About

Hi, my name is Dawn. I have been a face-to-face tutor since 2007 and an online tutor since February 2020.  I still teach on Tutorful, but I have also returned to freelance, using Zoom. I am waiting with the time and patience to share my knowledge to help you feel confident in exploring the world of mathematics. No matter what your barriers are, we can overcome them, so you can achieve your very best.

My students are from all backgrounds, some are special needs and are tutored at home, whilst others are in private or mainstream education and others are adults returning to education or in need of brushing up on unused skills, so they can progress in their job. Each one has their own criteria for me to meet, and using my experience and expertise  I strive to fulfill them, ensuring that their learning journey provides them with what they need.

Lessons will be centred around you the learner, as I believe in individual and personalised learning. I will primarily teach you to understand concepts and methods, by building on your knowledge and skills. Filling gaps is essential to your progression in your learning; you would not expect a wall to be strong with missing bricks and this applies to all learning, so during our lessons we will seek these out and vanquish their hold on your confidence and progress. Just with your effort, my support and tweaking and building, you will feel that eureka moment. You can do it!

I am familiar with running my lessons alongside school programmes, endeavouring to follow any particular schemes or methods used by a school, likewise I offer stand-alone sessions or homework assistance that support the National Curriculum or the Adult Numeracy goals, as part of college courses.

My expertise is in teaching maths and English, KS2  in preparation for SATs and the 11 plus; KS3 and GCSE preparation. My passion is in overcoming barriers, which are particularly common in maths. For those of you studying for L1 & L2 Functional maths, either at school, college or on apprenticeships, I am also available for that extra support. As for SATs, and the GCSE exam boards: AQA, Pearson/Edexcel, City & Guilds, and OCR programmes, I use and access resources that can prepare you for similar question types, prior to exams.

My BSc Maths (Hons) degree has provided me with subject knowledge and my PGCE in Primary Education, L5 Diploma in teaching maths, L4 Specialism in teaching Literacy and 7407 teaching certificate have provided me with strategies and methods that use individual learning styles and a deeper understanding of those barriers to learning that with help can be tackled.

Why do I love teaching?

Ask any teacher and they will say they love the 'lightbulb moment' and I am no exception to this, but I also enjoy the challenge of finding methods that match with the learner.  No-one learns in the same manner, none of us think in the same way and equally we store information and make connections differently and this is why I personalise my teaching. Research has shown that for learning to be remembered, it has to be attached to prior information or learning. Therefore, a teacher has to find out that previous learning in order to attach the new knowledge to it. If you think of the old information like a coat hook with your name on it, it has to be found and read before you can hang your new coat on it . Well, this is achieved through recalling old learning and then teaching the new.

This is why I like to use an initial assessment to find the previous knowledge, as well as the 'gaps in the wall' that are potentially causing recall problems or are preventing learning. Assessing is not just at the beginning, but is also ongoing.  I will constantly be checking work and talking to you and providing feedback, to enable me to adapt methods to suit you.

This personalisation is not possible in a classroom of thirty plus children, all  with different thought processes, and so a 'one glove fits all' approach is more often used. Have you ever found that a method, taught at school, has confused you or your child, but another method has been grasped and understood really quickly. This is because everyone learns differently and an individual tutor can find this and work with it.   Incidentally, if the method the school teaches is different then this can be taught once an understanding has been reached, as a further piece in the puzzle of learning, making you 'number nimble'. If you are interested in this bespoke approach, please contact me.

Will I teach parents/carers alongside the child?

Yes, if this is what the parent/carer wants. I believe that it is really useful, especially as some areas may not have been taught when the parent/carer was at school themselves. It can also create a bonding experience, as they share the difficulties and the triumphs.  This way of teaching was trialled, through the Learning and Skills Council, between 2000 and 2010 with much success.

If this is how  you would like your child to learn, please contact me.