LoginKirsty - Darlington tutor
Information About Kirsty:
Personal Description:
I'm Kirsty, I love teaching as I believe my passion for my subject helps ignite curiosity in young people of where we see maths in everyday life and how it affects their lives. Spotting patterns and being able to problem solve in every job and career path comes from great mathematical analytic skills!
I love when students get the 'lightbulb' moment; the understanding kicks in and we get the solution to the problem we are working on. Endorphins rushing when we feel a sense of achievement. I want to help break the barriers of 'I'm not good at maths' and change mindsets to 'I'm not good at maths, yet'. Optimism and a positive mindset can really change outcomes, both with maths questions and life in general.
Teaching Experience:
I have been teacher for the past 10 years in a secondary school in Billingham. I have taught throughout key stage 3 and 4, from year 7 through to year 11. I have designed schemes of learning and the resources to go along with that to enable students to have interactive but thoughtful, ordered maths lessons with key concepts covered and checking for understanding throughout.
Recently I completed the National Professional Qualification in Leading Teacher Development (NPQLTD) which has enabled me to break down components of learning - for people of all ages and abilities - and ensure the best progress is made through the correct understanding and structuring of learning modules.
Since 2018 I have worked for exam boards Edexcel and OCR marking a mixture of higher and foundation papers, so I have a good understanding of how examiners apply the mark scheme and the experience to teach tips and techniques to ensure exam success. Not that exams are everything, but they are a necessity to further your academic career, so understanding how to do them well is key to showcasing your knowledge!
I have tutored privately 1:1 for the past 7 years, working with a mixture of ks3 students, as well as ks4 in examination prep at both higher and foundation level. Everyone I worked with got the required confidence or grade that they needed to move onto the next stage of their learning journey - excellent!
Tutoring Approach:
I love a mixture of tasks to break up the monotony of 'a worksheet of questions' which might be some peoples' experience of maths lessons. Maths is not boring; I want to share my love of it with people!
I like interactivity - be it using mini whiteboards, card sorts, tarsias etc. - as well as ensuring key concepts are covered with GCSE style questions so our skills match up and link to what examiners might ask.
Using physical manipulatives to introduce concepts which leads to understanding at an abstract level helps solidify knowledge and fluency of skill.
If one strategy does not work, I have a range of other ways to aid understanding - one size does not fit all with maths and there are often more ways than one to find a solution. Let's explore our reasoning together and develop a solid mathematical understanding and hopefully build your confidence at the same time!
Subjects Taught:
Qualifications:
- BSc Psychology from University of Plymouth
- PGCE with QTS teaching Maths at KS3 and KS4
- 3 A-levels including Maths
- NPQLTD from National Institute of Teaching
Further Information:
| Availability: | Weekdays (all times) |
| Types of Tutoring: | Travels to you / From their home / Online |
| References Supplied? | Yes |
| Current DBS/CRB Check? | Yes |
