I was one of those parents that was always involved in school life as my own children were growing up. I was a member of the pre-school and the PTA, I heard young children read, I was a classroom helper. I even served a 3-year term as a school governor. As my children moved through school and onto the next school I continued as a classroom helper, working part-time and studying for the physics degree I never thought I would achieve.

Most of our experiences during my children’s education were positive. But then came a low point. It was a shock when I realised my son was not receiving the level of support that I felt he needed. Everything seemed to be a battle. The girls were doing well, everything was going to plan but as my son approached his GCSEs I was the only educational support he was getting.

He did OK, not brilliant, not awful. Once we received his results I kept thinking – if I could help him, then with some training I should be able to help others. I could stop other children from falling through the cracks. I had to at least try. I applied for PGCE and was accepted into Exeter University to train as a physics teacher.

Fast forward, I was teaching in school and realised that there were still children falling through the cracks. They needed more 1-1 support than the school was able to give. It just isn’t possible in the classroom. An average of 30 students, the average lesson lasts 60 minutes: register, hand out books, explain the lesson, allow time to feedback, collect books, return equipment and dismiss – each student receives less than 2 minutes attention.

I understand all the reasons, I understand all the pressures from so many directions, and I understand why teachers on the frontline bear the brunt of so much frustration from students, from parents, from management. I had always tutored alongside teaching but I decided it was time to leave teaching and start tutoring full-time.

I am not the first teacher to tutor outside of school hours and I won’t be the last. No one told me that I was going to have to master a new set of skills if I was going to run my own business. No one told me I was going to have to work as many hours as I did when I was teaching. Only now I’m in control of what I can offer. I do it, and I love it.

My students get high-quality support in science and maths for science, either as 1-1 or as part of a small group. I can be totally flexible in what I teach and how and when. I can speed ahead if something is picked up really quickly. I can spend 3 or 4 lessons on something if it is tricky and needs loads of extra practice. I can, truly, tailor my lessons to my students so that they get the most benefit.

For some of my students, private tuition is a little extra to give them the confidence they need to fully benefit from their school lessons. For my other students, it is a lifeline – someone that believes in them, someone that believes they can, with help, succeed, someone that has the time to give them the positive attention they need. Just as my son needed someone.

And then I sit back and watch them blossom.