Tuesday 7th February 2012

I have been a private tutor for close on 4 years now.  After working in secondary schools as a Mathematics teacher, private tuition was the perfect choice for family life after the arrival of our family.  Many students have moved onwards and upwards, and many others remain. But I have had many experiences on this journey to inspire me and hopefully others who may read this in their own journeys to come.

Over the last four years, I am lucky enough to have built up lovely clientele.  Their sights may be on different goals, whether it be to reach the highest possible level for each student on A'level, GCSE, or 11+ results, but all have a shared mission, they want their son or daughter to be the very best they can be at maths.

Last year saw the most amazing results for my students.  The majority of GCSE students achieved either A or an A* grades.  One student in particular stood out at that time, they were predicted a grade F and went on to achieve a grade A.  The student in question was fortunate enough to be in a school which enabled her to sit her GCSE exam early (albeit the lower level foundation paper) in the November, and if they achieved a C grade (the top grade for that paper), they gained the opportunity of sitting the June exam doing the higher level paper.

Not every student is in a position to make such a giant leap, but they all make personal leaps. This blog will hopefully give a window into their stories.

Wednesday 8th February 2012

After years of supporting students in achieving passes in their 11+ for Ipswich private schools and for the Colchester Grammar school.  I decided to put some formality in place and arrange 12 mock exam sessions for students hoping to gain places in the grammar and a course to run along side.   They are to be run from Christchurch Park, Reg Driver centre and timed to prepare students immediately prior to the Colchester Grammar entrance test later this year.

The course is run for small groups (up to 4 students at a time) and the mock exam sessions are for up to 20 students in a sitting, so a small enough concern to give a great quality product. 

I have not begun my poster advertising and have done little to begin to advertise the courses as yet, but I have been pleased with the response to the 11+ maths course, although with the volume of requests for English tuition, I am now on a mission to find a suitable secondary school English teacher to help with this element of the 11+.

Saturday 11th February 2012

Primary school teacher or secondary school teacher to teach the 11+?  I would have to choose a subject specialist to teach the English on the 11+ course.  Of course these can exist in primary and secondary schools, however, I firmly believe "stick to the knitting", so stay with what you know best.  A secondary school English teacher has far more experience of teaching English than a primary school teacher who's role is shared into multiple topics and therefore better placed to stretch the students to the highest level.

Today I am a step further towards finding a suitable teacher for the 11+ English;  a qualified secondary school teacher with 12 years experience of teaching English. They are experienced in both classroom and one-to-one teaching and in small group booster tuition to accelerate ability and level.

And so the 11+ course will have three qualified teachers, enabling students to receive an hour an a half of teaching in each session which includes 30 minutes with a qualified secondary school English teacher, 30 minutes with a qualified secondary school maths teacher and 30 minutes with two teachers supporting students through the verbal reasoning.  Together we will offer a very comprehensive learning experience.

Friday 17th February 2012

Its been a busy half term week with the construction of a new website for the eleven plus, www.elevenplusipswich.co.uk  With that in mind, I have been thinking about the question of do it yourself 11+.  Is it possible to do the 11+ with just the support of parents?

I have come across few students who have successfully been through the 11+ process with the support of papers, text books and parental support without tuition.  One of these students got a place in the Colchester Grammar school and was ranked 12th.  These students are exceptions.  In my experience, it is hard for parents to teach their own children and for children to be taught by their parents.

For entry into many private schools, if students are of above average ability then practice exams may be all that is required to start to fill the theory gaps.  Students coming from preparatory schools will receive preparation in class on the papers for the entry into a senior school.  For those in state school however, they need to prepare in their own time.  These students will be preparing for the SAT's which covers English and Maths, but they will need to learn verbal reasoning, many of these are gaining private tuition to make this journey easier.

For entry into the Colchester Grammar, the students who successfully gain places have to achieve the highest results.  For those students attempting to gain a place, there needs to be a more comprehensive coverage of the topics in their preparations.  Many of these students opt for an approach which combines tuition with assessment through mock test papers, to help them to avoid disappointment.

Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Yesterday was a great day of achievement. One of my students received a postcard from their school mathematics department recognising their achievements.  The student started having weekly lessons with me 11 months ago whilst they were in year 5 and just prior to their SAT's test.  On their arrival they were assessed to be a level 3B (below average grade) and 7 weeks later they were assessed again and they achieved a level 4B.  A whole level increase in 7 weeks which is something that normally takes a year in school.

The  student is now in year 6.  They were moved from lower groups and had progressed to the top set and had recently been assessed at school.  The student was one of only 6 in his class to achieve a level 6, they achieved a level 6.3 which is 3 levels progress in 11 months which is exceptional progress (normally taking 3 years in school).  This student is one of only 2 students who have made a 3 level progress in a year (the other student, being prepared for 13+, went from a level 5 to a level 8 in a year). An amazing day.