This Pack provides key information and guidance to help you prepare for the arrival of your InTuition student.

It supplements the information available in the Host Tutor Manual and Young Learner Host Tutor Manual.

If at any stage before or during your InTuition course you feel you would benefit from additional support, please don’t hesitate to contact the EFL Director of Studies, Alexa Randell (alexa@intuitionlang.com, +44 7900 973742) for EFL courses, or the MFL Director of Studies, Lea (lea@intuitionlang.com, +33 6 26 16 07 04) for MFL courses. 

Course Planning, Level Assessment and Objective Setting

Pre-Course

Before the start of their programme, your student has been asked to complete three key preparation tasks:

1. Pre-Course Planner

The Pre-Course Planner (PCP) gives students the opportunity to outline their specific course objectives in their own words, provide further information about their previous language study, and indicate any other priorities. 

When the student completes the PCP before the Course Start Date, it will be emailed to you. If they do not so, time can be taken from the first lesson on Monday morning for the student to complete it.

2. Clarity English Dynamic Placement Test™ (EFL courses only)

The Dynamic Placement Test (DPT) is provided by our academic partners, Clarity English. It is an online assessment which provides an overall CEFR score and an indication of relative strengths in Language Elements, Reading and Listening. It does not cover Speaking or Writing. 

When the student completes the DPT before the Course Start Date, you will receive a notification. You can then login to the DPT portal (admin.clarityenglish.com) to download the results (use the username and password provided in your Confirmation PDF). If they do not so, time can be taken from the first lesson on Monday morning for the student to complete them.

3. Meet Your Tutor session

Your student should contact you to arrange a mutually-convenient time for their Meet Your Tutor video call. This is a 30-minute 'get to know you' session, which can be undertaken on the platform of your choice (Zoom, Skype, Teams etc). The call can be used to assess the student's confidence and fluency, and provides an opportunity to discuss their course requirements in full detail before they arrive at your home.

On Arrival

The information provided by the Pre-Course Planner, DPT and MYT session should be supplemented by two further assessments made during the first lesson:

Ask students to give a short presentation (approximately 2 minutes) on a topic of their choice (for example their job, hometown, favourite sport or hobby or family). It is best to record the presentation so that you can demonstrate improvements in fluency during and at the end of the course. Assess levels with reference to the CEFR Oral Assessment Scales.

If you are in touch with your student, this can also be completed during the pre-course stage. 

Ask students to write a suitable amount (according to their likely level) on a subject of interest (for example their home, family or job; their future plans, or current affairs). Assess levels with reference to the CEFR Writing Assessment Scales.

 

Course Planner and InTuition Level Profiler™

Based on the Pre-Course Planner, DPT results and your assessment of the student’s Oral and Writing levels, you can structure a targeted course for the student. A Course Planner form is provided for you to use once you have established course aims and objectives. Sample Course Planners and detailed information on what to teach at each level from the British Council Core Curriculum is available on the Dropbox.

You can also plot the student’s starting level on the InTuition Level Profiler™. Revisiting this at the end of the course provides the student with an easily understood, visual record of their progress over the course of their InTuition programme. 

Mid-Course Review

For courses longer than one week in length, a Mid-Course Review is a useful way to judge progress against objectives. Be prepared to restructure the syllabus if necessary, or if you feel the student needs more or less practice in certain areas. 

Course Documentation

Weekly Lesson Sheet

The Weekly Lesson Sheet (WLS) provides a record of what has been done during each day of the course on a weekly basis. 

You can either: 

1. Print a blank copy of the form each week to complete by hand, asking the student to sign daily, or
2. Complete the form digitally each day, printing the form at the end of the week for the student to sign (they should still sign for each day)

Completed WLS should be scanned or photographed (we recommend the free Camscanner app for scanning using your phone) and submitted online with your completed End of Course Report. 

End of Course Report 

At the end of the course, complete the End of Course Report (ECR) with your assessment of the student’s progress against objectives and guidance for future study. A course-specific link is sent each time a booking is confirmed.

Attendance Sheet

Certain students require an Attendance Sheet to be completed in addition to the standard WLS and ECR, normally to meet the criteria for government or corporate funding. You will be sent this separately from the course confirmation documents. Both you and the student will need to digitally sign the document, after which it will automatically be sent back to us.

Hosting Guidelines

Arrival Checklist

Use the New Student Arrival Checklist to ensure that key information is provided to each student on arrival. Laminated copies of the Arrival Checklist for repeat use are available on request. 

Activity Risk Assessments

We provide generic Activity Risk Assessments (ARAs) to provide to students before undertaking an excursion or activity, to ensure that any exposure to risks is understood and mitigated. They can be downloaded (select the RA which correlates with the activity or excursion being undertaken) and shared with the student by email. Each week, note the number of the RAs used for that week’s excursions and activities on the Weekly Lesson Sheet.