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Tuition Q&A
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What do you love about maths?
Ooh, that’s a hard one. I think it’s because there are so many beautiful things about maths. The more you learn, the more you appreciate the beauty but also the more you realise how little you know.
What do you love about tutoring?
I love seeing the frown on someone’s face turn into a look of delight when they start to understand something that previously they thought was beyond them. It’s great to see their confidence grow and to discver where that takes them in life. In short, it’s the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done.
What is your background?
I obtained an Honours degree in Maths in 1979 and then got a job with Shell. During 20 years and 13 different roles I learned so much. Then in 1999 I left Shell to run a boarding kennel. When I started tutoring in 2003, I enjoyed it so much I wished I hadn’t left it so long.
How is your tuition different?
I believe that my 20 years with Shell, four years running my own business, and my experience as an ISO9001 lead auditor, has helped me see how maths can be applied in the outside world. I can motivate and inspire my students by bringing maths alive for them with examples from my own personal experience.
What subjects do you tutor?
Mainly A-level maths and further maths. Occasionally I tutor higher level GCSE and IGCSE students who want to get the highest grade possible in order to study A-level maths, or want to study the Additional maths qualification. Additional challenge comes from helping students applying to University who are sitting STEP, MAT and similar exams, and adult numerical reasoning.
How do you do the tuition?
I offer both online and face-2-face/shoulder-2-shoulder. In-person tuition is limited to where I live; Milton Keynes. For online tuition I use a range of methods for video/audio link, for example Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype and Zoom, and in my experience the best interactive whiteboard out there at the moment is bitpaper, it’s brilliant. During tutorials I use my natural charm and native cunning ? combined with another tool called geogebra, which is one of a number of super mathematical tools available free (others include autograph, wolfram and desmos).
What else can you offer?
Over the years I have developed a vast array of resources to help students understand the topics. One of the challenges of the new A level syllabus is the lack of past exam papers, so I have written my own, which I share with students when the time is right. I also run my own fully invigilated mock exams each year (though not in 2020 sadly), which are open to all comers.
How can I find out more?
Click one of the links below!