The girl, age 15, is bright and was until recently an ambitious young woman. She was educated in mainstream schools until Easter 2010 when it became apparent that the teaching environment offered by the school did not fit with her specific learning style. Since then, she has been receiving a few hours of instruction each week from Tutors supplied by her school, but it is clear from the results of modules taken at the end of last year that at this rate of progress she will not do well in her GCSEs in May 2011.

Although she is severely deaf, she is determined to lead as normal a life as possible and does not wish to be identified with other deaf young people. She has independently learned to lip-read to such an extent that in normal, face-to-face conversation, there is almost no way to tell that she has a hearing impediment, but this has not been enough to allow her to develop normal social relationships with her peers, and has left her rather isolated with some concomitant issues with self-image. Further, despite her phenomenal lip-reading ability, in a large school where dialogue moves rapidly from one person to another around a class and where teachers were either unwilling or unable to adjust their teaching style and classroom management to accommodate what was best for her, she gradually slipped further and further behind until she reached the conclusion that she simply wasn’t learning anything.

Perhaps because of her hearing impairment, she has a special rapport with animals, and especially with dogs. It is hoped that she will one day find her place in the world in a professional field relating to animals. In order for this opportunity to be available, it is important that she does well enough in her GCSEs that she opens the doors to the opportunities that lie ahead.

The Tutor will work with her on Fridays each week, covering GCSEs in English Literature and Language, History (Modern World), PSR (Personal, Social and Religious Studies) and possibly some overlap into the Sciences, especially Physics.

The Tutor will need to be well prepared in advance of tutoring sessions and to have adapted his or her materials in such a way that when working the Tutor can sit opposite the student and maintain eye contact. This way she can lip-read with the maximum precision and therefore gain the most from each moment with her Tutor. Notes will need to be prepared that closely match what is said so that she can relate fluidly to her independent studies between meetings with the Tutor.

In addition to working with the student, the Tutor will need to liaise closely with her school and with the Maths, Science, English and History Tutors she has during the week to make sure that gaps in knowledge and skills are found and filled smoothly and efficiently, and to try to eliminate unnecessary repetition between the different teachers and Tutors.

The Tutor will work with the student all day from 9am-5pm on Fridays, with breaks as necessary. It will be up to the Tutor to work with her to plan a timetable for the day and to set work for the following week. It is expected that the Tutor will stay in touch with her to resolve any minor queries through email or skype between Friday sessions.

The Client will reimburse the Tutor’s return travel from as far away as London.

This is a non-residential position and no accommodation is provided. The ideal applicant can be a man or a woman. He or she should be a non-smoker. Dinner will not usually be provided by or taken with the family. It is essential that the Tutor speak clearly, without a speech impediment, regional dialect, or non-British accent. It is critical to the success of the role that Tutor shares the student’s deep-seated love of dogs; she has found that her strongest relationships with adults and peers are with fellow dog-lovers.