Hannah Cooper – centre director at Explore Learning

Hannah Cooper, 24, is centre director at the Croydon Addiscombe centre of Explore Learning - a national Maths and English tuition service. She lives in the area with her boyfriend.

Explore Learning currently has 78 centres located across the country, with the aim of aiding children in the UK with extra Maths and English tuition to supplement their schooling. I manage the Croydon Addiscombe centre, which has more than 400 pupils in attendance: a huge number considering the centre only launched in November 2011. I’ve been with Explore since the day after I graduated…

I studied drama at the University of Loughborough, and worked very closely with a local primary school during my degree in order to gain real-world work experience. My role at the school focused predominantly on running drama workshops for children with special educational needs, and this placement encouraged me to search for a full time role working with children as I found it really fulfilling.

I flirted with the idea of becoming a teacher, but after hearing about Explore Learning at a University Careers Fair, I decided to go for a suitable position here instead. I felt it would give me more variety than a regular teaching post since Explore adds various tasks and games to the standard curriculum to keep kids entertained.

I started off as an assistant manager at the Cheam centre, and after one year and three months, I was promoted to centre director of the Croydon Addiscombe centre. My promotion has arguably been the high point of my career to date, however I’m also hugely proud of just how far the Croydon centre has come in such a short space of time; I was brought in to oversee its launch and in just under 18 months, we’ve recruited almost 500 local school children.

Membership is a key element of my role in order to continue to increase the number of children that we tutor and ensure the centre keeps growing. With this in mind, I oversee daily workshops with local schools and hold meetings with parents to ensure that they and their children are happy to be tutored with us. I also manage a team of tutors who do the majority of the teaching, while staying on top of (or attempting to!) the progress of each of the kids so I can provide support to the mentor staff. Alongside my key management duties, I also recruit new staff – taking on tutors and interviewing prospective team members – as well as handling all sales and marketing for the centre.

I work from 11am until 8pm everyday besides Friday when I work 9am ‘til 6pm as Friday is the day I use to focus on the long-term goals for the centre; in effect, it’s my ‘office day’ where I get lots of admin and financial work boxed off. I try to make the most of my late starts by squeezing in a swim before work, but I must admit I don’t do much with my evenings as I get home so late – usually I just spend it in front of the TV with my boyfriend!

The kids arrive at 3pm: ‘Show Time’.

‘Show Time’ runs from 3pm until 8pm and the team get busy playing games with the children – tutoring Maths and English and running various activities. Each session runs for an hour and 15 minutes, which includes an hour of tutoring and 15 minutes of playing games in what’s known as the ‘Surf Club’. Although we focus on learning and improving skills at Explore, we also place huge emphasis on having fun and encouraging the children to enjoy Maths and English. Since we’re really active with the children, we’re really relaxed in what we wear – I’ll wear trousers and a nice top and the tutors all pop on a branded polo shirt in order to keep it as relaxed as possible. Our five hours of running around with the kids might also go some way to explaining why my evening’s are so lazily spent!

While I don’t do so much tutoring anymore now I’m centre director, it’s my job to ensure everything is running smoothly and both the children and parents are happy. I’ll often sit down with parents and update them on their child’s progress or give prospective parents a guided tour of the centre and talk them through what we do.

I absolutely love my job since I get to interact with so many different people every day – and the children are brilliant. The team are great too and I’ve made some friends for life – it’s a very close knit environment. Surprisingly, I also enjoy the sales side of my role (the bit I was most nervous about!) but this has turned out to be one of my main strengths. I’m not really a fan of the financial management side; I can do it, but I’ve never felt at home in front of a spreadsheet!

Long-term, I’d really like to work my way up the ranks within Explore Learning and reach the Head Office in Guildford. The training and development Explore provides is second-to-none, and this enables each and every member of the team to grow into their perfect role. I’d consider moving into schools once I’ve had children of my own since the hours are much more sociable, but for the time being, I’m going nowhere!

If you’ve been inspired by Hannah’s story and you’re interested in working at Explore Learning, head here. You can also keep up to date with Explore on Twitter and Facebook, and there’s even a dedicated Explore Learning careers Twitter page, which you can find here.