It’s not about changing the child. It’s about changing the way we teach.
At Emotionally Healthy Minds, tutoring isn’t simply about catching up with missed work or improving grades. We look at the whole child—because when children feel anxious, overwhelmed or lacking in confidence, learning can become difficult.
Here’s why our emotionally informed approach to tutoring looks different.
When people tell me they’re looking for a tutor, one of the first things I ask is, “Tell me about your child.”
Not, “What level are they working at?” or “What grades are they getting?”
I want to know what they enjoy, what they’re good at and what’s worrying them at the moment.
The reason is simple. Over the years, I’ve realised that one of the biggest barriers to learning isn’t necessarily maths, English or science.
It’s how a child feels about learning.
Most of the children we support are bright, capable and full of potential. They haven’t fallen behind because they aren’t clever enough. Somewhere along the way, they may have lost confidence, become anxious, started believing they’re “not clever” or simply found school overwhelming.
That’s why tutoring at Emotionally Healthy Minds looks a little different.
We Get to Know the Child First
Before a child even walks through our door, we spend time getting to know them.
On our enquiry form, we ask parents about their child’s strengths, interests and the things that make them smile. We want to know what they enjoy doing, what’s proving difficult at the moment and what they hope will be different after working with us.
We also ask about diagnoses, school, any professionals already involved and anything else that helps us understand the bigger picture.
Of course, we need to know whether a child needs help with maths, English or science. But first, we want to understand the child.
Sometimes the biggest barrier is a gap in learning. Sometimes it’s anxiety, emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), perfectionism, low confidence or previous experiences that have made learning feel stressful.
Every child has their own story, and we believe it’s our job to understand that story before we start teaching.
That’s why every programme is personalised. We don’t expect children to fit our tutoring; we adapt our tutoring to fit the child.
Relationships Come Before Results
One of the things I’m most proud of is the relationships our team builds with children.
Learning is much easier when children feel safe enough to ask questions, make mistakes and have another go.
Parents often tell us their child dreads tutoring before they come to us. One of my favourite things to hear is:
“They’ve been looking forward to coming all week.”
For me, that’s often the first sign that real progress is about to happen.
Our Tutors Are Qualified Teachers
One decision we’ve made at EHM is that all of our tutors are qualified teachers.
I’ll be honest, it hasn’t always been the easiest decision. We’ve had enquiries from people who weren’t qualified teachers but who I genuinely believe would have made brilliant tutors.
This isn’t about saying qualified teachers are the only people who can tutor well, because I simply don’t believe that’s true.
However, tutoring isn’t a regulated profession, so we wanted to be really clear about the standard we set at Emotionally Healthy Minds.
For us, that means every tutor has completed teacher training and has genuine classroom experience. They bring both subject knowledge and an understanding of how children learn in real educational settings.
We believe that knowledge, combined with an emotionally informed approach, gives children the best possible support.
Our wider team also includes emotion coaches and counsellors, who bring different skills and expertise. Together, we’re able to support children academically and emotionally.
It’s simply the approach we’ve chosen, and it’s one we’ve never regretted.
Learning and Emotional Health Go Hand in Hand
One of the biggest differences at Emotionally Healthy Minds is that we don’t separate emotional health from education.
Our tutors understand that confidence, anxiety, behaviour and learning are all connected.
That doesn’t mean every child needs emotion coaching or counselling. Most don’t.
What it does mean is that when a child is struggling, we don’t just ask:
“Why won’t they do the work?”
We’re much more likely to ask:
“What’s making this feel so difficult?”
That small change in thinking can change everything.
Supporting Neurodivergent Children Through Personalised Tutoring
Many of the children who come to us have SEND or are neurodivergent. They may be autistic, have ADHD, dyslexia, PDA or other additional needs. Others are still waiting for an assessment or are trying to understand why school and learning feel so difficult.
We’re not interested in making children fit one way of learning.
Instead, we adapt our teaching to fit them.
That might mean using movement, visual resources or a child’s special interests. It might mean giving more processing time, breaking learning into smaller steps or recognising that what looks like a lack of motivation is actually anxiety or sensory overwhelm.
Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference.
If a child wants to use wobble feet, a fidget toy or a weighted lap blanket during a session, that’s absolutely fine.
Every child is different, so every child learns differently.
Success Looks Different for Every Child
Of course, we celebrate improved grades, greater confidence in reading or finally understanding a tricky maths concept.
But we celebrate other moments just as much.
The child who picks up a pen after refusing to write.
The student who stops apologising every time they make a mistake.
The young person who begins asking questions instead of worrying about getting the answer wrong.
Those moments matter because they tell us something much bigger is happening.
A child is starting to believe in themselves again.
In our experience, confidence often comes before progress.
Creating a Place Where Children Feel Safe to Learn
Many of the children who come to us haven’t had a positive experience of learning.
Some are anxious about school. Some have experienced emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA). Some have been bullied, while others have spent so long feeling like they’re getting things wrong that simply walking into a classroom makes them anxious.
That’s one of the reasons we’ve worked so hard to make our centre feel different.
When children arrive, there’s music playing. If they want to write on the tables, they can. If wobble feet, a fidget toy or a weighted lap blanket helps them feel more comfortable, that’s absolutely fine too.
There are always drinks and snacks available and, during the summer, there are ice poles too.
None of those things teach maths or English.
But they do help children relax.
And when a child feels comfortable, understood and safe, they’re often much more ready to learn.
More Than Tutoring
Some children come to us needing academic support and nothing more.
Others need emotion coaching first because they’re carrying so much anxiety that learning has become incredibly difficult. Once they begin to feel safer and more confident, tutoring can become much more effective.
Because Emotionally Healthy Minds also provides emotion coaching and counselling, we can sometimes bring these different areas of expertise together when a child needs more than academic support.
Parents don’t always know whether their child needs tutoring, emotion coaching or counselling—and they don’t need to work that out alone.
We take time to understand the child and work out what kind of support is likely to be most appropriate.
Having tutors, coaches and counsellors working together means we can support the whole child. We don’t expect every child to fit into one service. We work out what they need and build support around them.
Helping Children Enjoy Learning Again
When I think about what makes Emotionally Healthy Minds different, it isn’t really the resources we use or the qualifications our team hold, although both are important.
It’s the freedom our tutors have to be creative.
We can ask:
“How can we make this fun for this child?”
One week that might mean learning fractions by cutting up a pizza. Another child might be writing instructions while building with Lego.
We’ve taught literacy through Minecraft, used the outdoors to inspire creative writing and adapted lessons around children’s interests because we know that when learning feels enjoyable, children are much more likely to engage.
I remember working with one student who could barely write a sentence. He loved Warhammer, so together we started writing his own Warhammer story.
He wasn’t writing because I’d asked him to.
It was his idea.
He was writing because he wanted to be able to write a story like his friends.
That’s the difference.
It’s not about changing the child. It’s about changing the way we teach.
I’ve lost count of the number of parents who’ve told us:
“They actually look forward to coming now.”
or
“They’re starting to believe in themselves again.”
For me, that’s what tutoring should be about.
Could Emotionally Healthy Minds Help Your Child?
If your child is struggling with learning, confidence, anxiety or school, you don’t have to work out the answer on your own.
Emotionally Healthy Minds provides personalised, emotionally informed tutoring for children and young people across Essex, alongside emotion coaching and counselling where appropriate.
We’ll take time to understand your child, listen to your concerns and talk through the support that may be most helpful.
Make an enquiry about tutoring or get in touch for an informal conversation about your child’s needs.
