Virtual Tutoring: Lightening the Parental Mental Load
With exams on the horizon, revision will soon become a top priority for many pupils, as well as a top concern for their parents as they move towards the Easter term. This particular time often highlights the parental mental load that working parents carry – juggling work and family responsibilities while feeling the additional pressure to be extra attentive to their children and provide the support they need to thrive in their academic careers.
Organisations have an opportunity to support their valued working parents during exam season (and other instances such as end of year assessments, GCSEs, etc.) by offering them a solution that caters to both parent and child. Virtual tutoring does just that.
With 61% of parents looking for support from their employer with their children’s educational development*, offering online tutoring contributes towards setting students up for success, while also lightening the load on parents.
Equipped with the knowledge that their children are catching up academically, learning at a pace they feel comfortable at, and are targeting the goals they wish to attain, you can offer your employees peace of mind and the ability to maintain their work-life balance and freedom to focus. In turn, this can result in a thriving and motivated workforce.
Attainment Gaps
Gaps that arise earlier in a child’s school life can prove difficult to fill as they approach public exams including SATs and GCSEs. For parents this is a genuine cause for concern and for many that are busy with their day job, finding a solution can be challenging.
The Bright Horizons Modern Families Index Report 2024 further highlights these concerns parents have surrounding their children and exams. It found that 29% of women and 23% of men would like support with their children’s mental health. Additionally, 20% of women and 14% of men want help with behavioural support from employers for their children. Unease over education catch-up, social skills and physical health are validated by the report too. The most recent findings show that after pay, seeking better family support is highest on the list of reasons for leaving a role.
And with virtual tutoring via their employer cutting the fees for parents hiring tutors themselves, cost-of-living fears can be minimised for the 53% women and 36% of men worried about household bills*.
Accessibility
With virtual tutoring, geographical constraints or transport issues do not pose a barrier. All that is required is internet connection and a computer or laptop. For many children, being in their own home also brings the added benefit of being relaxed and therefore, able to learn in a quiet and familiar setting.
For working parents, the issues surrounding taking their child to a tutoring session are no longer an obstacle to learning or work. Bright Horizon’s virtual tutoring makes learning open to all children, at a time and place that works for the whole family.
Boosting a Child’s Confidence
Understanding a subject and feeling competent at it are key to school success. Yet, pupils can fall behind because they are too shy to speak out when they struggle or feel the gap has become too wide and give up.
For others, it’s a case of not aligning with their teacher’s modality of education or the pace at which it’s delivered. Naturally, this is also troublesome for parents who know how fundamental these relationships are. Virtual tutoring, however, can provide that all important confidence boost in the subject that is proving difficult.
Maths and English tuition can be accessed for ages 4-16 years. Tuition can additionally include school entrance exam and GCSE preparation, as well as for junior certificate maths & equivalent (14- 16 years).
How It Works
Bright Horizons is working in collaboration with award-winning tuition experts, Explore Learning, to deliver virtual tuition to working parents and carer employees. The benefit is offered through its Back-Up Care Programme in which Back-Up Care can be exchanged for a block of 4, weekly one hour tutoring sessions.
Virtual tutoring means parents can become more present at work. Not only is their valuable time saved on transporting their child to a tutor, educational worries relating to their child’s academic gaps can also disappear, knowing they have an answer. Parents can carry on working while their child is comfortably learning, giving them time to concentrate on being productive and present in their jobs.
