Students should be able to discuss with their personal tutor any requirements or problems that they might have. To facilitate this, it is vital to establish early contact and to begin developing professional rapport with your tutees from the outset. This might even begin before you first meet. Doing so means tutees are more likely to come to you as and when their needs arise.
Tutors' tips
"Contact them before the start of term so you can send them a welcome email before they arrive, give them your contact details (email, office location, office phone, social media handles etc.), and let them know when you will first be meeting." (Department of Life Sciences)
"Establish communication and a collegial rapport early. It is very important to do this and be collegial in the initial few meetings with students. If you establish a collegial relationship early enough, then they automatically feel comfortable early and this continues on through their time at Imperial." (Department of Computing)