Tuition

Weekly tuition sessions take place on Tuesdays from 11.30am to 1pm, with a short break mid way through. Recordings are available in the hub afterwards. Flexibility is key: Whenever you join the hub you'll be able to access previous tuition recordings (and those in all the other hub areas), so you can work through at whatever pace works best for you and your family. You can join (and leave) the hub whenever you want for as long as you want.  You can see what's in the hub to date by clicking on the 'Chapters' and 'Lessons' links at the top of this page. All my interactions with children are based around offering zero pressure, engaging tuition that is designed to inspire them want to know more, and to be able to join in however works best for them. I don't use countdown timers, and will never put a child on the spot or make them feel pressured. I teach with real things and demonstrations, occasionally supported by images or diagrams as well. There are opportunities for interaction in live sessions, via controlled chat, quizzes/voting and opportunities for questions and answers by voice or chat. Children can join in however suits them best, with cameras on or off, with chat, with emojis, or just by watching. We've had children showing us their animals when we were learning about the animal kingdom, votes on which food source I should set fire to next to see how much energy is stored in it and suggestions for names for many of the weird and wonderful animals I've introduced them to.. to name just a few examples! Sessions are held on Zoom and accessed by simply clicking on a link which is made available in the hub each week. (The best user experience is through the free Zoom Workplace app rather than the browser). Sessions are recorded but children do not show in the recordings. I may refer to students by the name given in the Zoom profile, if they ask a question for example, so anyone who prefers to remain anonymous can simply change their name in the profile. Each session is accompanied by a supportive document that can be viewed a week in advance. Here you will find the key words and phrases for that session with spaces and support for students to write the definitions; relevant pages in the Pearson Edexcel IGCSE Biology 4B1 student text book (the one with penguins on the front!); relevant sections of the exam specification, and where applicable, suggested simple equipment students could bring to the session if they wish to join in with a demonstration or activity and suggestions for extension work they could complete afterwards. Some sessions are also accompanied by downloadable PDFs with diagrams to label, activities or tasks to complete, where this would enrich learning. Each live session is followed by a multiple choice quiz that students can choose to access and can take as many times as they wish. The quiz is carefully structured to consolidate the key learning points that lead to exam success and deeper understanding.   Each week, the Practical Skills Exam Skills, Maths Skills and Biology Is Everywhere videos are relevant to the topic taught in the live session. They develop, extend and connect the tuition based learning to the real world and to the knowledge and skills needed to succeed and exams. There are no deadlines, no fixed timescales (apart from any external exam dates you're working towards of course). You choose to access the components of the hub that work best for you at the pace that works for your family.