Frequently Asked Questions
What you need to become a teacher on HomeTeacher
Info we need to from you before we get you onto the site
- A full ClassCover profile
- HomeTeacher profile form filled, which will be the information we display on your profile
- Your ABN (haven’t got one yet? Here’s some info on how to apply)
- Accepted Independent Contractor Agreement
- Your bank details
- Your availability
Payment and pricing
How much will you get paid?
HomeTeacher will have blanket pricing across all teachers at this point.
The cost of each session is $65 for one hour
HomeTeacher will retain $25 of each payment in order to cover costs. These include insurance, marketing, hosting, and the cost to run the video conferencing software which is charged to us per session.
For each hour taught, you will receive $40 gross and will be responsible for declaring this in order to pay any taxes owing on your income.
How and when you will get paid?
You will need to enter in your bank details so we have a way to pay you. A form will be emailed to you before we launch your profile live on the site.
You will get paid every 7 days on Fridays. Bookings are counted until Thursday. This means if you get a booking on a Friday morning, then you will be paid for that session on the following Friday
You will only get paid for sessions that have been complete and honoured. For example, if you have future bookings confirmed and paid for by the parent in advance, you will only get paid for each session as they are completed.
Cancellations
What happens if a parent cancels a session?
When a parent needs to cancel a session, they will need to call ClassCover to let us know. We will then notify you and reschedule the session via the site for you based on your availability.
We have a no refund policy, so they must reschedule for another time.
What happens if a teacher cancels a session?
If you can’t make a session that has been booked in, you will need to call ClassCover so we can organise a reschedule of your session. We will re-book you in using your availability on the site.
We do understand that casual teaching days may come up, but it is important that you honour your bookings with parents too. We have a three–strike policy for teacher cancellations and hold the right to remove you from the site if you cancel more than three times in the space of 3 months without good reason.
Unfortunately, choosing school bookings over your tutoring obligation is not a good reason as you should be factoring this into your availability.
How do the online tutoring sessions work?
How do you prepare for the session?
When a parent places a booking with you, they are asked a series of questions to help you prepare. The answers to the questions are emailed to you as part of the booking flow.
The questions asked of the parent are below:
- What is your child’s name?
- What year level are they in?
- Which best describes their personality (shy or reserved, In the middle or outgoing and energetic)
- Which areas or subjects can we help with most?
- Has the classroom teacher provided any feedback on what your child needs to improve on?
- What are your child’s interests, likes and dislikes?
- Does your child have any learning difficulties, trouble focusing or are there any behavioural issues the teacher needs to be made aware of?
- What are your objectives for the session?
- Do you plan on sitting in on the first session?
Do you need to prepare your own materials for the session?
We are not running any kind of program through HomeTeacher and we won’t know what individual students are working on – so we won’t be able to provide any tutoring materials.
The questions asked to the parent upon booking you will cover enough to give you some idea on what to have prepared for the first session. For future sessions with the student, you will have a better understanding of what materials you will need after the first session has been complete.
If you feel like you need more information from the parent prior to the session, please email hello@hometeacher.io and let us know
What video technology will be used to perform the session?
The sessions will be hosted on a video conferencing platform called Whereby. We are using their Meetings API in order to automate the sessions.
It is secure and easy to use. All sessions are conducted in a unique online ‘classroom’ that is accessed via a web address containing a combination of 30 alpha numeric characters that is impossible to guess.
The only way that anyone could inappropriately access any session is if a participant (teacher or parent) shared the unique web address. It is part of our Terms and Conditions that teachers, parents and students agree to not share this URL / web address.
How to access the session and what device do you need?
Accessing the session
When a parent books you in for a session on HomeTeacher, there will be an email that will go to both yourself and the parent with the link to join the video session.
When it’s time for the session to commence, simply click on the button link ‘Click here to access the session’. You will be taken to the live video session where you can commence the lesson.
Important: It is against HomeTeacher policy and Terms and Conditions to share the classroom link with anyone else. Penalties do apply for those who breach this strict rule.
Device needed
All you need is a computer with a browser. It is not recommended you operate this session off your mobile device without the ability to use a digital whiteboard tool explained in the FAQ below.
Collaborating during the session with a digital whiteboard tool
The video application you will be using to conduct the session has chat and screensharing available. However that will not be enough to collaborate and conduct the lesson as if it were a face to face session.
There are many digital whiteboard tools you can use. We recommend using the AWW app which you can operate in your browser.
When the session is live, simply create your board and click ‘collaborate’ which will give you a unique link to the shared board. Paste the link in the video chat so the student can access.
You can then have the video open in one tab and the whiteboard in the other.
Are parents sitting in on the session?
Some parents may choose to sit in on the session. Most likely the first session. We ask this question upon booking so you will know prior to the session if this is likely to happen.
What about quality control?
We will be sending parents a quick survey post session to get their feedback on how the session went and to obtain reviews so we can add these onto your HomeTeacher profile.
We take negative feedback seriously and will investigate further if we need to if it’s a regular occurrence or if there’s anything serious that is raised.
