Karim

Highly experienced and well-qualified tutor helping students prepare for the 11+, private school exams and Mathematics Key Stage 2 SATs. I am an exam techniques specialist and an 11+ tutor for SW Herts, Bucks Grammar schools and QE Boys. My courses are relevant for children preparing for independent school entrance. Teaching Maths, English, VR, non-VR, exam techniques.

INTRODUCTION

Hello, my name is Karim.

I work on the basis that student difficulties usually arise from an insufficiently rich understanding of 'easy' topics. By investing time to revisit some of these easier areas and studying them in a more thorough and enriching way, students can subsequently make rapid progress whilst gaining an appreciation and enjoyment of their studies.

My teaching style is calm and informal. Although class discipline is always maintained I strive to make learning a fun process.

Understanding my pupils and devising a personalised programme of study lies at the core of my teaching practice. I have very small class sizes, typically 3 to 5 children in each. This means your child will have valuable one to one attention when they need it.

I can offer '1 to 1' and '2 to 1' tuition, please get in touch to discuss your requirements.

Your child will benefit from a modern and well-equipped classroom for optimal learning.

The working environment is friendly and stress-free. Pupils will have opportunities to build confidence as they interact with each other and socialise the learning of harder topics.

Maths and VR 11+ prep for SW Herts Consortium includes:

• Basic and core skills in maths
• Mental arithmetic development
• Solving word based problems
• Enhancing problem-solving skills
• Extracting data from diagrams
• Verbal Reasoning and Nets

For Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools additional 11+ prep includes:

• English Comprehension
• Meaning of words
• Grammar and punctuation
• Creative Writing
• Tactics for multiple-choice questions
• Non-Verbal Reasoning

Each course is aligned towards GL Assessment benchmarking.

Exam techniques are integrated within the preparatory work and common issues such as these are dealt with:

• reading questions incorrectly
• failing to check answers
• rushing a test or paper
• forgetting to answer questions
• time management

Tutoring Experience

I have helped students gain offers from one or more of these schools:

• Watford Grammar School for Girls
• Watford Grammar School for Boys
• St. Clement Danes
• Parmiters
• Merchant Taylors' Boys School
• Queen Elizabeth's School
• St. Helens (Northwood)
• Northwood College for Girls
• Dr Challoner's Grammar School
• Dr Challoner's High School
• Rickmansworth
• St. Paul's (Boys)

I would be happy to put you in touch with parents for references.

• up-to-date Enhanced DBS Certificate
• academic background in science. I hold a B.Sc (Hons) in Physics

Tutoring Approach

My approach is problem-based and diagnostic. This means that the student is actively engaged in solving problems for almost the entire lesson whilst I am responding to their answers by asking questions which reveal any underlying misconceptions.

As parents have come to realise, it's essential for children to be able to successfully apply what they have learnt under the potentially stressful conditions of an exam or test. Additional support via exam techniques helps children take advantage of the knowledge they possess and have recently acquired.

Assessment and progress reports

Based on your child's initial assessment, we create a plan that sets their individual targets for verbal, non-verbal and numeric reasoning. All lessons throughout the course are designed to develop these areas. Tuition plans can be revised to ensure they meet the current needs and challenges of the student.

You will always have the same point of contact for progress updates thereby ensuring continuity of your child's preparation for the 11+ exams. Coupled with high levels of contact time with the tutor feedback will be regularly provided.