About - Keystone Tutors

Why was Keystone Tutors set up?

Keystone Tutors was founded as "Russell Group Tutors" in 2006, by Will Orr-Ewing.

It is committed to professionalising and legitimising one-on-one tuition, and to providing it in way that enables and encourages the student rather than providing a crutch. Guy Claxton’s words on learning are a bit of a mantra for all that we are trying to achieve.

We are also committed to providing impartial, no-nonsense educational advice.

How does Keystone Tutors control the quality of its tutors?

Keystone Tutors has a rigorous selection procedure. Tutors are all interviewed face-to-face, and have to provide references. Keystone Tutors' most important referencing is internal though: you will have the chance to speak to other parents who have used the tutor before.

In its ambitions to professionalise, Keystone Tutors tries to find tutors who can commit for more than two years. Wherever possible, we use Sarah Govett, a specialist in 11+ and 13+ tutor training, to train our tutors in a unique programme that addresses three critical areas:

1. The UK curriculum, together with the standards of attainment that should be met in each year group and for each independent school examination. Sarah provides each tutor with the necessary materials. These have been designed by herself to include past paper questions.
2. Tutoring techniques which are designed to make each tutorial as productive but also as enjoyable for the child as possible.
3. The ways in which children learn and retain information and the critical cognitive skills they must develop. This includes sequencing, processing, spatial awareness, decoding and memorisation. We also provide an overview of specific learning difficulties and how they affect these skills.

In addition to this training, we encourage tutors to visit our sister site dysTalk, attend workshops and courses on literacy and maths teaching techniques, behavioural issues and study skills techniques.