Katie

I'm a friendly and approachable teacher with a passion for helping students to progress in maths. I pride myself on building good relationships with students and make sure I create a safe and secure learning atmosphere so students always feel like they can 'have a go'. That is the key to success with maths, it's often not as bad as it looks! I love the subject and I love teaching.

Tutoring Experience

I have been a full time secondary maths teacher for the past 16 years. I have always tutored within that time. I have taught the full ability range at secondary level and worked with large classes and small groups. As well as GCSE maths I have also taught GCSE Statistics and L2 Further Maths. (This is an excellent bridging qualification between GCSE and A level). For the last 5 years I have worked online for an alternative provision, developing my skills working with learners who struggle to access mainstream education. I work particularly well with anxious learners. I have marked GCSE examinations for the past 10+ years, giving me an excellent insight into exam technique and common misconceptions which I can draw on in my teaching. I am also a specialist SATs marker.

Tutoring Approach

My main approach to teaching is to make sure maths is accessible. If a pupil struggles with something, I can break it down and keep taking backwards steps until we find a place where they are comfortable and we can build on that. I have plenty of experience to be able to use different ways of explaining things. I don't mind how many times a student asks me to explain something, I will keep trying until it clicks. Maths is all about building blocks so once a student has the foundations sorted it is often just a little step upon that to make progress. I am a calm and friendly person who makes sure students feel comfortable to ask any questions at any time. I have had real success with pupils and I feel that is mainly down to my approachable manner, which removes the fear of maths.