Hayley Hobbs, founder of Griffin Teaching, explains how your child may benefit from out-of-school academic help

How will I know if my child needs external help with their academic work? In this area, where we have some excellent schools, your child will only need help if they are preparing for a specific exam. Beyond this, it is not whether your child needs the extra input, but worth considering how high they might fly if you are able to offer it.

Why choose Griffin Teaching? Experience. Qualifications (we all have degrees from top UK universities and years of class/subject teaching). Detailed knowledge of the content and challenges we prepare children for. Our strategic approach. Our huge passion for teaching. Our precise and detailed lesson planning. The extra time we spend with our parents and children to ensure they are fully supported…

What services do you offer and what age ranges do you cover? My great passion is for teaching writing. Lockdown has interrupted children’s education, but many were already struggling on paper. We offer a monthly writing programme with personal, detailed feedback and encouragement at its heart. This is in addition to our Kent Test 11+ and ISEB Common Pre-test Clubs, our Year 4 English and Maths Booster Clubs and our specific school exam work (Sevenoaks, Caterham, Abingdon, Eltham College among others).

How are you adapting to the new ways of teaching in light of coronavirus? The teaching transfers smoothly between in-room lessons and on-screen Zoom teaching as the government guidelines change. Children are taught in clubs of six children, and these are simply flipped online. This year we didn’t miss one single lesson and it isn’t surprising that we scored our highest Kent Test results ever. The same teacher runs the club at the same time of day and with their own six students. All work is set up each week on our website – and I even add little videos each time to allow a second introduction to any tricky content. 

How often should my child be having lessons and how much does it cost?

• Kent Test 11+, ISEB Pre-test and Year 4 English and Maths Booster Clubs run for one hour per week throughout the year, and cost £84 per month.

• Individual school exam preparation is for one hour per week (usually for only a term) and costs £90 per month. 

• The Writing Club consists of a 5 minute hand-holding video to watch per week and a 10 minute writing activity completed at home. Children’s work is emailed over to me and I tape each one a wonderfully positive and detailed individual video to move their work forward step by step. The quality of their work is boosted immediately and keeps on improving as the weeks go by. This is £39 per month.

All prices include VAT. There is no deposit, initial payment or notice period, we just ask you to inform us quickly if your plans change. Find out more at griffinteaching.com

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