Tom S - Tutors - Keystone Tutors

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“Tom is a great maths teacher and helped my daughter really understand maths, not just remember it. She achieved great success in her sixth form IB maths exams, attaining the highest grade.”

Parent

I have been a maths tutor for the past 17 years. The bulk of this has been one to one, but has also included a good deal of work in small groups, for example holiday study groups, and work in the classroom environment. I have been placed in charge of high-flyer groups to give them more challenges, and to give extra time to those who struggling with the subject. This has also included work with SEN students, and those struggling with dyslexia and dysgraphia. From Key Stage 1, all the way up to second year degree students, I have tutored at every age, every syllabus' and at all levels of ability, including for A-Level single and Further, IB SL and HL, MYP, GCSE, 13+, 11+.

I was brought up in Middlesbrough and later Derby, before studying Maths at Bristol. Having graduated, I travelled around Africa and Latin America, teaching English and Maths, before moving to London, where I have been tutoring ever since.

“Our son decided not to attend A Level maths classes at school so we ended up asking Tom to teach him the entire syllabus. The remit was to help him achieve a top grade and that’s exactly what he did. Tom’s style was to explain, demonstrate and then quietly watch to see what happened. He gently pushed our son to think for himself (and to only use a calculator when absolutely necessary!) which enabled him to understand which method to use when faced with a challenging question (and to be quick and competent at mental maths!). This not only gave our son confidence but he regained his enjoyment of maths and looked forward to the lessons. Tom set a high standard but, combined with humour and understanding, it proved to be a winning formula.”

Parent

“Tom has been fantastic. My son seemed to click with him straight away and in fact would happily have carried on with the tutoring sessions! Tom managed to make the whole procedure interesting and more importantly as stress-free as possible for him. My son not only passed his 11+ exams but was offered academic scholarships to all three schools he applied to. The tutoring improved all aspects of his maths and english, and greatly increased his confidence in his ability. I have no hesitation in recommending Tom's services. My only worry is that he'll be too busy to tutor my other children when the time comes!”

Parent

“When Tom came to work for us last year our son was badly demoralised, stressed and lacking in confidence to the point where he could not motivate himself to do his school work. We are extremely grateful to Tom who was always receptive to his challenges and didn’t give up on him. Tom has made the A-Level lessons fun and we will be sad not to see him at the kitchen table in future, as out son passed with flying colours.”

Parent

“I have had Tom Shepherd tutor my son in Maths for the past 9 months. His grades have gone up at an extra ordinary rate, with two lessons a week. At the age of 12 our son's Maths scores have gone up from 20-28% to now a terrific 85%. Tom is very reliable and punctual and gets on very well with our son, but he instils an essence of respect and the urgency to do your best. We still have Tom tutor our son, who has been accepted into our chosen school after he took his entrance exam.”

Parent

The key advantage to personal tuition is that the lessons can be tailored precisely to the students particular needs. I spend the first lesson or so working out strengths, weaknesses, and best working practise, then tweak my approach based on what is required.

I have a friendly but focused approach, finding the best way for the student to grasp the theory then apply it to questions, prioritising a depth of understanding for each topic. With a mere procedural grasp of the methods I find that techniques are quickly forgotten and cannot be turned to more convoluted questions, where the top marks are awarded.

The best way to improve of course is through practise, and all lessons have a heavy emphasis on exercises, with particular use of past exam papers. I believe it is important to encourage confidence through a systematic thoroughness, but also to make lessons engaging and varied.

I have two young children, so most spare time is spent with them. When I get a spare afternoon I love drawing, writing, playing the piano, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.