Sussex Travellers Tutor Group

Sussex Travellers Tutor Group offers private and small group tutoring to Traveller children and adults in the west Sussex area. The tuition provided is primarily for those who have opted out of main stream school and have gaps in their basic education; however those attending main stream school may join in with homework or literacy confidence sessions.

Children and adults of any Traveller background and also children of non-travelling backgrounds are very welcome.

Who can benefit from tutoring?

If any of the following apply to you or your child Sussex Travellers' Tutor Group may be able to help you:

•Cannot read or write at all
•Have difficulty or lack confidence with reading and writing
•Difficulties with basic numeracy, telling the time
•Do not attend school or have access to educational facilities
•Lack motivation in learning
•Would prefer to be home schooled but parents unable to support learning
•Travelling for work means children cannot attend school regularly


All students are treated as individuals and given plenty of attention and encouragement. This means they can progress at their own pace but also that I can ensure they use the time effectively. Problems are noticed promptly and solutions found, whereas in large class situations many children slip through the net and their difficulties not always resolved.

Tutoring is usually given at my home where I can provide a peaceful and friendly atmosphere. Children do not have to worry about distractions such as bullying, negative influences or feel embarassed if they do not know something. I do expect good behaviour and effort, however we have fun and I try to make sure the children enjoy the learning because this in turn brings good results.

Some of the children I tutor lack interest and motivation in school type work to begin with, some have little confidence in their own potential. This often stems from previous bad experiences in a learning environment. I have had success in overcoming these attitudes in a number of ways, for example I find it useful to incorporate a child's personal interests in their learning. Ultimately success breeds confidence and children enjoy their learning much more when they see results.

Every student is different and their needs vary so the work they do will be planned so suit them and this will be discussed with parents. Students will work towards gaining confidence and ability in numeracy and literacy. This may include and not be limited to the following;

•Reading - with emphasis on confidence and enjoyment from reading, using reading to research and learn.
•Writing, starting with good basics, developing confidence and fluency, correct spelling and punctuation and handwriting.
•Using a computer to produce a word document, save and print documents and use email.
•Numeracy, starting with number work, addition and subraction, times tables, calculating percentages and measuring. Telling the time and basic fractions , some basic project work in understanding costing and profit, house hold expense or any theme that relates to the individual's personal interests.
•Small projects will be used to develop literacy skills and broaden knowledge and interests. This might include study of a personal interest or hobby, culture or history.
•One young boy was very interested in becoming a tree surgeon, his project included finding out about training options. He also researched the costs involved in setting up as a self employed tree surgeon.