Maxim

I am a Mathematics teacher at University College School in Hampstead. I have 14 years experience teaching primarily GCSE and A-level Mathematics and Further Mathematics.
I find the subject fascinating, but since working as a tutor in the year after finishing university, my passion has been for teaching the subject; for breaking down complex ideas into simpler components and the joy of the eureka moment when everything falls into place for a student.

Tutoring Experience

Much of my career has been spent at University College School, but I have also taught mathematics in an international school in Barcelona and a comprehensive boys’ school in Enfield.
For much of that time I privately tutored, building up a big clientele through word of mouth, but 5 years ago I decided to stop whilst my children were young so I could be around for them a little more. I’m now keen to take on a few tutees and I am particularly interested about the potential of using video conferencing software as I have found it to be very effective whilst teaching during the Covid-19 lockdown.
I have also worked as an A-level examiner for Edexcel and I have a very clear insight into how students can approach these exams to get the best possible grades.

Tutoring Approach

I prepare detailed notes on each A-level topic and these form an important part of my teaching. These contain key explanations for each topic, which though referenced to in the lesson, are more useful as a revision tool and something to revisit to sure up understanding.
The key reason I teach with these notes is because they contain carefully chosen example questions, that will be used to build up an appreciation of the problem solving elements of the A-level course.
These notes may also be provided for more complex GCSE topics, but otherwise I will generally use a text book to source the example questions used in the lessons.
I will usually lay down the foundations of a concept before using lots of leading questioning to build a fuller appreciation.
We will usually attempt several example questions together whilst I will steadily encourage greater autonomy, before pushing the student to attempt a question independently.
There will then be some problems set as a brief homework and as an opportunity to bed in the concepts taught.
I bring warmth, humour and a genuine enjoyment of the subject to each lesson which I believe leads to a really engaging and fun learning experience.