https://www.marksschooloxford.com/get-in-touch daily 0.75 2025-12-15 https://www.marksschooloxford.com/home-1 daily 1.0 2025-10-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6223384a2e477312d4d788f3/a3d0026d-ba17-40ed-b849-3b411221dc14/WhatsApp+Image+2022-03-05+at+10.44.14+AM.jpg Home - Message from our founder, Mark “Since I was a child, I have been passionate about teaching and learning. I have worked in education at all levels my whole life. I have taught at primary, secondary and degree level. I have a masters in maths from Oxford University, and I am currently working at Oxford University while I study for my second masters there. In 2019, I realised that the expertise and experience I have built up over the years could help families find the help they need, so I decided to set up my own business. What I value most about this work is the sense of connection with each family, and the things I have personally learnt through it.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6223384a2e477312d4d788f3/7c3bdeed-4e8f-4c64-be92-ea0fccf2e00a/unsplash-image-ncZMDEMEtmY.jpg Home - How we can help Finding the right tutor for your child can be a bit of a minefield! We’re here to help you navigate the journey safely by guiding you through a personalised, step-by-step process. Arrange a call with us, and together we will find what’s right for your child. These are some of the questions parents ask us: How do I find a good tutor? How can I have confidence my child’s tutor is really making a difference? How do I know they are covering the right material? How do I keep up-to-date with my child’s progress? How can I give feedback or switch tutors easily when my needs change? https://www.marksschooloxford.com/informationforteachers daily 0.75 2023-10-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6223384a2e477312d4d788f3/7c3bdeed-4e8f-4c64-be92-ea0fccf2e00a/unsplash-image-ncZMDEMEtmY.jpg Information for teachers - Some details about how we work: 1. I would need to see some evidence of a DBS check, and also have a picture and copy of your CV so I can create a Chinese language profile of you to send to the student (The vast majority of our students are Chinese). Of course, I would run the profile by you before sending it to a prospective student. 2. Whenever we have a new student, the tutor sends them a pre-lesson task to try. This helps the tutor quickly evaluate the student’s level so that they can provide a lesson better tailored to their abilities. It also helps build trust with the parents because we show we are taking our work seriously. 3. In an ideal world, the student would send the completed pre-lesson task back to me, and I would send it to you in plenty of time before the lesson. Of course, sometimes the student does not complete the task, or completes it, but only just in time for the lesson and not in advance, so we need to be flexible and ready to adjust to this. For example, some tutors help the student complete the pre-lesson task with them in the lesson when this happens. 4. I will help you and the parent arrange a mutually agreeable time for a trial class. We should choose a time that could work weekly long-term for everyone if the family wanted to move forward. 5. We use WeChat to communicate with Chinese students, and I would ask you to download this app and set up an account. WeChat is the Chinese equivalent of WhatsApp, and people in China do 95% of their communication via this app (and not email). 6. Once the trial class time is agreed, I would set up a WeChat group for me, the parent and yourself, and then you are responsible for setting up a lesson meeting room and sending it to the parent. The vast majority of our classes are online, and you can choose if you teach on zoom or teams. Google is not available in China. The trial lesson is paid as normal (and not free). 7. After the trial lesson has been completed, you would write one or two lines about your impression of the student/current strengths/weaknesses, and a few thoughts about how you would plan to teach them going forward. I will format this into a bilingual report and send it to the parents. Again, this helps to build trust in our professionalism. 8. I will let you know as soon as possible if the family would like to proceed with the lessons. 9. From this point on, you are responsible for communication between the family and yourself, but I am always available to answer any queries or step in if you would like. 10. You would submit an invoice to me and our accountant every month by the last day of the month, and you would be paid by the 10th of the following month. 11. For student cancellations, we do not charge if they give us 24 hours notice or more. However, for last minute cancellations we charge as normal. 12. I will send you more students whenever someone I feel would be a good fit for you comes along. Unfortunately inquiries tend to come in bunches and I wouldn’t be able to guarantee a steady flow of students, but I would do everything I could to get you the students you wanted. If having read all this, you are still interested in working with us, please send me a copy of your CV, AND a pre-lesson task that would be suitable for the student I have been in touch with you about. https://www.marksschooloxford.com/teacherhandbook daily 0.75 2025-10-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6223384a2e477312d4d788f3/7c3bdeed-4e8f-4c64-be92-ea0fccf2e00a/unsplash-image-ncZMDEMEtmY.jpg Teacher Handbook - Understanding the Client: The Chinese Family We are positioned in the market as a high-end service for middle-class Chinese families. Value on Education: Chinese families generally place a higher value on education than British families. Parents view it as one of their most important responsibilities to ensure their children receive the best possible education, often equating this with a school's higher ranking or prestige. Future Focus: Parents tend to plan far ahead, always focused on the next milestone. If a child is in primary school, the thinking is already, "What is the best possible secondary school I can get my child into?" If they are in secondary school, the focus shifts to, "What's the best possible university?" Everything revolves around achieving this next goal. Parent-Child Relationship: You will spend most of your time with the child, but the parent is the ultimate decision-maker. Every small interaction you have with the parent is crucial, as they form their impression of you based on these small details. To secure your work long-term, you must impress both the parent and the child. Speed is Key: When messaging parents on WeChat, please reply quickly, as quick responses are highly valued. When communicating with our onboarding team, replying as quickly as possible (within 24 hours at the latest) is also extremely helpful, as families place a high value on us moving quickly as a business. Curriculum and Milestones Lesson Structure: Your lessons must be interactive and student-focused. Direct instruction (lecturing) must be limited to short, focused blocks of no more than two minutes. The bulk of the lesson should involve the student performing tasks with close guidance and constant feedback from you. Maintain Value: Do not allow a student to work independently for more than ten minutes without a break for your feedback or active intervention. If you simply watch students perform longer tasks, you dilute your value. Authentic Materials: The materials you use should be based on the specific milestone they are preparing for. For example, if a student is preparing for the AQA English Language GCSE, the materials worked on in class should be real AQA exam questions. The rule is to use materials as directly related to the real exam as possible. The Exception: The only exception is if the student is not ready for the real exam materials (e.g., a Year 4 student preparing for the ISEB online pre-test finds past papers too hard). In this case, you can make adjustments using easier materials. While we must inspire their interest, students are taking classes with us to excel in their next assessed milestone, not purely for interest. Know the Exam Board: You must be sure you understand exactly what the next milestone is. For GCSE Chemistry, you need to know the exam board from the beginning and teach specifically to it. If our team doesn't tell you, you must ask them or the parents/student. Parents are sensitive to exam boards, and they may switch teachers if they feel you don't know the specific board well enough. Primary School Pathways: If your student is in primary school preparing for entrance exams, you must research exactly what their pathway will be (which tests, and when) and confirm this with our team or the parents. You must encourage students and parents to actively communicate any changes to their admissions plans so you can tailor your lessons accordingly. Homework and Feedback Homework is Mandatory: You must set homework after every lesson, and you must grade it with a numerical score. This score must be shared in the parent-teacher-student group chat so everyone can see it. Report Non-Completion: If the student does not complete their homework by the agreed time, you must report this to the parent immediately. In the parents' eyes, this greatly enhances the value of our offering. Encouraging & Accurate Feedback: Your feedback should be encouraging and positive, but it absolutely must be accurate. A common complaint from Chinese parents is: "The teacher told us all year my child was doing excellently, but then they got a B instead of an A. Why wasn't I told about this?" A key part of your responsibility is to give the parent a clear, ongoing, and evolving picture of where their child is in relation to the next milestone they are preparing for. Confident Recommendations: Feel free to make confident recommendations directly to the family about what you feel would be best for your student (e.g., recommending two lessons per week instead of one). Parents will appreciate the care. However, you must always ensure you are acting in the student's best interests, thinking about what truly is best for them, and not for yourself. The Crucial First Lesson Win the Case: The first lesson is the most important. Parents are looking for the best possible teacher, and it is normal for them to try several tutors at once (e.g., three different English tutors). To secure the long-term case for yourself, you need to be the best one they try. Ideal Preparation: In an ideal world, for an initial session, you would see some of their work and a school report beforehand. Based on this, you should set a pre-lesson task with a deadline. This allows you to look at their work before the lesson, giving you maximum information to prepare a much better session (possibly going through the pre-lesson task during the lesson). No Second Chances: Students and parents tend to make quick judgments about your suitability as a teacher and don't give much time for you to adjust the pace or difficulty to the student's needs. If you don’t hit it exactly right in the very first lesson, there is a high likelihood the family will move on. You need a strategy to prevent this. Communicate Commitment: Getting this information before the first lesson not only helps you teach well but also clearly communicates your commitment and high value-add to the family. Even if the family doesn't complete the pre-lesson work, they still see you as a committed professional. Post-Lesson Feedback: Immediately after the first lesson, you should post feedback in the group chat so the parent can see your analysis and understand your value. Use numerical feedback, not just verbal feedback. Formal Report: At Mark's School Oxford, we use your first-lesson feedback to create a formal report for parents. Our onboarding team will chase you for this, but it is a huge help to us if you can send it directly to them immediately after the first lesson. Again, Chinese families love it when things move quickly, which helps us impress them.