My Teaching Approach

My Philosophy

There are many routes to a good grade in maths and physics, but not all will grant you a good foundational understanding of the subjects. Memorising equations, standard solutions and mindlessly doing practise questions may eventually lead to a steady increase in attainment, but it's making maths & physics more difficult and more tedious than they need to be.

For students who are finding physics or maths tricky, I like to take them back to basics and give them a solid foundation of understanding, upon which more specific skills and eventually exam technique can be built. In this way, rather than taking a student who is working at a grade 4 and pushing their attainment up to a 6, I can inspire true confidence and enjoyment in the subject and transform a student into the sort of mathematician or physicist who is aiming for a grade 7-9.

Likewise, if maths & physics are already your strong points and you're looking to guarantee a 9 or A*, as well as get a head start for your next step, I'll push your understanding beyond the limits of the curriculum and help you explore advanced skills that will make the exams seem trivial!

What My Lessons Look Like

The majority of my lessons will involve you actively solving problems. Physics and maths are subjects that are learned by doing - equations & methods aren't memorised as facts, but practised as skills. My style is to establish that background knowledge or skill and then help you apply it to a variety of problems. Sometimes I'll give you tips and help you through, sometimes I'll take a back seat and have you talk me through your thought process, so I can get to know how you solve problems (and figure out where you may be going wrong!)

Usually I'll choose past exam questions for us to work on, so as to kill two birds with one stone! To get the grade you deserve, it's also important to be familiar with the mark scheme, so that you know what skills and knowledge it wants you to demonstrate.

A typical hour looks like this:

A brief check-in - how's class going? Is there any new content or homework you're finding challenging this week? ~2 mins
Recap and re-explain today's skills and content. Go from first principles and show where equations and laws come from ~8 mins
Applying today's skills to practise questions - at first with my help, gradually becoming more independent and working towards maximising your marks! ~35 mins
Mark our work strictly with respect to the mark scheme, figuring out how we can change our approach to earn any marks we're missing. ~10 mins
Review and establish what we'll work on next session ~5 mins