Maths tutor, physics tutor, and science tutor in Belfast. GCSE, A level and undergraduate level.

Description

Is your daughter struggling to keep up with the pace in school?

Has your son lost confidence?

Do you want the deep understanding that allows you to fully answer any maths and science question?

Read on to find out how I can help your son/daughter, or yourself achieve this. Please also view the images on this ad for testimonials.

Subjects I can tutor:
-GCSE
--Maths (all levels, including Further Maths)
--Science (all levels, including Physics, Chemistry and Biology)

-A level
--Maths
--Further maths
--Physics

I should be able to travel to your home if it's in or near Belfast.
OR
Online using zoom.

If any of these bullets resonate, then I can help:

-She's struggling to do the most basic maths.
-It feels like he's really behind.
-He's lost confidence.
-She's taking all three science, and it feels like she needs help.
-He can't do his homework, and you can't help him do it either.
-You want to find a tutor that will teach in a way he understands and is responsive to.
-His teachers have been absent for long periods and the class has not learned consistently.
-You worry physics will be an issue for him if his maths remains weak.
-She works hard but her study skills need to develop.
-He didn't take Physics or Further Maths GCSEs so feel he's at a disadvantage.
-She's self conscious about asking the teacher more questions or for further explanation.
-You're worried it's too late to start tutoring.


At the moment I have very limited spaces, but please get in touch to learn more. My rate for each lesson is £80/lesson and lessons last 50 minutes. This includes:
-Lessons on any topic you ask for.
-Email me questions you are stuck on.
-Pointers in how to use AI tools to truly enhance learning (rather than do it for you!)
-Study skills mentoring.

If you're reading this, you might also find platforms like tutorful useful to find a good match.

In order to help more students I've created an AI-powered flashcard tool on my website. I'm very excited by it and so are my students! It uses AI to check that the answer you typed was correct, which is a bit different from other apps because it doesn't blindly enforce the exact wording, but checks that you understood the ideas. It keeps track of what you got right, and more importantly what you got wrong, allowing you to hone in on your mistakes and correct them. You can try it now by following my link, and if you find it useful you can subscribe for full access.

It's similar to popular alternatives like quizlet, only more focused on desirable difficulty and focused feedback.

I am a friendly, patient tutor, with over ten years experience helping students with their mathematics and science. My qualification is Physics and Philosophy MSci 1st class honours from Bristol University, during which I conducted a research project on quantum thermal machines. This means I have a full understanding of the Maths and Physics at GCSE and A level. More importantly I have a love of the subjects which I enjoy sharing.


Often students are struggling with maths/science because they're taught at the same pace for everyone. This makes sense when the teacher's role is to deliver lessons to an entire class. But students develop understanding at different rates. For example I did well in maths at primary school, but poorly for the next three years. Our class had inexperienced teachers who weren't able to meet my needs. From GCSEs onward I had excellent teachers and classmates.

My approach is flexible to the needs of the student and may be different from the school experience. I enquire as to the problems the student is working on, and from there try to offer the student a role model of how to solve those problems. Over the years I have solved many, many problems, and I am good at explaining my thought processes.

This process I try to model is:

1) select a problem.

2) try to solve it using only the present contents of consciousness. This step is crucial, yet often skipped for fear of appearing foolish. But the effort of trying to solve a problem with what is already indigenous to the mind means that the correct method will be far more likely to be retained than if it were simply looked at in the first place.

3) if this fails seek further tools, such as in class notes, the internet, from other people etc.

4) if no solution is forthcoming, sleep on the problem. Somehow the subconscious can conspire to find a solution when the conscious mind has been occupied with it for some time.

5) if after several days the problem remains unsolved, seek a more experienced expert.

My first aim in establishing this is to listen to what the person I'm teaching is saying, and try to understand their perspective on the problem. If I can see what they see, then I am to show them how to extend their knowledge and abilities.

My second aim with any student is to build confidence at the stages underlying the current topics; this is a delicate process as students can feel a stigma returning to earlier work, but once the fundamental concepts and techniques are clear and well exercised more difficult techniques fall easily into place. E.g. it is difficult to solve questions about the volume of solids if you don't have a clear physical picture of what 'volume' is.

“It is not that I'm so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.”
Albert Einstein

My third aim is to cultivate a healthy attitude to mistakes.

Many of us seem to have a discomfort with revealing ignorance, or admitting it to ourselves. Many students are cautious and afraid to express their own thoughts because they are scared these will be wrong. And if when they are expressed they do turn out to be wrong the student feels they've failed, when actually they could be feeling that they are one step closer.

It may be easier for a 16 year old to say, "I'm no good at maths", than it is to sit for an hour trying, and failing, to solve some quadratic equations. In the first instance one is exposed one's ignorance for a second, in the latter one lives with it for an hour.

But science finds that making many attempts at a problem is the better strategy for solving it. Any mistake is a lesson, it narrows down the options that could lead to a solution. Every great scientific discovery was the result of many fruitless hours, frustrations and dead end attempts.

My fourth aim is to encourage the student to explain things back to me, and become confident enough to explain it to others. There is an aphorism that we don't really understand something until we can teach it. I.e. teaching itself is a late stage of the learning process - it causes to to bring our assumptions to light, to put things in a way that is not just privately clear to us, inside our own heads, but is clear for our contemporaries. I have many times seen a student go from disliking a subject to being able to explain it to their classmates. Indeed one way you could help is by asking your son/daughter to explain something to you!

“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think”
Socrates

My fifth aim is to encourage critical thinking - a foundational skill of the mind. With critical thinking the student can always expand their own knowledge base, realise their own mistakes and biases, and those of others. This is what allows a student to improvise a solution to an unseen problem, as may be needed on an exam.

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
William Butler Yeats

My sixth aim is to encourage self-directed, autonomous learning. Many students I have met have not realised that the answers to their questions can be found outside of class materials - on Youtube, Tiktok, or Instagram, on apps such as Khan Academy, on exam board websites, in library books etc. If a tiny spark finds the right kindling there is no stopping the blaze; if a small amount of agency can be fostered in the student they can transform themselves. The more questions students can learn to ask and answer for themselves then the more space they will have to ask harder, deeper questions of their teachers.

Exam pressure can contribute to low self-esteem and make learning more difficult. Rather than put pressure on my students to increase marks, I just work on building understanding and speed. There is usually enough pressure from the school! in fact by offering a space without that pressure, students usually start to enjoy it more. Happily some effects of increased enjoyment of mathematics and self-confidence are getting more out of class and doing better in tests.

This said I also cover exam technique, specific to the board the student is being assessed by. In short this comes down to speed, time allotment, having a stab even if you know it's not right, and knowing when to abandon a question and move on.

I do appreciate that there are some students who simply don't enjoy mathematics and just want to pass their exams because employers and further courses require them. In these cases the above strategy will help make it bearable.

Ultimately the only person who can change an exam result is the person undergoing the exam. But I can guarantee to offer a role model of mathematical problem solving, which will help each student to grow and begin to solve problems themselves.

If the above writing has resonated with you, then visit my maths website, where there is an abundance of free articles, resources, interactive tools, and links to other great content. Some of the issues you son/daughter is facing can be addressed right away with the right mindset and knowledge.

Please contact me to learn more and arrange a time if you are interested.

If you do choose to reply, here are three questions you could consider as you write to me:
What does he love about maths/physics/science?
What is her greatest obstacle?
How can I help you make it better?

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