Better Tuition

People sometimes ask, “What do you teach?”  My response is maths, English and entrance exam preparation.  What my answer does not encapsulate is the sheer breadth of topic matter covered by Better Tuition’s team of qualified, expert teachers every single day.

Christine McLaughlin is joint Director of Teaching and Learning at Better Tuition, Urmston’s independent tuition centre.

So while I was planning yesterday’s lessons, I kept a little list of some (definitely not all, or even most) of the topics covered, concepts taught and activities carried out by me (Christine) in just one day.  Here they are:

Exploring the 100 square

Navigating negative numbers

Pythagoras’ theorem

The tangent ratio (my favourite ratio)

How to use a scientific calculator

Cause and effect: endangered species

Reading for inference: Elephant Stew (no, thanks)

Creating (and writing about) your very own superhero

Spelling rule: y plurals

Using Michael Morpugo’s ‘The Butterfly Lion’ as inspiration for a piece of creative writing

Types of poem: limericks, odes and acrostics

Homophones

Juliet Capulet’s mood swing in Act 3 Scene 5, Romeo and Juliet

Non-Verbal Reasoning cubes, codes and rotations

Non-Verbal Reasoning number sequences, including Fibonacci

Verbal Reasoning: analogies, opposites and similarities

Proof reading: adding punctuation; identifying errors of spelling and grammar

This is just a fragmentary glimpse of my lessons at Better Tuition yesterday.  My students range in age from 5 to 16.  The spread of ability is huge.  Some have special needs such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism and so on.  Some are preparing for Trafford’s grammar school entrance exams, SATs or GCSEs.  Each and every one of them receives an individual lesson, planned and prepared just for them from a qualified teacher.  You can read more about our lesson format here.

Does your child need some help with maths, English or entrance exam preparation?  Call in to our tuition centre at 1 Crofts Bank Road, Urmston, or call Paul Syrett and Christine McLaughlin on 0161 748 3912 to find out how we can make a difference.

I don’t get to blog as much as I’d like to and if you read our review of the year you will see why.  The team of qualified teachers at Urmston’s independent tuition centre celebrated five years on the corner of Crofts Bank Rd with a busy, busy year.

I’m never stuck for ideas but I often can’t find the time to blog.  Teaching and overseeing the lessons of over 100 students per week as well as carrying out free assessments and running practice entrance exams takes up a lot of time but I do try to pack this blog with useful, education related information for parents and carers of school-aged children.  This website attracted close to half a million hits in 2013, so it’s worth giving a quick run-down of our favourite blog posts of 2013:

10.
Two days after I blogged about the shortcomings of the proposed English Bac, Michael Gove announced he was abandoning the idea.  Coincidence?

9.
In May I wrote about the creative potential of a walk to school.  I find the morning walk to school leads us to create, discover and explore, all of which adds up to an engaging learning experience with multiple health and environmental benefits.

Whatever your route to school, there is lots to explore.

8.
When North Devon County Council announced plans they may banish the apostrophe from road signs, we felt inspired to produce a handy guide to using the apostrophe.  Apostrophes are straightforward, so please pass this post on to anyone who needs it.

The apostrophe: avoid at your peril.

7.
We posted a five-part series on What to Expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Reception in February.  This gave an insight into those crucial early years of formal education and posed the question: do I really need a tutor at this stage (answer: nope)?

6.
In the same month we also wrote about the changes to Year 6 SATs and gave advice on how to prepare for the new tests.  The following month we produced a checklist for the new Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Test.  This was hugely popular and was downloaded thousands of times.

5.
We published a series of posts on What to Expect in Year 1, with advice and information designed to help you keep on top of the complex curriculum.  This series was highly popular, along with our advice on the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check.

Year 1 children may invent spellings based on their knowledge of phonics.

4.
In April we celebrated five fantastic years of tuition on the corner of Crofts Bank Road and wrote a post reminiscing about the early days of our business.

Yes, it really has been five years!

3.
In December we were overwhelmed with joy when one of the world’s most celebrated elder statesmen got in touch to congratulate us on our online advent calendar and offered to write a guest post for us.  Thanks, Santa!

2.
Spelling homework is a point of conflict for many parents and children and in addition to this some feel they spend a long time on spelling without seeing much progress.  With this in mind, we posted some simple strategies to make spelling homework easier as well as guidance on the simultaneous oral spellling method.

1.
Finally, we produced a useful guide to engaging a tutor.  The guide is not intended as an advertisement for Better Tuition (trust me, we don’t need to advertise) but as a useful tool with which parents can navigate the different services offered by the many providers of tuition all over the country.

Have fun with maths at the Better Tuition Centre

Does your child need extra help? Better Tuition is Urmston’s independent tuition centre for maths, English, science and entrance exam preparation. We tutor young people aged 5-16. Call us today on 0161 748 3912 to book your FREE assessment.