The older brother, 19, is a bright and perceptive young man with and amiable and assured manner and keen sense of humour. He is a creative thinker, highly conversational and articulate and able to support his opinions when arguing them verbally. He is an engaging and broadly interested young man who enjoys reading and finds it easy to retain information on topics he enjoys. Despite the setbacks in his education in recent years, he is far from despondent. He understands that there is a vast amount to get done and that this will require a great deal of consistent effort, but he upbeat he is keen to get started.

Although his verbal dexterity is well developed, dysgraphia has put his writing behind verbal expression in this regard. He has not yet developed the discipline to plan or review his work as carefully as is needed. He writes fluidly without much effort and although he has started a number of novels he is yet to finish one. He is astute and appreciates the link between his own reluctance to plan and review and his unfinished writing. The young man needs support with organising not only his thoughts when it comes to his writing but also with general study skills, which will need to be integrated extensively into all aspects of his studies. It is expected that when he returns to formal lessons in IGCSE and A level subjects and his writing needs to be more explicitly matched with a purpose or specific audience, his writing deficits will be lessened. It is also expected that a return to formal study will help him to learn to balance his tendency to use his intellect and general knowledge to make assumptions and generalisations before he has fully considered a topic.

He has studied maths at various different schools and this resulted in gaps in knowledge that will need to be found and consolidated. It should not take long for this knowledge to be acquired and secured because he has shown himself to be a capable mathematician, able not only to apply concepts within the subject, but also to understand how a mathematical mindset interacts with philosophy and religion.

He loves dialogue about physics, is intellectually curious and has a good general knowledge of the subject. Given his ability in mathematics and its applications it is likely that the physical sciences will be an area of strength, but at present there is no additional information available regarding his current level of study of the subjects. He and his younger brother are good at languages, speaking German and Spanish in addition to English. With excellent tutoring, support with organisation and planning, and a period of sustained hard work, he should excel academically and secure a good choice of places at University.

The younger brother, 18, is a gregarious, well-spoken and polite young man. He is ambitious and entrepreneurial in outlook, seeing opportunity for business everywhere. In the company of his older brother he can appear reserved, but he is nonetheless attentive. Without the older brother around, he is engaging, interesting and conversational. He has wanted to be homeschooled for a long time and is very keen to resume full time schooling as soon as possible.

Recollection of events in his educational history has had a profoundly different impact on the younger brother than his sibling, and has perhaps resulted in a student who tends to be less willing to trust new teachers. Despite this, and to his tremendous credit, he is committed to finish his schooling on a strong note and aspires to be accepted into some of the most prestigious Universities. There is no reason to think that he is over- reaching and it will be the responsibility of his tutors to establish and maintain an environment in which his potential can flourish.

He has historically been a hesitant reader but more recently has discovered the joy that this can bring. With the right encouragement and appropriate advice on reading material, his development in this regard should be pronounced. When he does read, his comprehension is excellent and he can communicate his ideas equally well through composition or speech. There is some evidence, from a brief period of schooling last summer, that he needs to improve sentence structure and comma use, but this will come from writing in all school subjects.

In mathematics, he is open to advice and suggestions. He enjoys the subject and wants to be good at it, and again it will be essential that he has a good rapport and is able to trust his tutor. He has expressed that he learns better visually, as do many students who have grown up with the Internet their whole life. Due to the frequency of school changes and periods out of school there are some inevitable gaps in his knowledge. Combined with a certain amount of diffidence, he can also struggle with independent thinking. With the caring and dedicated support of an able, motivational and energetic Tutor this will soon evaporate.

In addition to working with the brothers, the Tutors will need to establish and maintain a productive dialogue with the young men’s mother, keeping her fully informed and updated regarding any and all issues that might arise from the tutoring. She has been central in her in her sons’ educational planning and progress, not only as a mother but also as a psychologist specialised in multiple educational and therapeutic fields.

This role calls for two Tutors, a man and woman in an established relationship. The Tutors will be responsible for the broad education of the boys. While they will mostly adhere to a timetable, they should be prepared for a degree of flexibility and a fair amount of travel often at short notice. The students will be homeschooled for the remainder of their schooling, up to and including the completion of University applications. In an ideal world the same Tutors will see the children all the way through their GCSEs and A levels, but obviously this will be affected by the choice of A levels.

The family have opted to follow a British curriculum because of the flexibility that end-of-course assessment offers the learning pathways. This freedom to inter-relate the subjects and use a variety of approaches that suit both young men’s very different learning styles and subject levels means that the Tutors will need to be highly organised. It is imperative that the Tutors quickly establish a teaching framework and assessment methodology that makes it evident to the students what they have mastered and what still requires more practice. This needs to be maintained across all the subjects and available to the students at all times.

Between them the Tutors should be able to offer at least the following subjects to GCSE: mathematics, English literature, English language, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, economics, religious studies, classical civilisation, Spanish and German. In an ideal world the tutors will also be able to teach Latin, and possibly Ancient Greek, to GCSE. It will be the responsibility of the Tutors and the students to determine the order that these subjects will be taught, but under no circumstances should a student be entered into an examination for which they are not fully prepared to achieve an excellent grade. The freedom to work at varying paces through the material should be used to the student’s advantage wherever possible.

It is not known at this stage which A levels will be chosen, but the student’s current academic interests lie predominantly in maths, physics, English literature, creative writing, economics and modern European languages. In addition to A levels, the students will need to take the American SAT and complete US college applications. It would be advantageous if one or other tutor had experience with US college application preparation.

In addition to the general school teaching, it is the Tutors’ responsibility to identify, arrange and foster a variety of suitable extra-curricular activities such as archery and other concentration sports, playing a musical instrument, drama, arts, and community service. Depending on progress and need, time for ergotherapy (similar to occupational therapy) and calligraphy might need to be allotted into the working week. The students’ mother’s illness has been a major life crisis for the two boys and is a source on ongoing distress. In the fullness of time, suitable therapeutic support will be sought for the boys and this will need to be integrated into the flow of the educational day. It is important the the boys lead a full and busy life that encourages well-rounded personal development and a healthy lifestyle.

This is a full time position and, as far as possible, will need to follow a carefully planned timetable. The Tutors should expect to work around forty hours per week with preparation in addition. The students do not work well together because they have very different learning styles.

It is envisaged that the students will spend four hours each day, usually a morning or afternoon studying with their Tutors and the other half of the day engaged in extra-curricular activities. Homework should only be given when a particular skill needs practice or in the final stages of preparation for an examination.

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 other commitments.

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

In each location Tutors will have the use of a car (not one each) for their local personal use, for getting to and from work, and for any work-related travel (such as for taking the students to art galleries or museums, or to extra-curricular activities). Fully comprehensive insurance, road tax and maintenance will be covered by the Client, as will all fuel costs for professional use. The Tutors are responsible for the costs of fuel for any personal use, keeping the vehicle clean and for any damage other than fair wear and tear that is not covered by the insurance.

If the Tutors provide their own car the Client will be responsible for any additional insurance and will reimburse the Tutor for their mileage for work-related driving at £0.50 GBP/mile (£0.40 GBP/km).

Furnished accommodation will be arranged for the Tutors in all locations. In Spain and US this will be an apartment within reasonable proximity of the Client’s home. In Switzerland it may be a local hotel.

The Tutors will need to be flexible to accommodate the Client’s often changeable travel plans, and the Client will be mindful of the Tutors’ privacy and the need to a suitable teaching space in all locations.

The Client has agreed to fund this enterprise in full. For the avoidance of doubt, this funding extends to the fees for the Tutors for three years, the costs associated with the details of this Specification in terms of the provisions for travel, accommodation and access to a car, as well all teaching resources, textbooks, and any appropriate peripheral costs such as arranging access to laboratories as required by the course syllabi, entries to museums, membership of sports clubs and so forth.

The Client does not mind if the Tutors smoke; if they do then they should abide by the Client’s guidelines about where and when this is appropriate when with the students.