Mum sets up online psychology-informed tutor scheme near Aylesbury

Tracey Blake from Princes Risborough has launched a new tutoring platform available for local primary and secondary school students.

The mother of two is offering lesson bundles from £15.99 to £19.99 per hour for one-to-one online sessions.

The programme called Swotties, is promising to offer a more holistic approach to study, using a badge reward system, games and other activities.

In-house educational psychologist Dr Clare Daly has inputted to the lesson planning, by incorporating softer skills such as frustration tolerance, patience and problem solving.

The core subjects of Maths, English and Science will be the main focus of these study sessions. Whilst other subjects including Spanish, French and humanities can be covered on request.

Dr Daly, the current director of the Doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Strathclyde, says: “We’ve created a safe space for children to develop their true potential, using research-based techniques, including concepts like gamification and peer-style study buddies. We’ve considered every aspect of a learner’s journey, from initial planning, to transferring new knowledge into the real world and confidence in everyday life.”

Swotties pledges to donate one free lesson for an underprivileged child for every block of 20 booked by one household. This will be piloted at local school, Princes Risborough Primary School.

CEO and Swotties founder Tracey Blake says: “As a mother of two primary school-age children, I was amazed at the cost of private tutors, but could see that it was rapidly becoming the norm for many families to make sacrifices to pay for them, meanwhile those that couldn’t afford tutoring worried that their children were at a disadvantage and falling further behind.

"I wanted to help level the learning playing field and make tutoring as accessible as possible financially and as entertaining as possible for kids. The aim is to help children from all backgrounds to thrive.”

Information on subscription packages and different learning bundles is available online here.