Student steps in to help parents and children struggling with home schooling

Julia Aniol, from Houghton-le-Spring, has come forward and volunteered to provide online tutoring sessions in a range of subjects to kids who grapple with remote learning.

The Durham Sixth Form student shared her offer on Facebook just days ago, but parents have already been reaching out to book lessons for their children, with Maths and English the most sought after subjects.

Julia, who received mainly 8s and 9s in her GCSEs last year said she decided to help suddenly. She said:

"I was just lying in bed a few nights ago and I was thinking ‘There’s so many parents that are struggling, why not offer something that’s reasonable and that might actually help people out.’”

Julia knows the challenges of remote learning herself and has been helping our her younger sister, 7 in her free time.

"It’s had its ups and downs. There are some days when you know you can get through things, but some days you sit down and panic, because you don’t know whether you’re going to get everything done."

"I can’t wait to be able to go to school and talk to people.”

But Julia added her workload won’t prevent her from helping children, as she has good time management skills.

"If I plan correctly I do have some free time when I can help others,” she said.

The sessions are available for a small fee and Julia says she is willing to tutor pupils in different ages.

She advised parents to try putting themselves in their children’s shoes to better understand the difficulties which kids are facing while studying remotely.

"It depends from child to child, but I think parents should just take a step back and think from their point of view. I know that parents are definitely getting frustrated and angry because kids aren’t understanding things, but if they were placed in that situation, it think that not many people would be able to manage by themselves. They’re all in the same boat.”