Ratio Questions – Splitting The Total

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Splitting the total when a ratio is given is a fairly basic bit of number maths. I first encounter this at middle school level, typically for an 11+ or 13+ maths ISEB entrance exam, or at GCSE maths.

I made a video three years ago on how I explain how a total is split into a given ratio.

Once you have watched the video you will notice how I use whitespace to decode the question and make the problem clearer first.

The problem is a simple one, there are 140 students at a school and the ratio of girls to boys is 3:4. How many girls and how many boys are there at the school?

I first put down the information in a very compact and clean form. Writing the ratio down, and the letter G and B above the relevant part of the ratio. I also write out the total number of students below.

The key to ratio questions is finding 1 part and then amplifying the 1 part to 3 or 4 parts later. Once you have 1 part, it is easy to find as many other parts as you want. So I work out that:

3 parts + 4 parts = 7 parts.
7 parts = 140 students
1 part = 140/7 = 20 students
3 parts = 20 students x 3 = 60 students
4 parts = 20 students x 4 = 80 students

And that’s the question done! Please let me know if you have any comments on the video or this method below.

How Big Is The Universe? – The Physics Answer

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Now this is a deep deep question. And one that we all ask. In fact, do we really know if the universe is even finite at all? Fortunately the answer to this is covered at school in the context of Astronomy in Physics. Finite or infinite, according to the latest information on Physics, and the measurements we have made so far, it is possible to get a very good picture on this. But how can one put this into context, or visualise this?

This is a video I show to all my Physics students, it is a totally mindblowing visualisation of the universe, zooming out of the earth, into the solar system, how the solar system fits into the Milky Way galaxy, and where the Milky way fits in amongst many many galaxies. Produced by the American Museum of Natural History, and with a beautiful ambient trance like soundtrack this short video will take you on a very long journey away and then back from earth.

The distances are measured in how fast light travels, because in the big scheme of things light is very slow indeed. While it takes roughly 8 minutes for light to get from the Sun to the Earth, it takes millions of years to get to us from the outer reaches of the universe.

This video fascinates all my students, it will leave you stunned and in awe knowing where you fit into the big scheme of things. It is a total joy to be able to share this with my students, and I never get bored of watching it again and again, a truly great Physics resource. Hit play and enjoy the ride.

How to Unfreeze Yourself When Tackling Hard GCSE maths Questions

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Below are a few tips for those students who struggle with particular questions in maths, find it frustrating, or freeze doing tests. The new 9-1 grading system has more challenging questions than we have seen previously, so these tips are more important than ever.

  • If practising for an exam, do not attempt past papers under timed conditions straight away, instead bitesize the whole process and first do the paper without any time constraints. Time pressure causes the mind to rush and freeze up and you are working at very limited mind capacity to problem solve effectively. Once confident at solving questions with unlimited time, you can gradually introduce a time limit.
  • In geometry questions, a 4 colour pen is invaluable. Are there any parallel lines involved? Then sketch the parallel lines in red. You will be surprised by how much new information is now revealed and you can “see” the problem much clearer with colour.
  • Make sure you use a rough column (on the right hand side) or rough paper to write out what you are thinking, even if it simple multiplication. The more you free your mind (working memory, a bit like computer RAM) up from irrelevant information, the more “space” there is for your mind to solve the actual problem. Think of a shopping list, it is tempting to remember it all, but once you’ve put it on paper you can focus on other things. The other benefit of writing out is that it gives the examiner important clues to your thinking. I marked thousands of GCSE exam scripts for an exam board and we were trained to pick out even the smallest hint that you are thinking along the right track. Just one number scribbled might get you extra method marks!
  • The use of white-space on paper is worthy of a chapter in itself. But in summary : Use lots of paper and space to write. When your writing gets squashed into a corner or at the side of the page, it clutters the mind as well. So use plenty of space when writing. Even if your mind feels cluttered, the use of nice open white space will clear things out in your head too.
  • Cuisenaire rods are an invaluable resource for primary school children starting off in maths, or those with Dyscalculia. Anything physical that you can touch, see and move around is invaluable. Lego cubes are superb for working out plan and elevation drawings.
  • Say it out while writing. This might seem a bit odd, but when you say out something as you write it, it really helps you process things much better. In fact this is the kingpin of my method when tutoring maths online to my students.
  • Stuck at a problem for ages? Leave it, and come back to it and start again on a clean, fresh piece of paper. Your subconscious is very powerful and may have solved (or part solved) the problem while you were having your break.
  • Ask for help: Ok, so you tried everything and nothing so far has helped. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, there are so many that can help you. Your teacher, any place where there are extra maths lessons, maybe a relative or even other students that you know. Try talking out the problem with friends and you may find that in trying to explain the question you’ve already solved it. And of course, you can always ask the help of a tutor too.

So there you have it. I use these methods when tutoring maths. Pretty much at all levels from primary, to Common Entrance 13+, to iGCSE maths exams, and during A Level maths tuition sessions online. My list is by no means complete and I am very curios to know how you get yourself unstuck, or if you are a teacher yourself please do write in the comments below and let me know what you think.

Being Recognised as an Online Tutor

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I have been quoted in an online blog as being one of the best online tutors in the world, how exciting and what an honor for my ego!

One of the great things about being an online tutor is that you can meet other online tutors. And this is such a small niche group of tutors that word spreads fast! And tutors learn and network with each other fast as well. I totally owe it to a couple of tutors I got chatting to online who mentored and encouraged me to go more and more online. And thanks to them I am now fully online.

But then I found that doing this really odd thing i.e teaching online, that no one thinks is possible, starts making a few little ripples and the ripples then turn into waves.

I felt like giving back to the online community of tutors. and I have joined a really great community of tutors at Joanne Kaminski’s group Become an online tutor. And when they wanted some advice on me for tutors starting up on the online game, I realised I actually know a lot about online tuition!

My advice was very simple really. It is that if as a tutor you are worried or scared about the technology aspect of online tuition and you feel you can’t provide the same value online as you can in person, then the best thing to do is just train with other tutors. I have even helped one tutor make her first ever Skype call and chat to me on video. This is a great soft step in getting used to online tuition.

I am one of 10 tutors giving advice in that article, and there’s other superb pieces of advice on there from other excellent online tutors. Some other advice is to get videos, set up a payment system, getting your online folders organised and thinking about that all important ‘why am I doing this?’ question that drives and inspires you to tutor. So here it is then, read my part in:

World’s Best Online Tutors Offer 10 Pieces of Advice For Starting an Online Tutoring Business

Summer Tutoring Break – Rock, Airshow and BBQs

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Ah Summer bliss, the warm weather (most of the time), the many outdoor events and the opportunity to relax and take some time off. That I sure have done, and six weeks of that too by now. Except for a tiny bit of online tutoring I have had a great break. So what have I been doing with this time off?

Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am a man of rock, live rock ‘n roll. This year I went off to a rock and metal festival in Denmark called Copenhell. An old university friend lives in Copenhagen and we have been going to rock festivals for a good few years now. From the big names we saw Bruce Springsteen, Alice Cooper, The Scorpions, Sixx AM and Black Sabbath. I have been to Copenhagen two Summers in a row and it has really grown on me as a pretty city by the sea and full of canals.

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

The first half of 2016 took me by surprise with the huge growth of online tuition, and with no days off I lost track of a few friends. I have now made up for that and have been catching up with loads of great friends. They have forgiven me for me going incognito for a while, or so they tell me anyway 🙂

For the first time in my 10 years of tutoring I met tutors last year and have become good friends with some tutors. We socialise now and it’s great to have ‘work colleagues’ as friends, and being an independent tutor is no longer the lonely profession it used to be for me. I organised a tutor meetup at Hyde Park in July, the day was absolutely beautiful and we sat and chatted on the grass in the park. The tutor meetups have been a real success and I can see these growing even more over the coming months.

The A380 at Farnborough Air Show

The A380 at Farnborough Air Show

I have been keeping my Science brain busy in other ways, I went to the Royal Society exhibition, saw Professor Brian Cox give a live lecture, and the best one of all was a trip to the Farnborough Air Show. I got to know a tutor from Farnborough in December 2015 and she invited me to her housewarming BBQ weekend party. This was the perfect excuse for me to see the airshow as well. And what an airshow! I very highly recommend going to it, you see airplanes do some mind blowing things.

The growth of my tutoring business in 2016 has given me good income, and a nice buffer over the summer so in terms of earnings I don’t feel the same urgency to get tutoring again as I have done so in the past. I do like tutoring and can’t be kept off it for too long though. There are a few students who I feel need to be kept ticking over the Summer as they risk going into the new school year on a weak foundation, so I am keeping track of them and I will start tutoring them before they go to school.

Brian Cox Neutrino Lecture

Brian Cox Neutrino Lecture

And then there is my favourite county Yorkshire. This month I am going to Yorkshire both to tutor, and also visit a couple of other families purely to socialise and to be a tourist. These two families used to be clients of mine and since we have so many values and memories in common we have become parts of each others lives. It will be good to catch up with some of my earliest students from when I first started tutoring. They are in their mid twenties now so it will be nice to see how they are doing in life now.

The summer marches on and I stay true to my other love in life, making and performing music. I have been doing tons of that and am on stage solo and with my band over the summer. 2016 was another first to mix up tutoring with rock music and I invited parents and family to a gig of mine, same again for my next band gig.


The summer continues and as tutoring is such a big part of my life now, this year has been really awesome to get parts of tutoring involved in my personal life, from making new tutor friends, inviting families to my gigs and putting in some tourism mixed with tutoring. Love every minute of it.

My Busiest Ever Tutoring Season 2015-2016 Ends

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Today is my fifth full day off in all of 2016. I am still tired but slowly getting the well deserved rest that I have needed so I am putting down my thoughts as they swim around in my head now; Online tuition, tutor meet-ups, Science kits, expanding my tutoring age range, and Dyscalculia tuition. I have learnt and done a lot of new things this year.

Core 4 AQA online maths tuition

Teaching A Level maths online.

Yesterday the 2015-2016 season came to an end for me and the week before I was tutoring 7 to 8hrs daily. Except for 4 days, I was teaching every single day in 2016 until then, even if on some days it was just 2hrs. This final week felt like the grand finale of a great fireworks display that went with medium intensity throughout with the occasional intense burst, but then went full blast towards the end.

This week has seen me say goodbye to many long term students as they graduate into the next phase of their lives. All goodbyes are hard, but the homeschooling ones were particularly hard. With homeschooling I felt 100% responsible for their education in that subject and I was an integral part of student’s lives over the last two years, and conversely they and their families were a part of my life too.

Cuisenaire Rods

Tutoring a 7 year old with Dyscalculia using Cuisenaire rods. Another first for me this year.

I have been tutoring for 10 years now and am used to steady growth of my tuition, but 2015-2016 doubled the demand on my time within just one year, and I have been overwhelmed by the growth of online tuition. Nothing had prepared me for this level of demand on my time. I took on the challenge though and managed the logistical, business and teaching side of it. I simultaneously also started tutoring Dyscalculia to adults, started maths with children as young as 6 and got hold of Science kits for hands on demonstration and play. The growth of my online tuition meant I had more money to attend courses and buy more educational material. One area of growth spiraled other areas and it was a great cycle of self perpetuating growth.

Playing piano at a student home.

Playing piano at a student home.

I will reflect more on this but so many new things happened in my world of tuition this school year that I will always remember it as a pivotal turning point in my tutoring career. Online tuition meant a more online presence for me in general. This meant I actively seeked out other tutors, and starting organising tutor meet-ups in London. Another tutor started meet-ups in the Midlands and we joined forces. A dedicated community of passionate tutors started meeting each other both in real life and I even arranged a Google Hangouts of tutors. Small tutor networks joined up to be bigger ones, and this process is still continuing as I become part of US and international online tutor networks. So far we had all worked in isolation for years as face to face tutors, but in the last few months great minds have been collaborating and coming together.

Physics circuits for school

Electricity is way more fun to learn when playing with circuits.

I have met some incredible tutors over the last few months, both face to face and online. Every one truly dedicated and giving 100% to what they do. Communicating with other great tutors has stimulated and inspired me to no end. The future of teaching is being defined by a few renegade and maverick tutors out there who are working independently of any constraints, and it will be years before we see the educational reforms we are coming up with, before they are rolled out and accepted amongst mass education.

Back to teaching though, lighting up students’ minds with enthusiasm and making sense of what never made sense before is always a real joy to me, and I found my ‘work’ purpose in life when I found tutoring by accident. This is what kept me going through all these months non-stop. It wasn’t always healthy for me and next year I plan on having a better work life balance. Sometimes people would ask if I ever get bored of teaching, and I would just say:

“I get tired sometimes yes, but bored….never”.

How to Manage Exam Stress and Anxiety

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The all important exam season is one of the most satisfying times of the year. Months of preparation and hard work have been based around this focal period of exams, and students really start maturing once they realise that education is really about putting dedicated and hard work.

But it’s not all plain sailing and as exams kick in, some students are prone to anxiety and stress more than others. Managing this is all important as months of preparation and hard work could be ruined by last minute nerves. Exam anxiety and stress are a normal part of the whole exam process. And being able to focus and then sit the exams is itself a journey that students need to take. They come out of the other side with a real sense of achievement and more maturity once they have gone through this trial by fire.

Here are some pointers for both parents and students to manage anxiety and general wellbeing:

  • Provide meals at the right times (for parents), eat at all the right times (for students).
  • Make sure you are drinking water – easier to drink with a straw. It is summer and winter drinking habits will cause dehydration, we need more water in the summer.
  • NO junk food : The temptation to eat pizza, chips and sugary treats is highest during times of stress. This needs to be avoided at all costs. Simple home cooked meals are best.
  • Early nights – The brain is so full on information at this point that it needs a lot of hours of sleep to process and rest. Last minute cramming is not a good idea at all. Please do not do this!
  • No screens/iPhone an hour before bed (wishful thinking I know – pigs will fly!) – At the very least students can switch their screens to “night mode” which is a lot less aggressive on the eyes at night.
  • Mindful exercises – Count deep breaths in and out for one minute before attempting any past papers. Practice past papers in different locations to get familiar with the unfamiliar. I always tell my students that your real paper should feel like your 15th past paper.
  • Keep calm and grounded. The student will be surrounded by other anxious students, which is ok to an extent but if everyone else stays calm, students will be calm as well. Keep calm and carry on as they say 🙂

Here’s a few more articles and links:

How to help your teenagers revise for exams – The Guardian Article

‘Leave us alone’: teens plea to parents suffering from exams stress – The Telegraph Article

Lastly, good luck with exams, they will be all over soon!

Budget March 2016 – A Big Change in State Education

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Education has featured more prominently in this budget than I can ever remember, and this is a great thing. The three points that strike out to me as the most important are:

  • The conversion of all English schools into academies
  • The compulsory role of maths until the age of 18
  • A sugar tax to tackle childhood obesity
Victorian School

Time to move on from the 3:30pm school bell.

In this particular post I am interested in the academisation of schools and potentially longer hours for schools. What academies are and how the conversions of schools into academies is discussed really well in the following post by Bright Young Things Tuition, a tutoring agency I did some work for in the past.

Budget 2016 – Every English School Set to Become an Academy by 2020

In their article they say that the Victorian schoolbell for 3:30pm for every school in the UK will be a thing of the past. They also discuss the percieved pros and cons of turning schools into academies. Currently in England, over 60% secondary schools are academies already (2,075 out of 3,381). And that number is over 14% for primary schools (2,440 of 16,766). In the article the academy is defined as:

Academies are state-funded, independent schools which are run by charitable trusts via a contract with the government. Rather than receiving their funding from a local authority, it’s delivered directly from central government

Academies have more independence and control on what they do without state meddling. Indeed, what seems like a really bold leap of faith is that schools are even set completely free from the national curriculum and can decided to sit iGCSEs instead of GCSEs, which has been adapted by all the private schools already.

I think this is a good thing and makes State schools a bit more like private schools in terms of the hours provided at least. There are concerns however that this could be the first step in the full privatisation of State schools. Personally I don’t believe that. I am in support for this move, and if an academy can be open for longer and run longer school hours, I think that is all the better for the students who really need it (eg GCSE and A Level students). ‘The death of childhood’ by making students stay at school is not something I agree with. Indeed in the case of many primary schools, parents may well appreciate the extra childcare the school is able to provide through after school activities.

Most secondary schools are academies already and students I have tutored from academies generally seem to be fairly positive about them. Of course they are getting tutored by me because they feel like they need the extra help and school may not be adequate. In terms of the tutoring industry, it is hard to tell what the impact of academies will be. In any case, I think this is a welcome move and I always work with schools anyway. I make direct contact with many school teachers and I think it is always best to work as a tutor-school-parent-student team together. The State education sector is going through a crisis with not enough teachers in schools and it is time such big reforms are put into place. We simply do not live in the Victorian world anymore.

The Exodus of Tutors to Online Tuition

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The benefits of online tuition for both tutors and students has been covered well in this blog post by Matthew Barnes, who is a full time online Biology Tutor. I will write a further post to add to Matthew’s post on why I think online tuition is better than face to face tuition in not just one way, but several ways.

I am slowly converting to almost all exclusively online. There are some tutors and parents who just cannot be convinced about online tuition, so if you are one of them then close your eyes now!

Mass Exodus of Tutors

All head towards the land of 0 commuting.

Tutors who work online also network online faster, much faster than they could ever do offline. In fact, since I have started tutoring online, I have been seeking more and more online tutors to exchange notes with, to learn from and to refer each other to potential new students. Each tutor has their unique, individual personality and flair that they bring to the table. I have met several tutors through the Tutor Pages LinkedIn page and also somewhat surprisingly through twitter. I have also had several video conversations with new tutors. I have met and chatted with more tutors in the last two months than I did in the previous 9 years before when I was tutoring face to face. A staggering difference!

Gordon is the latest such convert to online maths tuition, and following on from Matthew’s 100% online tuition model, he is taking the step from next school year to also almost exclusively tutor online. This makes perfect sense. From a tutor’s point of view travelling time and effort are a waste of time and money. There are tutors out there who I have chatted to that are clocking up hundreds of miles per week of driving mileage, not to mention petrol costs and the tiring amount of effort. In London I have to battle a commute, often changing trains and the London metro up to three times. Just one train has to be late to throw my entire day off.

I predict that all the truly great tutors will soon move completely (or almost completely) online. It is inevitable. Someone who values their time knows how precious that time can be for other themselves and for tutoring other students. The quality of life for a tutor improves substantially. There is no reason left to commute. I fully welcome the digital revolution in tutoring and look forward to reporting how things progress for me in the digital domain.

Welcome to my new website!

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It is 2016, and after 4 years of having a static website page, I am upgrading to a new, content based website. I now tutor more and more online and on Skype and as such I am excited about the opportunities the internet presents for me to reach new students, parents, fellow tutors and anyone else who is interested in the education of young people.

My new website and its platform allows me to blog on a regular basis. This is something I really am excited about, sharing my thoughts and asking you to get involved by commenting or messaging me back. I am excited to share a decade’s worth of knowledge I have amassed into the psychology of teaching, and of families.