“She’s dropped out of every education system she has been in since primary school - Educatch is the first place that she’s really persisted with.

Our daughter is bright, academically able, but was in a real black hole in regard to her mental health.  Having been out of school for a year, and struggling to attend for a year before that - in addition to being out of school with COVID - we were not after any "quick fixes".  Educatch started working with our daughter after she had been out of school (full time) for over a year.

We must have tried 4 or 5 other home school tutors; none of who lasted as their focus was purely on academic attainment and quantitative progress.  What my daughter needed was a bridge - someone able to earn her trust and help her develop her social skills and confidence - before she could engage with academic learning.  For many tutors, this can feel immensely frustrating, as their focus is purely on the academic attainment of a subject, rather than this holistic approach to my daughter's long term welfare. 

Tom - our daughter's tutor - has been really fantastic, and has understood the importance of building our daughter up, to a position where she feels secure, able to engage and advocate for herself.  She has developed a lot, and gained so much confidence.  He is not solely motivated by progress measurable on paper, which is essential for her being able to build an authentic relationship based on trust and mutual respect.  There was an understanding that she needed so much more than purely academic tuition, and how to feel secure she needed to feel authentic autonomy in what was going on, being planned, and part of the decision making process.  Whilst he has tried to present academic goals, he is knowledgeable enough to understand when pursuing these goals would be detrimental to our daughter's ability to engage and he can prioritise the bigger picture over short-term goals. 

Tom has gone over and above what we could have expected someone to do. His contribution has made a real difference to her life and her confidence in interacting in the world and engaging with the organisation. Family members have commented how, since he's been working with her, she has grown in confidence and her self-esteem has dramatically improved.  She is due to start a specialist school in September, and having had Tom's input, she is excited, feeling good about herself and feels able to make this step back into Education.  We can't thank Tom enough.  He is an extremely kind, knowledgeable and able tutor and we will be forever thankful to him.”.”

/ Kira, Parent /