Online specialised tuition and coaching for children and teenagers in France.
One to one online coaching for children and teenagers aged 7 to 18 in international and expat families in France, with tuition available alongside it when schoolwork also needs attention.
Steady one to one support, arranged around a French school day.
- London Teacher of the Year Award 2021
- BSc Psychology (Hons) and Qualified Teacher Status
- 10+ years with children in the UK and internationally
- One to one online sessions, ages 7 to 18
Families in France often arrive somewhere between two systems, an international or bilingual school on one side and a British way of thinking about education on the other. A child can be doing well in both languages and still feel like they are never fully inside either school culture.
Others come to coaching for a more specific reason: motivation that has quietly dropped off, a friendship group that has become harder to read, or a teenager who used to talk about their day and now says almost nothing.
This sits alongside the wider support for international and expat families, delivered online from the UK.
At a glance
- Main service
- One-to-one online coaching for children and teenagers
- Ages
- Coaching for ages 7 to 18. Tuition for ages 7 to 13
- Areas of support
- Friendships, social confidence, emotional regulation, executive functioning, organisation, school transitions and independence
- SEN and neurodiversity
- Psychology-informed support adapted for autistic children, children with ADHD and children with other additional needs
- Tuition
- British curriculum tuition, academic confidence, 7+, 9+ and 11+ preparation can be incorporated where appropriate
- Format
- Individual online sessions tailored around the child’s strengths, needs and goals
- Availability
- Sessions arranged around the child’s school day and local time zone.
- Practitioner
- Ruby Cole, qualified teacher, BSc Psychology (Hons), former Assistant Psychologist and London Teacher of the Year 2021
- Scope
- Education-led, psychology-informed coaching. This is not therapy, counselling, psychological assessment or clinical treatment
What children in France often bring to sessions
Moving between French and English, or between a French school system and a British one, asks more of a child socially than it looks like on paper. A child can be fluent and still hesitate before joining a conversation, unsure which version of themselves fits the room.
Motivation is another theme that comes up often, particularly around secondary age. A child who was keen and easy to encourage can become flat and hard to reach, and it is rarely about ability. Sessions give them somewhere to work out what has actually gone quiet.
What Ruby and your child work towards
Sessions are practical and specific, built around what your child is finding hard right now and reviewed together as things move.
Social confidence, friendships and communication
Ruby and your child look at what is actually happening in a friendship or a group chat, in French or in English, and work out what your child could try next. For a child moving between school communities, that is often more useful than being told to put themselves out there.
Teenagers tend to work on harder ground, including friendships that have quietly changed since starting secondary school, and how to say something honest to a friend without losing them.
There is more detail in the social and friendships coaching programme.
Executive functioning, organisation and independence
A long French school day, cross referenced with homework set in a second language, catches a lot of children out. What looks like laziness is often a child who genuinely does not know where to start. Ruby and your child build a simple system your child can run themselves, in either language.
Parents usually notice the difference first in how much chasing they are doing, and how much less of a fight the evening becomes.
This work follows the organisation and independence programme.
Emotional regulation, confidence and transitions
Motivation and mood often move together. A child who has stopped trying is frequently a child who has quietly decided they are not good enough, rather than one who does not care. Ruby and your child work on noticing that thought and testing it against what is actually true.
Where school has become genuinely hard to face, Ruby goes slowly and works in partnership with you, and with school when that helps.
SEN and neurodivergent children
Ruby has spent years working with autistic children, children with ADHD, and children whose profiles include differences in processing speed, working memory or executive functioning. The approach is neurodiversity-affirming: the aim is a workable day and a child who understands themselves, not a child taught to mask.
For families in France who are waiting on assessment, or working across an unfamiliar system for additional needs, online sessions can be a practical way to get experienced, English-language support in the meantime.
You can read more about SEN coaching and how it is adapted for each child.
Adding tuition when academic support is also needed
Tuition is available alongside coaching for ages 7 to 13, aligned with the UK National Curriculum, and adapted for children in bilingual and international schools. It is most often used to keep a British curriculum thread going, or to rebuild confidence in a subject that has become a source of dread.
Families thinking about a UK school in future can also read about 7+, 9+ and 11+ preparation, including interview practice.
How online sessions work from France
Ruby works from the UK, generally between 9am and 6pm UK time. France is one hour ahead of the UK all year round, so a slot straight after the school day here sits comfortably inside her working day.
Sessions are one to one over video call at a regular weekly or fortnightly time, with written notes to you afterwards.
Who this is for
- Families in France whose child is fluent but socially hesitant across two languages
- Children whose motivation has quietly dropped off
- Teenagers who have stopped talking about their day
- Children joining or leaving a friendship group at a bilingual or international school
- Neurodivergent children without easy access to English-language specialist support
- Families expecting to return to a UK school and wanting to prepare early
About Ruby
Ruby Cole is a qualified teacher with Qualified Teacher Status and a BSc Psychology (Hons), and winner of the London Teacher of the Year Award 2021. She has more than 10 years of experience supporting children and young people in the UK and internationally, including specialist one to one teaching across mainstream, SEN and neurodivergent profiles.
She previously worked as an Assistant Psychologist within a children and young people's clinical psychology service, and has contributed to research with UCL and the Anna Freud Centre. That background is why the work is psychology-informed: sessions start from how a child is developing, what they are carrying and how they learn, rather than from a fixed programme. Ruby works closely with parents throughout, and with a child's school where the family would like her to.
What this is, and what it is not
Ruby offers education-led, psychology-informed coaching and support. This is not therapy, counselling, psychological assessment or clinical treatment. If a child's needs fall outside the scope of coaching, Ruby will always be open with the family and recommend appropriate professional support.
Questions families in France ask
My child is bilingual and doing fine academically. Why would coaching help?
Doing fine academically and feeling settled are not always the same thing. Plenty of bilingual children manage school well and still feel like they are performing a version of themselves in one language or the other. Coaching gives them somewhere to work out who they are across both.
My teenager has just gone quiet. Is that something coaching can help with?
Often, yes. A drop in motivation or a sudden quietness is common around secondary age and is rarely about ability. Ruby and your child work out what has actually changed, at their pace.
Do you work with French national schools, or only international ones?
Both. Coaching is not tied to a particular school system, and tuition can be adapted for children in French national schools, bilingual schools or fully international ones.
We might move again in a year or two. Is it worth starting now?
Often the best time. Coaching around an upcoming move, or the uncertainty of not knowing yet, is some of the most useful work Ruby does.
How long does a child usually need?
Coaching begins with a minimum of four sessions and continues for as long as it is useful. Some families want a short, focused block on one thing, others keep a regular slot through the school year.
Can Ruby speak to my child's school?
If you would like her to, yes, with your permission and only sharing what you are happy for her to share.
Where to start
If you are not sure whether coaching or tuition fits, that is what the first conversation is for. You can read more about coaching for children and teenagers, or go back to the international coaching page for the wider picture.
Talk it through with Ruby.
A free 15-minute discovery call, no pressure and no obligation.