All my sessions are well-prepared and individualised.  

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I put time and thought into selecting lesson resources, from a vast collection of worksheets, books and online materials, that will be just right for your child, and selecting homework that is not too short, not too long and can be completed without help.

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Sessions are packed.  

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As soon as they arrive I’ll be asking them what they have been doing at school.  As they take their coats off I might be testing them on a ‘learning’ homework…I work the students hard, but they are often surprised at how quickly the time has gone!

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I am thorough.  

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Schools have to teach everything on the syllabus, but often at speed, which means students often leave a topic not having completely understood.  I teach the most important topics, the topics that come up most in tests, the topics that tend to cause the most difficulties.  I may spend several weeks on a topic (eg trigonometry, quadratics), but we are setting firm foundations for the future.  If foundations are not firm the edifice may crumble under pressure!

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We do test questions every week!

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All students will start their sessions with a GCSE question*.  Even Year 7s (from a Foundation paper).  This allows me to identify weak areas and teach technique for approaching exam questions (particularly problem-solving) on an ongoing basis.

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A ‘double go’ at key topics

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What does this mean?  I generally don’t teach topics at the same time as school – students benefit from studying key topics twice.  For example, if a topic has already been studied at school, I check the basics.  If their knowledge really is watertight, I won’t waste their time – we’ll whizz through and I may extend.  With most students however we will reach the ‘biting point’ stage, at which I take things more gently and give necessary explanation and practice.  I will immediately know if your child is wobbly…and we start very gently, at the very beginning… Sometimes I may also teach a topic ahead of school, ensuring that your child understands it so well that, when they do do it at school, they will feel a big surge in confidence and be able to have the pleasure of asking the teacher for extension work.

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I am flexible and responsive.

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Having said the above, if ever your child does want help with a particular topic, or has a test coming up they feel a bit worried about, just let me know the day before and I’ll put aside what I’d planned and deliver a bespoke session in line with your wishes.

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And finally, admin is tight – I keep careful records.

 

I keep a record of everything I teach your child, and homework set, for each week.  I even keep records of what they have been doing each week at school, including test scores compared with school set averages, so that it is easy for me to track improvement.

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*For GCSE students in the run-up to exams there will be lots of practice paper work.