Advice to parents on the most important security checks they or their private tutoring agency need to make when hiring a private tutor.
Full-time private tuition can ensure your child receives the best education possible, and many UHNW families are taking this approach to fit in with travel, security concerns or international relocation. However, hiring a private tutor and carrying out the necessary checks, especially for multilingual travelling tutor who can provide tuition in multiple languages, as demanded by an international lifestyle, can prove to be rather complicated.
Find a reputable tutoring agency to help you
The ideal private tutor has to be responsible, resourceful, and someone that you know will be able to deal with any kind of problem that may arise. They will also spend many hours alone with your child at home and out on visits.
It is possible to find and hire a private tutor yourself, but to ensure that you are employing a capable tutor with an excellent academic background and be certain that they are safe to spend time with your child, using a private tutor agency is invaluable.
Once the tutor agency has identified the best candidates, if you know the agency carries out the level of background screening as discussed in this article, you can make your final selection with confidence.
Choose your tutor agency with care, as many are not equipped to deal with the background and reference checks required for an international or multilingual tutor. A reputable tutor agency will not only find and screen candidates but will also know the qualities to look for in the best full-time tutors, and how to ensure a candidate genuinely has those qualities.
As parents, awareness of the background checks that your agency should provide as standard will ensure that you are doing everything possible to provide excellent education for your child without compromising safety.
Enhanced CRB checks
Some agencies accept a clear enhanced CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) result if it was carried out relatively recently, but reputable agencies such as Tutors International always request a new ECRB check to ensure that no offences have been committed since the last clear result was provided.
Don’t take any chances with this; the candidate may have been cautioned and released since the last check, or even convicted in some cases.
Security: Background checks that CRB can miss
The best tutor agencies will carry out a great deal of research on the final tutor candidates before you meet them, to ensure that there are no previous convictions. Check that the tutor agency also carries out background research that is sufficiently in-depth to uncover serious accusations that may fall below the radar of a normal criminal record check.
Not all tutor agencies do this, and as your tutor will become a member of your household staff and have daily contact with your children, the expertise in this area that the best agencies offer cannot be underestimated.
Check the tutor has ISA registration
Beware tutors that state that they will not register for the ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority). Good tutor agencies will understand that any measures taken to safeguard children in regular contact with adults should be respected and adhered to, so be sure to ask your agency what their attitude to this is, and if they don’t intend to ensure their tutors are registered, ask why.
References for multilingual tutors
We all know it’s important to check references and take great care to verify that the referees are indeed who they claim to be. When these referees may be located in multiple countries it can be a challenge beyond the means of many families. This is where an agency can be immensely useful, especially in following up and verifiying references in other languages or qualifications obtained in the other countries.
Ensure that the agency personally verifies every single reference and detail of employment on the candidate’s CV. All references should be translated into English for appraisal, and then the agency should contact the institutions and families who have previously employed the candidate.
Should any doubts arise, and also to provide an extra level of security, ask leading risk-management companies, such as Kroll, to carry out extensive and detailed background checks.
Health and lifestyle checks
Ensuring that the private tutor who will become part of your family leads a healthy lifestyle and doesn’t take drugs or drink excessively is another crucial component of hiring a private teacher. This is not only to put your mind at rest and be certain the candidate will provide the best service possible, it is also critical when living and travelling in some countries with stringent laws regarding alcohol and drugs. Ask your tutor agency whether they carry out drug testing and whether they would insist upon medical checks should any doubts arise during the contract.
