in age to the pupil than the average school teacher. This gives them an advantage when it comes to the development of a close rapport between tutor and student, which we feel is integral to the success of our service. Holland Park Tuition was created with the purpose of providing a friendly yet productive haven from the stereotypical image of a schoolmaster from whom the child fears reprimand and humiliation as the price for asking the simple questions which are integral to his or her understanding of a subject.

The bespoke service we provide should go a long way to stimulating the interest and ability necessary for a pupil to succeed in, and enjoy, a subject. It is in this way that private tuition with Holland Park is able to succeed where a school teacher has perhaps failed to impart fully the required information to the individual. Far from this being a criticism of mainstream education, it is a realisation of just how hard it is for a single teacher to lead a full class of pupils to the same point of understanding. Holland Park Tuition aims to work in concert, not conflict, with a school or college education and encourage the love of learning that is satisfying and rewarding.