Why me?
Hi, I’m Rob and I’m delighted to offer you my services as a Maths tutor.
In 40 years of teaching and tutoring, I’ve taught in eight different schools in the U.K. and abroad, both State and Independent, with pupils from a wide range of backgrounds, and I’ve tutored pupils privately in Maths from early Primary through to A-Level. I’m highly skilled at working with children of very different capabilities and learning styles – both online and face-to-face.
I live with my wife and two dogs in Murrayfield, West Edinburgh.
How I Teach
Whether I’m working with children who find Maths difficult, or stretching pupils who want to aim high, my students find my lessons helpful, supportive and engaging. Children in my school frequently ask when I’m next going to work with their class, or whether they can join one of my small group sessions, and pupils I work with say Maths is one of their favourite subjects.
Many children see Maths as a mysterious set of rules to be learned and so become discouraged or confused. I make a point of helping my students to understand the connections between different ideas. My desire in all of my teaching is to make Maths meaningful for pupils, by explaining not just how to do things, but why things work the way they do.
From my wide experience, I believe the greatest barrier to success is either a lack of self-belief or a fear of failure, and the most powerful way to address this is to work 1-1 and build a relationship of trust with each pupil. My approach is to identify the gaps in each student’s learning and then to lead them carefully step-by-step to a secure understanding of key ideas, while at the same time helping them to become skilled in their core number skills and in solving problems.
By learning to see mistakes as learning opportunities, the children and young people who work with me develop the ambition to aim high, and often achieve far more than they thought they were capable of.
My Tutoring
During evenings and weekends, in addition to my day-time teaching job, I have, for many years, enjoyed teaching Maths to a steady stream of private pupils. Many have stayed with me for years, and I’ve had ongoing relationships with a number of families where I’ve tutored multiple siblings one after another.
I’ve taught children as young as six who’ve been weak in their early understanding, and worked with them for two or three years until they’ve been confident enough to fly on their own. I’ve coached older primary children to support them with their aspiration to move from the State to the Independent sector; and I’ve taught others of all ages privately who, for various reasons, have had a poor experience of learning Maths in school.
I’ve tutored several pupils all the way from the start of Senior School through to Nat 5 or GCSE, and I’ve helped others who have scored poorly in their January mocks and have needed extra coaching before their exams in May. I’ve supported many students who, having achieved well at the Nat 5 level, have struggled when faced with the more challenging expectations of the Higher syllabus, and I’m also experienced at working with Advanced Higher and A-Level students who simply want a little extra boost to ensure that they’re fully on track for success.
If you’d like to discuss how I can help you, please contact me and we can arrange to chat.