This month at Telios Tutors, we would like to acknowledge and show special appreciation to one of our incredible tutors – David. David has been a tutor with us for three years (and counting!) and we are so privileged to work with a tutor who has demonstrated consistency in writing incredibly detailed lesson reports, having excellent character and genuinely caring about his students’ progress.
Consistency in Results
David has tutored a range of students from some of London’s leading international schools including Bellerby’s College and Southbank International. One of the students David has been working with throughout the 11+ process has been offered a place at one of London’s leading independent schools. Today we run through a Q&A with David and believe this can add a lot of value to our readers.
1) As a graduate of London School of Economics and having obtained excellent academic credentials, do you have any advice for students and parents who wish to become successful in their exams and application process?
I have come to realise throughout my education that although doing well in exams is incredibly important, we are all human and it isn’t the end of the world if we don’t always achieve the top marks! I always manage my expectations and never worry about how I have answered questions once the exam is finished. Once it’s done it’s done and there’s nothing you can do to change the mark!
Going into exams with this positive yet relaxed outlook calms my nerves and allows me to focus my energies on doing the best that I can. You cannot do any better than your best! Be prepared for failure and setbacks at times, and never think that you’re not good enough to apply for the top schools. My Economics teacher in Sixth Form told all of us that applying for the LSE was futile as the competition is too fierce. I was brave enough to do it and here I am 3 years later with a degree!
2) Tell us about two of your students with Telios Tutors that you have successfully helped them achieve? One from Bellerby’s College and one from Southbank International who will be going to Sevenoaks School. What did your lessons entail?
My first student, Mohammed, was a hard-working and determined student from the Middle East who lacked confidence in Maths and Economics, worried that he wouldn’t be able to sit his foundation year exams at Bellerby’s College. I made sure I gave him a comprehensive overview of what was required in his upcoming exams in the constrained time period that we had. He only had a basic command of maths, and tutoring someone fundamentals from both GCSE and A-Level was challenging, yet incredibly rewarding.
Giacomo, my other student, is an incredibly aspirational and able boy who aimed to get into Sevenoaks School – one of the UK’s most prestigious public schools! His command of maths for his age was excellent – he is actually a year above what he should be because he has excellent potential! Our lessons focussed on helping him to excel in the Mathematics entrance test.
At the heart of this was going through every past paper until he was pitch perfect in understanding the (sometimes advanced!) topics involved. I also helped him improve his exam technique, slowly incorporating more time pressure into the examination practice so that he would be able to answer the questions diligently yet in an agile way! I am delighted that he has been offered a place for next September and it is a reflection of just how hard he has worked over the past few months!
3) What is your style of teaching and role as a tutor?
I refrain from being too didactic. I like the lessons to be centred around the pupil, as opposed to spoon feeding them information. Mathematics is a cumulative subject – maths builds upon previous maths and you cannot simply learn each topic on its own. I allow my students to see any mistakes they have made for themselves, as this is the only way to improve and build up your confidence!
4) Online tutoring is becoming more popular. Having used our interactive whiteboard, why do you think this is a far more superior way to deliver private tutoring?
Due to the sheer flexibility of it! The remote platform has allowed me to continue my lessons during extremely busy periods – such as exam period – without compromising the effectiveness of them. It’s simple, easy to use and demonstrates how useful and beneficial technology can be as a learning aid.
5) Do you have any advice for parents who are going through the 11+ process to gain entry into some of London’s most competitive grammar and independent schools?
Champion your child’s abilities and keep both yourself and your children as stress-free as possible, because the process can be incredibly nerve-rattling! It’s okay if things don’t go as planned and you don’t get into your first choice school! I believe there’s no such thing as failure at such a young age, and making sure your child is happy at school is the main thing! Don’t apply to the top schools if they aren’t the best fit for your child – they’ll do their best when they are happy!
6) What has your experience been like working with Telios Tutors so far?
The company has demonstrated sheer professionalism throughout the time I have worked with them – now going into my third year! What really makes a difference is the continual communication regarding students’ progress, it really feels like they are as invested in the pupil’s progress as the parents are – and have been with me every step of the way! Every placement of mine has been thought through to ensure that the lessons are as useful and bespoke as possible.
Here’s an example of one of David’s lesson reports with one of our students who eventually obtained a placement at Sevenoaks school:
Giacomo and I continued working on a fresh Sevenoaks mock maths paper. I could tell that he has been revising because his performance improved tremendously!
He scored 57% for the overall paper. If he had paid attention to silly mistakes he had made throughout the paper and hadn’t have lost these marks, he would have scored 72% which is stellar!
Things to revise for our next and final paper on Friday:
- Remember anything to the power of zero is 1.
- Please revise how to set up simultaneous equations again, as we have spent hours on this!
- Angle theorems – again, don’t forget these!
If he continues his revision in the way he is, he will have a competitive advantage over the other candidates for Sevenoaks! The only thing letting him down now isn’t the fact that he doesn’t know the material – he knows it all! – but that he is rushing through working and making careless mistakes.
Well done!
Tommaso and I continued our preparation for his final exam. This is going to be predominantly algebra, so I did a refresh of:
- Solving linear equations.
- I then incorporated fractions into these to challenge him. He was tentative at first, but soon got the hang of it!
- Solving simple quadratics. e.g. x^2=k, where k is a square number and can be solved quite nicely.
I then moved onto Chapter 19, focussed around factorisation. I covered:
- Factorisation using common terms.
- Factorisation of the difference of two squares.
- A combination of both – which he found really enjoyable on the last question!
I’ll cover trinomial factorisation and perfect squares factorisation next time!
Well done to you too!
Thank you very much for your time and incredible hard work, David. We are so proud to be surrounded by such excellence. You have been a genuine asset to Telios Tutors.
Interested in working with David 1 to 1? Contact Us today.