Mastering maths

Profile

Initially working within banking in London for HSBC, I moved to E&Y and trained as a Chartered Accountant. After fourteen years in audit and accountancy I changed career to school finance whilst I contemplated the prospect of training to teach. At the same time I set up a company to teach swimming – my main sporting obsession - and something I had become involved with as a coach through my children competing for a local club. The business has flourished and produced many successful swimmers who have themselves progressed to competing for the same club, where I still coach.

Several years ago I took the plunge and trained as a Primary mathematics teacher, securing a teaching post at a local school which I relinquished earlier this year to focus on my company and other interests, including mathematics tuition.

Tutor approach

My approach to tutoring mathematics is to create a calm, relaxed teaching environment to optimize pupil learning. Having a consistent and familiar structure to the lesson lets the pupil know what to expect and helps reduce the apprehension many feel towards this subject. Keeping the lessons fun and relevant stimulates student engagement and allows the creation of bespoke lessons through teacher assessment.

A warm up exercise, followed by a review of work previously set to identify areas of weakness or where further support is required, leads on to 20 minutes of teaching a new topic, question practice, a mini-test, feedback and then preparing the next homework task.

Regular, concise tests of exam standard questions targeted at specific topics gives a valuable insight into a pupils grasp of the subject, and as the marks improve is a source of growing confidence, particularly when reviewed over time.

There are key areas that all pupils need to consolidate in order to progress their mathematical understanding. Place value, multiplication, number bonds and the four operations all must be securely embedded. The rapid recall of these facts significantly enhances mental processing of mathematical problems.

Mathematics in the National Curriculum is frequently taught through discrete topics (PV, 4 Op’s, Fractions, Measurement, Shape, Position and Direction) which are repeated year on year, layering up increasing complexity. This requires both a solid foundation of understanding, and the cross referencing of these topics e.g. the importance of multiplication when dealing with fractions. Additional topics are then introduced, Statistics, Estimation, Ratio, Proportion, Algebra and Probability towards the end of KS2.

Many pupils require the extra support that one to one tuition provides. For some it gives them help with their work ethic and self-discipline. For others a different approach may provide that “light-bulb” moment that triggers the connection and understanding to fall into place. For a few they may want to consolidate their existing knowledge. Tutoring can boost confidence and give a lift to underperforming pupils helping create a momentum of its own.