Tag: GCSE tutors cambridge

Online tuition has been a complete game-changer.

Posted on by Rachel Law

Online Tuition

Before lock-down, I’d been very reticent about online teaching – feeling that it was of a lesser quality to the ‘gold-standard’ of face-to-face tuition. However, I’ve now found myself completely sold on this new way of working.

Firstly, it must be said that our already amazing tutors have been nothing short of stunning, delivering superb lessons for our students, using the latest software and screen-sharing options. I think this is working well for the following reasons:

  • Many students are very happy online and we find they are more focused on the tutor, so more intensive work is completed.
  • Our tutors report that students are fully ready for them at the appointed time, meaning that they get more tuition in the allotted time.
  • We’re able to put the tutor best suited to work with the student, rather than the very best tutor who can travel to them.
  • Our tutors can help more students overall because they’re travelling less, so can deliver more lessons.

However, face-to-face tuition is still a great option for many students and with the appropriate social distancing is continuing to work well. In fact, for some students, for example, students who are out of school for health or behaviour reasons (alternative provision) it’s often the only option that will work effectively.

Whilst we don’t know if we’ll be faced with a national or multiple local lock-downs, moving forward, it’s reassuring for us at Tutor My Kids to know that we can accommodate most options.

If you’re considering getting a tutor for your child, please take a look at our For Parents page and check out our client testimonials.

If you’re a teacher who is interested in becoming a tutor for Tutor My Kids, please take a look at our For Tutors page and our tutor testimonials.

What’s-different-about-the-new-GCSEs-and-what-skills-are-needed-to-succeed?

Posted on by Rachel Law

There are several differences to the new GCSEs. Aside from the new grading system, they’re harder, require students to learn the whole curriculum for the end exams, need students to apply their knowledge to problems and remember quotes, technical terms and formulae. This needs a different set of skills from the old GCSEs.

Memory and retention

The new GCSEs require students to use the correct technical vocabulary for the subject, as well as remembering quotes and formulae. A mark would be awarded for correctly using the term osmosis or reacting, whereas more general terms such as mixing, combining would not score. Fomulae for maths and science equations (such as an area of a circle) are no longer provided, so students need to learn these by heart. Quotes from books must also be learnt verbatim for English and history. This requires students to have strategies and study skills that will help them commit these elements to memory.

Resilience and repetition

The new exams have end exams which tests all the knowledge learnt across the whole GCSE course. Previously, many subjects had end of unit tests – several tests across the year testing a specific block of learning,  which required less information to be learnt for each test. This means that students are expected to know topics that they learnt in Sept of year 10 as well as those taught just before the exam. This approach also expects that students will be able to use and apply their knowledge across topics in one problem, so a question may require students to demonstrate a knowledge of trigonometry and ratio within one question. Students need to have the discipline and techniques to ensure that they’re revisiting and revising topics as they progress through the curriculum.

More advanced skills

Without doubt, the new exams are harder. There is content in the higher maths tier that was previously in the A level syllabus and topics in the foundation tier that were in the higher tier of the old GCSEs. For the new English GCSE, students are expected to be able to discuss why the author has used certain techniques  – this is a completely new skill to students, never tested before. Understanding the historical context of books studied is expected to be at a higher level than previously needed. All these require students to be able to take on board this higher level of thinking and analysis.

Applying the knowledge

Learning the topics well, however, certainly is not enough  – the new GCSEs require students to demonstrate that they can apply their knowledge to problems set in the questions. Students are expected to be able to discuss why Priestley set An Inspector Calls before the first world war, when it was written after and how his political viewpoint informed his writing. Maths students are needed to be able to apply the fomulae that they’ve learnt to worded problems, such as Calculate the height of a building, given various angles and distances, without explicitly being told to use trigonometry.  Science students need to demonstrate how science applies to real-life issues such as the environment. This is a step on and above from students learning and recalling key facts.

How can I help my child?

There are several key areas that can help your child succeed at the new GCSEs. Firstly, really good subject knowledge is absolutely key – encourage your kids to do their homework to ensure understanding of topics and take advantage of any after-school or lunchtime drop-in sessions. Relearning and revisiting of a topic – essentially making revision notes can become a great resource to refresh learning and ensure topics are not forgotten. Look at techniques for committing quotes,  formuale and technical vocab to memory – whatever works for your child – mind mapping, revision cards etc. Reading around the topic, taking full advantage of any supplementary materials from school and practice papers can help with applying the knowledge.  There’s a lot to fit in, so encourage and help your kids to start with some of these techniques early.

Would a tutor help?

At Tutor My Kids, our tutors in Ely, Cambridge, Newmarket, St Ives and Huntingdon, support students in many ways, but almost always include subject knowledge, help to apply that knowledge and study skills. For more info on GCSE exams and tuition in Cambridgeshire, please click the link, email Rachel or call her on 01223 858421 for an informal chat.

 

 

 

Are-you-confused-by-the-new-GCSE-grading-system?

Posted on by Rachel Law

The new GCSEs are now in place.  The new exams and grading system for maths, English Language and Literature was introduced for the exams in summer 2017. The remained subjects joined them for 2018.

Why-do-we-have-a-new-grading-system?

The exams are new and having a new grading system helps employers to identify that students have studied this more challenging exam. It’s a very visual way of signalling this change in the education system.

How-do-the-new-grades-work?

Grades 9 is there to show the students who have exceeded the old A* grade. Grade 7 is an A, grade 8 a strong A.

Grade 6 is a B

Grade 4 is a C – a standard pass, with grade 5 being a strong pass.

Grade 3 is between a D and an E, grade 2 between an E and an F, grade 1 between an F and a G. Grade U (ungraded) remains unchanged.

So, a grade 4 and above is a pass.

At the moment, grade 4 is a pass and I think it’s realistic to expect it to stay so for the moment, but given the focus on improving our rankings in the international edcuational league tables, I think it’s entirely possible that this may change and 5 may become the official pass mark. However, given the movement of grade boundaries in 2018 to ensure pass rates remain consistent with previous years whilst the new exams bed in, I think this will be some years hence.

For more info on GCSE exams and tuition in Cambridgeshire, please click the link.

 

 

When-is-the-right-time-to-get-help-for-GCSEs-and-A-levels?

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It can be quite difficult to spot that your child needs help coming up to their GCSEs or A levels; they want to be independent and frankly don’t always know they need help. Tutor My Kids offers some pointers to help decide.

Ask the question.

It’s always worth asking your teenager which subjects they’re finding hard – it may be the subject matter, the way it’s taught or how well they get on with their teacher. It’s worth asking the question of school too. Schools and colleges are pretty direct these days – many teachers will say if they think a private tutor may help.

Mock results.

Mock results are invariably below the grades your child will get, because they’ve got another 6 months+ to go at this point, but if they’re significantly different from the result they were expecting, it could be helpful to get a private tutor to help with GCSEs or A levels. If your child has any learning difficulties, it’s also worth asking if they can get extra time in the exams. Take a look at Could my child get extra time for GCSEs and A levels?

What grades do they need?

The government are now insisting all students get GCSE maths and English and it certainly easier to get these done in year 11 with the other GCSEs, than have them hanging over into year 12 or 13. Take a look at  the new GCSE grades for information on the new grading systems.

Does your child need a specific grade to get into their sixth form, university or apprenticeship choice?

How can a private tutor help?

A private GCSE or A level tutor can help in all sorts of ways. Firstly they can help with subject knowledge – filling in any gaps which your child has not fully understood. Secondly, they can advise on where to pick up marks. Many of our tutors also mark or set exam papers, so have a really good understanding of where marks can be gained and lost. Finally, confidence should not be underestimated, a student who is confident of his or her abilities is invariably calmer and more relaxed going into the exams, which means they’ll suffer less from exam anxiety and perform better.

When is the right time to get help from a private tutor?

Whilst it is always good to be guided by your child and by school, as a provider of private A level and GCSE tutors in Cambridge and surrounding areas, at Tutor My Kids we’re also aware that availability of good tutors drops rapidly the closer it gets to the exams.

They’re in year 10 – is this too early?

This depends on your child. If they’re very far behind the grade that they need in year 11, they may well be value in finding a private tutor in year 10.

How do I find a good tutor?

At Tutor My Kids we’re biased, but we think that teachers make the best private tutors. Almost all our private tutors in the Cambridgeshire area are teachers. Teachers know how to put across the information well; it’s what they do everyday. We also believe that the personality fit between the tutor and student is as important as their subject knowledge, so we always visit our clients personally and always interview our tutors face to face to ensure a great match. Personal recommendation is always a good way to find a good tutor and we’re always delighted by how many of our clients recommend us to their friends and colleagues. And of course, our tutors are all DBS checked.

If you’re sourcing a tutor yourself, do ask for testimonials from present or previous clients and check them out.

For more information, please email Rachel Law or call her for an informal chat on 01223 858421.

 

 

Why-is-my-child-finding-maths-particularly-hard-at-the-moment?

Posted on by Effie Herdman

Since September 2014, a new curriculum has been taught in our primary schools which is requiring children to know more maths at an earlier age.

Maths is sequential

Because maths builds upon what children already know, kids without a thorough grasp of the earlier facts and calculation strategies are finding it hard to keep up.

For example, multiplication is being taught much earlier, with children needing to know their multiplication tables. For those children who are not yet absolutely sure on addition, moving onto repeated addition (multiplication)  is proving very tough. There are children who know their times tables but lack the understanding that multiplication is about groups or sets of objects and therefore are at a disadvantage in applying this times table knowledge.


The present year 2 and year 6 (as of writing in March 15) are being examined on the old curriculum, so it’s the year 1s and 5s that are having the biggest adjustment with the other years having more time to learn the new material.


At Tutor My Kids, our maths tutors in Ely and Cambridge are helping children to fill in these gaps and enable children to learn better at school.


For more details please visit Tutor My Kids.