Has anyone any experience of/information on the Student Support Centre?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My kids (ages 7 and 10) need a bit of outside-school tutorial; it’s just that it has been recognised (by their teachers and by us) that they are not currently achieving what appears to be their potential. This isn’t (as far as I can tell) a fault of the school they attend, it’s just that they need a bit more targeted individual education.

So we had a rep call round last night from somewhere called the Student Support Centre (link).
Their service consists of a course of 13 or so DVDs (actually 2-disc sets), each with about a dozen lessons on English and Maths, lasting about 15 minutes each lesson, plus workbooks, assessments, and access to a helpline for parents, and another ‘homework helpline’ for kids.

My concerns:
-It’s not cheap; they operate an interest-free payment plan which, for us, would amount to paying (total cost for both kids) £3,600 (~US$6,700) over the next three years.
-There does not appear to be any hard data on the effectiveness of the course; their website has testimonials, but no statistics (even though it claims to be ‘internationally proven’); I enquired about this last night - at which point I had not yet visited their website - and the rep admitted that there was no actual performance data.

However, on the plus side:
-It does appear to be endorsed and respected by the education community in general; I will be sounding out the teachers’ opinion on it next week
-It does seem quite good; the lessons on the DVDs are quite clear and well-presented, the workbooks seem good.
-The rep did not press us to sign anything, in fact was completely happy for us to go away and research his claims, talk to teachers about it, chew it over, etc.
-He was also quite open about other schemes and options (from competing organisations and from private tutors) that are available to us (although of course all those he mentioned were more expensive).

So I’m in a bit of a quandary; on the one hand, I’m asking myself:
-How can you quibble over money when this is your children’s education?
-How could it possibly hurt?
-Is it really an unreasonable price, for what you get? (It’s not just a little pile of DVDs, it’s something that has been crafted and constructed with care)

But on the other hand, I’m saying:
-It really is more than I can afford; long-term family debt isn’t going to be particularly good for the kids’ development either.
-It’s been around for 15 years now, why is there no empirical data on its effectiveness?
-It’s basic maths and English, not rocket science. Surely there’s another way?

So… does anyone here know more about this organisation and their materials? Apparently it is an offshoot of an Australian homeschooling resource company.

2

OK… If not any actual experience of the organisation, perhaps I can solicit some comment or advice on my predicament?

3

Is your kids’ school able to offer ANY sort of special assistance to them? Or recommend a local tutor?

To me, having to pay $6700 to a company to get your kids up to where they need to be in school is absurd, but I live in the US. I’ve got friends who are teachers who talk about having to help kids out in situations like this - I’ve never heard of a kid who has to be put on a paid program as the first option.

Is the school system really that lassiez faire in the UK?

4

No, In fact, I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. The school (at which I have recently joined the board of governors, as it happens) is actually a very good one; part of the problem is that the national curriculum here is very intense; there’s a lot of ground to cover, so there’s not always a lot of time to backtrack and repeat stuff if a couple of the kids are having problems grasping it.
But in any class, there is a spectrum of performance; my kids are within the acceptable spectrum, but it would be better if they were nearer the top, and I think they’re capable of it, they just need something extra to enable them.

Despite the expense of this course, it’s still a cheaper option than a private tutor, but I don’t think we’ll be taking it up simply because we can’t afford it.

5

Have you considered (or is there a possibility of) hiring on a local high school or college student for a few hours once or twice a week to work with the kids at your home?

When I was in high school, I tutored a kid in the neighborhood. The parents were friends of my parents, and had seen me around (I was in the same class as an older kid of theirs). Worked out pretty well for them and I made a bit of pocket money at the same time.

Cheaper than the program, maybe takes a bit more work on your part seeking out the right person though.