Throughout your time as a tutor, it is certain that a student will be late or not turn up to a lesson. Please make sure you know this part of the induction well, so you know exactly what to do.

Do not take it personally

In the past we have had tutors take no shows (DNA’s) or forgotten lessons personally. Specifically, getting annoyed by students not turning up and trying to communicate passive aggressive reminders in lesson reports.

These tutors did not stay with Westcountry SEN long as they were unable to make it through their probationary period.

It is important to always remember the core value of compassion and respect. Until we know why a student hasn’t shown up, we must never assume it is because they do not value the service.

Throughout the whole of Westcountry SEN’s life, there hasn’t been one single no show any of us can think of that was because a client or student couldn’t be bothered to come or didn’t value the service.

Did not arrive (DNA) is mainly caused by the following:

• Forgetting what day it is
• Forgetting what time it is
• Parent struggling with organisation
• Parents being overwhelmed with frequent afterschool clubs for all children
• Family deaths (including pets)
• Student and or client anxiety

Give the client a chance

All DNA’s are charged for at the full rate (unless rearranged, see below). However, it is Westcountry SEN’s policy to give the client/student a chance to attend any lessons they are late for wherever possible and to show that we did our best to help them have their original lesson.

As soon as a student is 5 minutes late, we need to phone the relevant person and follow up with an immediate email. Please do not contact the client before the 5 minuets, as we will seem a bit pushy.

We will now look at how the above might vary depending on where you were originally providing the lesson to the student.

In all of the following, you can just call the main Westcountry SEN number 01747 859102 and the receptionist will contact the clients and come back to you to let you know what is happening. So, wherever you were tutoring, please remain available so the student still has a chance to join a lesson.

If you have a particularly close relationship with the student, that student is going to try and join the lesson as soon as they are reminded. You will be paid for all your time as per your contract so be mindful of the relationship you have with your student.

It still makes me sad when I think about a 7-year-old girl who had a good relationship with a trainee tutor who was wonderful in so many ways, but always reacted badly when a student didn’t show up as she expected.

One particular day, the student didn’t show up because her Mum was stuck in traffic and then forgot about the lesson by the time she got home. The tutor emailed the Mum and didn’t follow the steps to phone first, or indeed phone at all.

The lesson was booked in at 4 o’clock.

The activity logs showed the tutor kept her whiteboard open until 4.17pm, then closed down her system completely.

Mum realised about the lesson at 4.18pm and the child immediately logged on and kept the whiteboard open, occasionally logging on and off until 4.38pm trying to get someone’s attention. At 4.38pm she left a message for the tutor on the whiteboard saying she was sorry not to see her and had wanted to tell her about a test result she had.

Her mum picked up the email and emailed back at 4.19 to say they were ready. The tutor wasn’t monitoring her emails, so didn’t get the message. Mum didn’t phone the main reception until after the lesson time had finished, she felt awful for forgetting and was embarrassed. Mum also felt guilty when she mentioned that her daughter had patiently stared at a blank screen and then cried when she had to log out and couldn’t see the tutor that day.

This tutor was acting as the face of Westcountry SEN. Even though they had the same training as you, they took DNA’s personally so acted in anger rather than compassion. Both the mother and the daughter were upset by the process. The tutor was 100 % in the wrong.

If in Westcountry Practice

If a student hasn’t logged on or arrived to the practice and the receptionist is there, ask them to phone the client. The receptionist will phone and email the client. Or you can use the Westcountry Practice mobile phone to call the client yourself. However, it is the receptionist job and they are very used to dealing with late clients.

‘Hi this is Pippa, Ben’s Tutor. I was expecting him today at 4.45. I hope all is well and everything is ok?’

It is a message of concern for the client / student rather than a ‘how dare you forget to come’ response.

If the client comes back to you, for whatever they say you should reassure them that there’s nothing to apologise for.  See below for what you can do next.

If working online from your home

In reception hours, phone the main number 01747 859102. If the receptionist picks up, then they will take over and update you.

If you can’t get hold of the main desk, please use your personal phone IF you are able to withhold the number.

Please do not text, WhatsApp or make contact in any other way that gives out your personal numbers. Also just be mindful when you phone and call the client, because your number is withheld, the client cannot phone you back. So, you could call again in 10 minutes time, giving the client a chance to speak to you once they have realised they have missed a lesson.

Then send an email to the client

Hi (client name)

I was expecting Rubin at 4.45pm today. I hope all is well and everything is ok?

If at a student’s house

If you turn up to a student’s house and no one is home. Phone the main receptionist to ask them to call and contact the client. If you cannot get hold of them, call the client if you can withhold your number, or send an email form your company email account.

You are asked to wait 20 minutes before you leave again.  If the child comes within that time, you are asked to give a 20-minute session.

Your choice about what happens next.

If the client joins the session within a 20-minute window, you will be able to finish the rest of the session, something will always be learnable within the 20 minutes. You are not expected to extend the session.

If the client speaks to you straight away and says they cannot make the lesson, you have a choice of whether to say you are sorry the student was unable to make their session (the client will be charged for the lesson and you will always be paid for it), or to rearrange another lesson in a gap you may have (within the next 7 days).

You are not obligated to offer a rearrangement; this is something you may want to do depending on the circumstances and if you have time later in the week.

If you do want to offer another lesson space, it is really important that you let the client know that you don’t normally have the available space you are offering. This way you are avoiding a ‘you did it before, why won’t you do it now situation’ in the future.

Clients will have to pay for any missed session (you will be paid as well), and they do know this when they sign up and accept the terms and conditions.

If the lesson is unable to take place, please make sure you let the main reception know on info@westcountrysen and make it clear it was a DNA.

Do not cancel on the system

As per the training video ‘How to Use the System’. Please do not mark the session as cancelled or cancelled but chargeable. Only client managers or account managers who have access to the invoicing system can do that.

Some families need a team to help them.

Just as we need compassion for school aged children who struggle with organisation; the right equipment at the right time in school, we need to have compassion for some parents who may also struggle. Detentions for forgetting PE kit, not having a pencil case are very common. They show a complete lack of awareness of how some children with ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia can really struggle to organise themselves. For parents, some have ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia, these parents need support and compassion too.

Some families need support and the help from a team to get to appointments on time.

If your client continually forgets to bring their student, do let the client manager know as they can set up reminder emails, reminder texts and arrange a meeting to see what the family may need to make the lessons on time