The girl is currently at stage 7-8 of the Oxford Literacy program and doing well at school. She likes to do well and is competitive. Although one of the best in her class when she was school, her teachers have noted that she was not as confident in the classroom as other students, and preferred to ask peers for help rather than her teachers. She is following the IPC curriculum with Abacus Maths and the family would like her to continue these. She also picking up French through the family’s travels and has started Spanish at school. Languages and arts are her favourite subjects.

The boy was in his second year at school before the family decided to educate their children at home. He is a happy child who is on track. He has already learned the alphabet, numbers to twenty, and is beginning to read. He is also on the Abacus Maths programme and is using Jolly Phonics.

The appointed candidate will be highly educated, intelligent, well-travelled, responsible, practical, and down-to-earth with a sense of fun and a wide range of personal interests they can bring to the role. The Tutor needs to have English as their mother tongue. The ideal Tutor will also have some musical ability, and be physically fit and active. The children will respond best to a young, positive, friendly and enthusiastic person who can provide a broadly ranging education.

The children will be home-schooled from April 2012 until age 16 at least. The Tutor will need to design and deliver a course that solidifies the extent of their schooling to date and progresses them at least as quickly as the best schools, but without being pressuring or overbearing.

It will be essential for the Tutor to maintain meticulous, up-to-date records of achievement for the children and across all their subjects.

While all concerned agree that full-time private tutoring offers the very best education, they are also aware that it can be relatively isolating if not sensitively and thoughtfully handled. Given the children’s social proclivities, it is imperative that the Tutor helps the children to develop and maintain social opportunities. For example, the Tutor may be able to maintain links with the children’s former school in Malta and thereby involve the children into some of their art, drama or sports. But even if this does not prove possible, the Tutors, their children (and perhaps even their parents) could be involved in a play involving friends among the cast. Any musical ability could be exploited. Games and play-dates also lend themselves to social events.

This post also carries with it an opportunity to extend the teaching beyond the immediate environment, through excursions that fit into the curriculum. Such educational travel will need to be planned carefully in advance and with the approval of the Client. It makes more sense to study the Egyptians in Egypt than from a textbook!

The Tutor will need to work with the children together; this will generally be in the mornings when the children are at their freshest. The Tutor will need work closely any other Tutors and the Client to establish what works best for the children in any given situation. In addition, the Tutor will initially be working with another staff member who has worked for the family for a long time in a number of roles including assistant, nanny and teacher and will be wealth of excellent ideas about what works best for the children and the family as a whole.

There will be a well-equipped and dedicated schoolroom in all locations; the Tutors will be responsible for ensuring that it remains organised and properly stocked. The Tutors will also need to be responsible for packing and moving any teaching materials they wish to take between the locations or use during periods of travel.

This is a full time position and, as far as possible, will need to follow a carefully planned timetable. The Tutor should expect to work around 40 hours per week with preparation in addition. The Tutors will be entitled to an average of two consecutive days off per week, normally at the weekend, but may need to be flexible regarding the family’s travel plans and the children’s other activities.

Furnished accommodation will be arranged for the Tutors in all locations. This may be an apartment, house, or guesthouse at the Client’s properties. It is possible that the Tutors will need to share the accommodation. If hotel accommodation is used when traveling, each Tutor will have his or her own bedroom.

The family have homes in France, Malta and Ireland, and travel frequently between them. In addition, once the tutoring starts, the family will have more freedom to travel unfettered by the need to attend a specific school, and the Tutors should expect longer trips further afield.

The ideal applicant will be single, a qualified teacher, with plenty of experience, enthusiasm and energy. He or she will need a track record of preparing students for excellence and must be capable of adapting their working style to fit the variable circumstances of working with four children at home or while traveling. The Tutor should be a non-smoker, physically fit, imaginative and inventive.

One of the selected candidates will be designated as the lead Tutor, with additional responsibilities, such as ensuring that examination entries have been correctly administered.