The 13 year old is a bright and engaging young man from a good family. He is polite and charming. His strongest academic subjects are Maths and Science, and his weakest is English. Indeed, he does not much care for the language and does not like studying it. The family, however, would like their son to attend either an American school in Istanbul, or, if he does not make a successful application to one of the top four schools there, move to a good school in London or the home counties. Whether he attends an American or a British school, in Istanbul or London, his standard of English is likely to hamper his work across all subjects once he is based full time in a school in which the language of instruction is mainly English. For him to succeed, he will need the after-school support of a Tutor who can help ensure that any gaps exposed through the differences between the educational systems are identified and resolved. If possible, it would also be helpful if the Tutor can work ahead in some English-language intensive subjects so that he is more prepared to flourish in class.

The boy has two siblings, both 10. Their English is coming along well but they too will need to improve their English in order to cope with a move to England or applications to the best schools in Istanbul. Of the two, the girl has better English than her brother. The Tutor will need to divide his or her time between the three children to ensure that all of them receive the support they need. Clearly the younger two children have much more time to come to terms with learning English. The eldest child, on the other hand, may have GCSEs in two years. He cannot afford to fall behind.

For the school year 2013/14, the family have committed to staying in Istanbul. The eldest will be taking his tests for entry to the top private schools in Istanbul in June 2014. These tests are in Turkish, so unless the Tutor is fluent in Turkish he will not be able to help him revise. The results of these tests will not be known until a few weeks after they are taken. If the results are good and he is accepted into one of the top four schools, the family will remain in Istanbul, probably until he graduates high school. If he does not pass these tests next summer, he will need to be holding a place a good British school — applications for which generally close in January 2014.

This role is therefore very much one of two halves. From September until the closing date for applications and then, if required, preparation for interview, the Tutor will concentrate on getting his applications for the schools in and around London completed. This may involve preparation for specific tests set by the schools, or Common Entrance. It is not known at this stage what the schools will require for a student who would be joining them into the non-standard year 10. The applications of the younger two children to British schools will need to be made at the same time for entry into year 7 or 8.

Of key importance is the need for the Tutor to engage the eldest and to try to warm him to English. The ideal Tutor will therefore need to have a love of his favourite school subjects of Maths and Science and extra-curricular interests (basketball and football, as well as computer games). It is through these subjects that it is most likely that the Tutor will be able to make English more palatable. For example, if he were to be involved in working with his Tutor to do some creative writing that had a strongly scientific or mathematical theme, where the scientific or mathematical facts needed to be correct to make the story coherent, then this would be more likely to excite him than the kind of tasks normally set in English lessons.

The Tutor will be responsible for ensuring that everything studied at school is fully understood and that any work that needs to be prepared for school the next day has been done by the children. The Tutor will not do the children’s homework for them, but he will be on hand to help with any areas that require additional explanation, and may be asked to review the students’ work and point out where there is room for improvement before it is handed-in at school.

As soon as the application and interview process for schools in and around London is completed, the Tutor will be able to do more work with the younger two, especially on the younger brother’s English. Unlike his older brother, he enjoys English, but he needs to improve considerably if he’s going to be able to thrive once he starts in England. Obviously, if the eldest is successful in his application to the Turkish schools the family will not take up their places at the British schools, or may wish to defer entry for a year or more.

With the eldest, the pressure of the two sets of schools applications and the relative weakness in English mean that the amount of material needed to be covered will be much greater than for the younger two. The Tutor will therefore need to divide his time judiciously between the three children, ensuring primarily that the eldest receives the support he needs to make the most of this very important year.

The Tutor will normally expect to work with the children every afternoon and evening after school Monday-Thursday, and on either Saturday or Sunday. On weekdays the Tutor should expect to start work at 3pm at the earliest and to finish whenever all the work is completed in the evening. This could easily be after 10pm. At the weekend, the Tutor will be expected to work for about 8-10 hours, at times suitable to the Client.

The weekly tutoring hours should rarely exceed forty, but in the run up to tests the Tutor should anticipate being available to the family as needed to complete the work on time. With this in mind, there may be days where one or more children are off school — a school day holiday or mild sickness, or even for a study-break if needed, and the Tutor may be asked to come in for all or part of that day. Where possible, for school holidays or for a study-break for example, the Tutor will be given at least a week’s notice; where one of the children is off school for other reasons the Tutor may not be asked until the same morning. In such circumstances it is expected that the Tutor will normally rearrange any personal appointments he or she may have made to support the children.

Over the duration of the contract, nine weeks of paid holiday will accrue, as per the Terms. These periods will normally occur during the standard school vacations, but in any event should be agreed directly between Tutor and Client.

Fully furnished accommodation with Internet, in an apartment separate from the family home, will be provided. The Client will be responsible for all utilities on this accommodation with the exception of the Tutor’s personal telephone usage.

If the Tutor is asked to accompany the Client on any travel, the Client will be responsible for all the Tutor’s travel expenses and accommodation arrangements, but not his or her food or personal telephone usage.

A car will not be available for the Tutor’s own, but the Client will reimburse the Tutor for the use of public transport instead. If transport is required as part of the job, such as for taking the children to an art gallery or museum, then the Client will ensure suitable arrangements are made.