Built for one tutor.Now ready for yours.
Lucy had built a tutoring practice she loved, but the software she used didn’t fit the way she worked. So Jonathan and Amanda at Smithies Studio built something that did. That’s where Lucy Learn began.
Lucy, Jonathan and AmandaWho’s behind it ↓She left the classroom to teach in a way that worked for her.
- 01
The classroom
Lucy was a qualified primary teacher in mainstream schools. She loved working with children, but felt there was more she could do for them than the classroom allowed.
- 02
Her own practice
She took that experience and set up The Therapeutic Teacher, a small independent practice of her own.
- 03
Around thirty children
She now works with around thirty primary-age children during term time, teaching one-to-one, in pairs and in small groups.
- 04
Notes every week
Every family receives notes and photos from Lucy each week, keeping them connected to what their child is working on.
She had the teaching figured out.Running the practice was another matter.
Lucy was using a tutoring app, but it didn’t work the way she needed it to. So she filled the gaps with spreadsheets, messages and reminders to herself. Keeping track of everything became a job in its own right.
What she was juggling
What kept going wrong
She was counting credits she didn’t need.
The app wanted her to track lesson credits. But when a child was ill, Lucy didn’t want to manage a balance of unused lessons. She just moved the session.
School holidays made the invoices harder.
A half-term or holiday could throw off the monthly totals. Lucy ended up checking and correcting charges by hand.
Important information was scattered.
Details about children’s needs, health and consent were spread across spreadsheets and messages. It wasn’t the right place to keep sensitive records.
Admin was taking over her weekends.
At the end of each month, working out who owed what took up evenings and weekends that should have been her own.
We didn’t start with a feature list.We started with how Lucy worked.
Every decision came back to something that happened in her practice. The aim was simple: make the software fit the way she taught, not make her change the way she worked.
- Buddy sessionTue 4:00pmIslaKent familyTheoBirch familyKent invoiceIsla only£40.00Birch invoiceTheo only£40.001
Two families, one session
Sometimes children from different families share a session. Each family needs an invoice for their own child, without seeing the other family’s information. So that’s how we built it.
- Family cancelledCharge standsLucy cancelledHour or money back2
Who cancelled matters
A family cancelling and Lucy cancelling aren’t the same thing. If a family cancels, the charge can stand. If Lucy cancels, she owes the family the hour back or the money returned. The invoicing rules reflect that difference.
- The same amount each month, whatever the holidays.3
Holidays shouldn’t make the payments unpredictable
Lucy offers annual tuition plans so families can spread the cost across equal monthly payments, with holidays included. The amount stays the same throughout the plan.
- Isla Kent · Year 3Safeguarding noteKept separatelyPhotographsYes · 24 Sept 20264
Every child deserves a proper record
Learning information, consent and safeguarding notes all need a proper place. Each child has their own record, safeguarding notes are kept separately, and consent decisions are saved with their dates.
Once Lucy was using it to run her own practice, we started thinking about all the other tutors doing the same things by hand.
Independent tutors shouldn’t have to piece together different apps, spreadsheets and messages just to run their business. So we opened Lucy Learn up to other tutors. What started as something for Lucy became something other tutors could make their own.
Children’s information deserves more than an afterthought.
Tutors look after more than lesson notes. They hold information about children’s learning, health, photographs and safeguarding. We built Lucy Learn with that responsibility in mind from the beginning.
- Files are stored in the UK and the database is in the EUFiles are kept in London, and the database is hosted in the Netherlands.
- Session photographs are shared through the family portalPhotographs are shown to the relevant family in their own portal, rather than being sent by email.
- Consent decisions have a historyIf a family changes its mind, the new answer is recorded with its own date. The previous decision remains part of the history.
- Safeguarding notes have restricted accessThey are kept separately from ordinary notes. Every time one is opened, access is logged with who viewed it and when.
- Payment processing doesn’t need children’s detailsStripe receives the bill-payer’s details and a payment reference, not the child’s name.
- Your records remain yoursYou can export your records at any time, even if your practice is locked.
The tutor who inspired it.The people who built it.
The tutorLucy
Lucy is a qualified primary teacher and runs The Therapeutic Teacher. Her own practice was the starting point for Lucy Learn, and she continues to shape how it works.
The studioJonathan and Amanda
Jonathan and Amanda are partners at Smithies Studio. They designed, built and run Lucy Learn, bringing the product to life and looking after it as it grows.
It started with Lucy.It could make a difference to your practice too.
Your families pay you through your own Stripe account.
Any questions, ask us.Lucy, Jonathan and Amanda