Private tutoring is abhorrent says private school head
A Heads of some top private schools have spoken out against parents who excessively tutor or interview prep their children to try and gain them a place. Parents are making children act like “performing animals” by putting them through extensive private tutoring to gain places at leading independent schools, headteachers have warned.
B
Being tutored in an attempt to make children appear brighter than they
really are in interviews and entrance exams is “abhorrent”, according to Andrew Halls, the headmaster of fee-paying
King’s College School, Wimbledon. “It is really important parents choose a
school where their child will be valued for the sort of boy or girl they are,
not crippled by the idea that they have not lived up to your ambitions,” said
Mr Halls.
C
Dr Andrew Mayfield, director of admissions at St
Paul’s School, in Barnes, West London,
said children can be “crushed” by
getting in to schools that are not appropriate for them. “If you’re trying to
tutor them to get them in, then that’s probably not the best school for them.
You’re probably trying to overcook them,” he said. “A child’s happiness,
well-being and development are more important than the reputation of a
school.” The right school is one where a child can “flourish without
external support”, he added.
D
Hilary French, headmistress of Newcastle High School
for Girls, said: “Of course teach children good manners, but don’t train
them in certain conventions that somebody has put on the internet. They’re not
performing animals, they’re children. We all need to learn to accept who we are
and not pretend to be someone different.” Mrs French said children who have
been prepped often do worse during the admissions process because they “think
along pre-determined, learnt lines rather than thinking through things”.
E Dr Ralph
Townsend, the headmaster of Winchester
College, said the private
tutoring industry was “both unfortunate and unnecessary”. “There are many good
schools; the parents’ task is the one that best suits the child’s interests and
abilities,” he said. “If the child cannot meet the required criteria
naturally, it’s the wrong school for him or her. “A good school sets out
its stall very clearly so that
parents know whether or not that is what they want for their child. No school
is right for every child: the child needs to be right for the school.”
Adjusted to (1)
abhorrent – odporný
crush – zlikvidovat
1) Read the
article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1 Child’s
happiness is more important than good name of the school
2 Prepared
children often do worse at entrance exams
3 Headmasters
speak about ambitious parents
4 Parents
should find a suitable school for the child
5 Hall’s
opinion about pushy parents
2) Read the
article and answer the questions.
1 What do
headmasters of top private schools say?
2 What does
Hall say about tutoring for entrance exams?
3 What does
Mayfield mean with the phrase “flourish without external support”?
4 What shouldn’t
parents do according to French?
5 What does
Townsend say about private tutoring industry? Why?
3) Explain
the following words and phrases.
1 excessively
tutor or interview prep
2 fee-paying
3 reputation
of a school
4 teach
children good manners
5 child
cannot meet the required criteria naturally
4) Answer
the following questions.
What are levels of
education? What are types of schools in the Czech Republic?
What is the difference between Czech and British systems of education?
Video:
Tips, sources of information:
Source:
(1)
CONNINGTON, James. Private tutoring
is abhorrent says private school head. The Telegraph [online].
2015 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ education/educationnews/11687621/Private-tutoring-is-abhorrent-says-private-school-head.html
