Mark

Hello, I am a qualified teacher with over 10 years' experience teaching up to A-level in physics. My degree was in Physics, and my PGCE was quite unique as the course was purely for physics specialists. I love the subject, and have helped lots of people who have struggled with the subject.
My background is in industry; I worked in the optical field at first in Japan, and then later in the UK. I then went on to work in the building industry, advising public health engineers, structural engineers and architects amongst others. I am not here to make a living; my prices are, I hope, value for money. I would really like to help GCSE pupils who consider physics a weakness to think of it as a strength by the time they come to sit their paper!

Tutoring Experience

Over 10 years, including three in an inner-London school. Six years and counting in Kent and Bexley grammar schools.

Tutoring Approach

Teaching and learning in a large group environment can be challenging. In a 60 minute lesson with 30 pupils, in theory that adds up to 2 minutes' worth of the teacher's attention per pupil. In practice, of course, the teacher uses group work, often with the physics in question as an abstract and (to some individuals) a confusing idea.

In my experience, whenever I am able to use a pupil's experiences and interests to help them understand the subject matter, they have been able to grasp the fundamental ideas in physics upon which else everything else (starting with the GCSE, hopefully going on to higher level studies!) depends. Therefore, my primary goal when first meeting a pupil is firstly to learn about their strengths, their interests and aspirations, and from there to begin to look at the underlying reasons for any perceived weaknesses. Sometimes, ensuring that the basics are understood can mean that the jumbled ideas taught later in the GCSE start to fall into place.

Physics as a subject simply looks to describe and explain what we see in the universe. GCSE courses also consider practical applications. There is no reason why anybody cannot succeed in the subject, and with a qualification in physics under your belt, people will know you have strong reasoning and problem-solving skills.