Chris

I am an experienced teacher of secondary maths for ages 11-18, retired from classroom teaching to concentrate on tutoring, writing and research. I am a Principle Examiner for OCR, currently writing and assessing papers in Further Mathematics. Previously I drafted all the pure module papers for MEI A level Mathematics.

I have a wide range of interests which include amateur drama - I am active in a local drama group, and have written two pantos - music - I play sax and flute in local groups - tennis, climbing, and skiing.

I am happy to travel to you for lessons, but charge an extra £5 per session to cover the time and cost of travel.

I am able to travel to tutees within a radius of 10 miles, though I reserve the right to be reimbursed for fuel.

Tutoring Experience

I have taught in a wide range of secondary schools and sixth form colleges, three as head of department. I have run revision courses for A level maths students and sessions for student teachers at Southampton University. My PhD was in the assessment of A level mathematics.
Most of my tutoring has been with GCSE and A-level Mathematics students. I have a First Class Honours degree in Maths from Cambridge Ukversity, and have also successfully tutored university students wanting help with maths courses.

Tutoring Approach

I realise that many students find maths challenging. I think this is because teaching often fails to interest them. They fail to see the relevance of much pure maths like trig and algebra, and try to learn it as a set of rules which they instantly forget! I try to explain the relevance of what they are learning to real life skills, and teach the 'why' as well as the 'how'. Hundreds of hours of trying to get re-sit students through their GCSE has given me plenty of practice! I also like to talk a bit about the history of maths - many students get the idea that maths is just 'out there' to learn, and are surprised to find out out that its roots lie in the interplay of many cultures and civlisations, such as Iran, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, Mexico, as well as Europe!
I'm also interested in the use of computers in teaching and learning maths, and have developed materials to support this. I quite often use computer programs such as Geogebra in my tutoring sessions.