Maths with Michelle

Like with any skill the best way to get better in Maths is to practise it.....and something I see all the time in my teaching is that students will get a revision guide for their GCSEs, go through answering questions on the topics that they are good at (and I don’t blame them because it’s easier and more enjoyable... no one likes doing something they find difficult or don’t understand) leaving the topics they struggle with left blank....and then run out of motivation.

But not everyone needs 1-1 with a private tutor to succeed, For many students it’s the organisation of their studies and adding structure to their revision that they need support with. Also, private tuition is costly, I charge £40 an hour for my online and in-person sessions and recognise that is not affordable to everyone.

Which is why I am launching my Summer 2025 GCSE Maths group Revision subscription. Read the pictures to find out more!

Please DM me to be added to the waiting list to start June 2024 for the exams of Summer 2025.

I’m an examiner for GCSE Maths this year.

Hi! 👋

Here’s a bit about me and my background in education-

I qualified in 2012 as a Secondary School Maths Teacher, and have been teaching Maths in a local Secondary School in Essex for over 12 years. I have experience teaching all abilities from year 7 to 11.

In that time I have had a variety of roles from lead Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator to being the school's professional mentor for Newly Qualified Teachers. I have also been a key member of the Maths Leadership Team, writing schemes of work and assessments and have been responsible for targeting students for intervention. This has all given me extensive knowledge of the KS3 and GCSE curriculum and experience with supporting all students to achieve their potential in Maths.

What I really enjoy most in my teaching is getting to know each student's individual strengths and weaknesses, as well as their ambitions for what they want to achieve, and supporting them to progress towards this. This is why I am now offering private tutoring, along with the benefit of being able to work around my family. I have 4 children at home- I am a Mum to 1 and 4 year old and Step-Mum to a 13 and 16 year old. Our eldest finished his GCSEs last summer so I have experience from a parent’s perspective as well.

If you would like support for your Children’s Maths education please do get in touch. I offer in-person and online tuition in Maths for years 11-16.

https://michelle47797.wixsite.com/maths-with-michelle

• REVISION CARDS •

These revision cards are such a great tool when preparing for your Maths GCSE.

Why?…. because on the back of each one there are 3 QR codes- so you can watch a video to improve your understanding of the topic before answering the exam questions to test what you have learnt and then checking your answers.

Here’s how I recommend students use them-

We organise the cards into 3 piles 😀😕☹️- this could be how the students feel about each topic, or I prefer to use a recent mock to see what topics they do or don’t understand - as this a gives us a more accurate idea of what they need to work on- so an ideal time to do this would be after a full mock (which in most schools would be sometime in year 10) - And then we start working on their 😕 and ☹️ piles and moving them into the 😀 when they are ready.

Sometimes students get overwhelmed by everything that they think they can’t do so it’s a nice way to be able to see all of the things that they can do in one pile, and seeing that pile grow bigger over time motivates them.

These can be ordered from the corbettmaths website and are available in both Foundation and Higher. https://corbettmaths.com/revision-cards/

Follow me for more GCSE Maths revision tips!

* GRADE BOUNDARIES *

It's always a good idea to have a rough guide to how many marks you need for the grade that you are aiming for in the exam, so if there are questions you are unable to answer it doesn't get you into a panic. For example, if you are doing the Edexcel Higher paper and are aiming for a 7, you need on average 132 out of the 240 marks.... that's 55%.

Here are the grade boundaries for both Higher and Foundation for Edexcel and AQA since 2017.

* FREE GCSE MATHS PAST PAPERS*

You can access past papers on both AQA and Edexcel's exam board's website along with their mark schemes (but sometimes they aren't always the easiest to nagivate!)...

There are other websites where you can find these past papers, with the added bonus of someone talking through the answers in a video, or with model solutions. Here are links to my top two favourite.

https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk

https://corbettmaths.com/2019/04/01/gcse-practice-papers/

Completing past papers are a great way to revise for your exams. Here's why-
* They can be used to give you an idea of what level you are currently working at.
* They can help you to identify the areas that you need to work you.
* Some of the same style questions come up each year, so they show you examples of all of the different ways you can be tested on each topic, and how topics can be combined in one question - (although there are also always new ways the examiners find to really test your understanding!).
* The more you do these in exam style conditions (timed and without any help), the more used to these you will be for the real thing, so hopefully it won't feel as daunting.

I always recommend having the exam paper printed, as you will have it in the exam, so you can get used to labelling the diagrams and showing your working out. If you don't have a printer you can buy books of practise papers from amazon.

GCSE Practice Papers Corbettmaths Practice Papers for 9-1 GCSE Maths