Hello
Hi, my name is Steve. I am an online and face to face private maths tutor, with over twenty years of teaching experience in school and college classrooms across Surrey, Berkshire and, most recently, Northumberland. I hold an Enhanced DBS check (January 2023) and am on the update service. I teach all levels of secondary school maths, from Year 7 up to Year 13 A level Further Maths, with a particular specialism in helping you become more confident in your own maths ability. All online lessons are live (the aftermath of Lockdown has shown just how ineffective it is when learning consists only of watching a video or clicking through a Powerpoint) delivered through Teams, and are a mixture of some input from me along with helping you as you work through some carefully chosen questions of mine or some of your own.
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I have privately tutored students of all abilities. Some former students have gone on to read mathematics at Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick and Bath universities, to name just a few. Others have secured the GCSE Maths grade they really needed to get into 6th Form, or to be accepted onto an apprenticeship. Many of my tutees initially got in contact because they started to fall behind in maths, but once they had caught up, continued with me right up to their final exams. Their feedback was that they really valued the ongoing support and wrap around services that I provide. I'm much more than just a once a week tutor - my help is available throughout the week, at no extra cost.
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My Story
Thinking back to when I was in school, my least favourite subject was maths. That's not what you might expect to hear from a maths teacher! Let me explain. A long time ago, when I was a Year 9 student just starting High School, maths did not make sense to me. I could usually follow what was being explained on the board, but this did not then translate into me being able to do more than the first few easy questions from the textbook. I hadn't a clue how to start any of the rest of them. To be honest, I don't think I even understood what was being asked! I was lucky, however, to be in a class of fewer than fifteen students, with a maths teacher who never gave up, ever, on his students. He was always available to ask for help; before school, at break and lunch times, as well as after school. I don't know when he did his own work! He would explain something to me, in lots of different ways, until it made sense. Suddenly, it would 'click', and the topic was sorted out. The same maths, but thought of in a different way to that explained in lessons, was all that was needed. My tutoring style is similar to this approach, in that I will come at a topic, or question, in several different ways until we find one that works for you.
Being able to get this help, pretty much whenever I needed it, certainly worked for me because, with this same maths teacher for the next five years, I achieved an A in GCSE Maths and double A in Maths and Further Maths at A level (A* was not invented back then). It was also him who gave me the confidence to choose to read mathematics at university. That I ended up with a masters degree in maths, and went on to be a maths teacher and private tutor myself, is in large part down to him. His name is Mr Margilewski (our class called him Mr M) and I shall always be grateful to him. Not only did I understand the maths, I really enjoyed it too. I got bitten by the maths bug, so to speak, towards the end of Year 9 and have never recovered. It is this lifelong passion for maths that drives me to be the best maths tutor I can so that you can enjoy the subject too.
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Having gained my PGCE (which means I am a qualified teacher) in July 2000, I have taught in schools and colleges during the day and privately tutored in the evenings ever since. In that time I have had many different roles at different levels of seniority, but have always prioritised my teaching and made sure I was available throughout the day for help. In my spare time in the summer I am an examiner for a major awarding body, so that I am fully trained to know exactly what you can and can't get away with in exams.
In the summer of 2022 my family and I relocated from the South of England to the Tyne Valley area in the beautiful county of Northumberland. Moving up here has allowed me the opportunity to jump into online private tutoring as a full time job. It really is the job of my dreams - being able to focus 100% on helping students achieve the grade they really are capable of. Watching you become confident and in control when doing maths is brilliant - it's pretty great for you too!
Thank you for reading my story. I hope it explains that I really do understand how it feels to be struggling with maths, and that I have the experience to help you quickly get back on track. Current and former students would all say that I put the student at the centre of everything, and work for and with you to get the best results possible. The majority of my students see me once a week for an hour-long session, some students like ninety minute sessions (especially when leading up to end of course exams), while others prefer two separate one hour sessions in a week. Whatever type of session you choose, you will always be able to ask for help, free of charge, at any other time during the week. If you are stuck on a question now, don't ignore it. Much better to take an image of the question, and how far you've got with it, and email it to me. I will email you back, usually by the end of the same day but often within the hour, with my scribbled solution. Please have a look through the rest of my site; I hope you like what you read and that you get in contact by email or leave a message on my voicemail. I will get back to you promptly. Best wishes,
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Steve.