David

I've been working with children of all ages since 2005 to help improve their maths and English and am a fully qualified secondary maths teacher. I have a strong passion and lots of experience with children of all abilities. I've seen first hand how much upset and confusion can be caused by a lack of confidence with maths and have direct experience and knowledge of how to help students who are having difficulty, or those who want to get ahead. As a qualified maths teacher, I also have experience of the school system and what will be expected of students at GCSE and A Level.

I'm also very passionate about getting more people in the UK learning Mandarin Chinese. I lived in China for two years, fell in love with the language and realised that it was far more accessible than the popular perception of it as a difficult language. After two years living and working in China, I decided to augment my Chinese language skills by doing a Master's in Chinese Studies and an AS in Mandarin Chinese. I followed up with an A level in 2011 just to keep up my fluency and practise with other learners (I received an A star). I'd love to show people that learning Chinese is not as tricky as you might first think, and that given China's importance to the world these days, we cannot afford to ignore it.

Tutoring Experience

After gaining an A in my certificate for teaching English to speakers of other languages, I taught English, teaching methodology and Western culture for two years at a teachers college in northern China. From 2005 until the end of 2011, I was educating children as an Area Manager with Kumon, the world's leading supplementary education provider for children in maths and English. This involved the teaching of children aged from 3-18 in work up to A level standard. In 2010, I began taking on private students in Mandarin Chinese and have experience of teaching children and adults.

I've taught maths in secondary schools, working with students on maths up to and including GCSE and A Level by completing my PGCE and also becoming a fully qualified teacher after my first year teaching maths at a leading secondary school in Manchester. Whilst there, I also ran the Mandarin Chinese club for the school. I have worked for an exam board on the rollout of their new maths GCSE, and I have also worked for an assessment company, gaining a lot of experience and knowledge of entrance exams, including the Eleven Plus.

Tutoring Approach

For maths, I will discuss your individual needs and tailor my approach accordingly. I have lots of materials and ideas from my experience teaching in secondary schools, and I will use whatever is most suitable for your child.

I use a wide range of materials collected from my time in China and learning Chinese during my Master's, my AS and also my own personal studies. With these materials, I tailor my tutoring to each individual's learning needs and style and make the lessons as interactive as possible to ensure you are not left lost or bored with the subject. I also like to introduce elements of Chinese culture in my lessons to make them more interesting and relevant for students.