An engaging and encouraging teacher and examiner of maths and physics
You can book a free 20 minute, no-commitment introduction with any of our tutors. How does this work?
My favourite subjects to teach are Physics and Maths- despite really hating Maths when I was doing my A-levels! I've spent most of my teaching career focusing on these two subjects, but have also taught engineering design, economics, business studies and accounting. Most of my classroom experience is at Anglia Ruskin College, teaching UK and international students A-level topics, but I've also tutored many private students at both GCSE and A-level, mainly in physics. All of this has given me lots of experience in teaching students from all kinds of backgrounds, and with all manner of prior knowledge and attitudes towards learning. I pride myself on getting to know my students, so that I can really help them identify and develop their own skills.
My tutoring style is conversational, and I will always try to draw the student towards answering their own question, rather than providing them with an answer. With a new tutee I will always start by getting to know them, and what their goals are to ensure that our expectations match, and I encourage parents to be involved at this stage if the student is under 18. After setting expectations, I am happy to keep parents informed of students' progress but I generally encourage the student to be responsible for their own learning as I find this helps to foster a sense of intellectual independence.
Outside of teaching, I am a keen runner, cyclist and PC gamer, and I develop games for the PC as a hobby. I also have 2 young daughters who keep me busy, and we love to spend time exploring in our local woodland with the dog!
I graduated from Cambridge University 13 years ago with a Masters in manufacturing engineering. Since then I've worked as an engineer, a police constable (no bad behaviour in my classes!), and a typesetter. I finally found my passion in teaching and have been working for 8 years as a teacher at foundation, A-level and undergraduate level at Anglia Ruskin University. Whilst working at Anglia Ruskin I studied for a Post graduate certificate in Higher Education, and became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I'm also a senior examiner for Cambridge International, and work writing exams and marking for their A level physics qualification (9702).
Physics and Maths are more than things to study at school: they are a way of seeing the universe! Once you begin to delve into the subjects, you can't look at anything in the same way.
Spending time getting to know a student, and watching them develop their skills and confidence is extremely rewarding. Nothing beats seeing a concept click into place when a student has an "aha!" moment- it's the best feeling!
Tom an extremely enthusiastic, thorough and patient tutor. He sticks on topic and encourages me to think and figure out the answers for myself leading to an engaging lesson. Im so happy i've found such a keen and committed tutor help guide me through A-level physics while I self study.
Tom is a tutor with great insight into his subject. He often provides me with multiple ways of thinking about a problem that I had previously never considered, already I can see my improvement in the subject thanks to him.
| Subject | Level |
|---|---|
| Maths | IB |
| Maths | GCSE |
| Maths | A-Level |
| Physics | IB |
| Physics | GCSE |
| Physics | A-Level |
Where do I go from here?
You can send Tom a message through Sherpa and they will usually get back to you within 24 hours. You'll receive an SMS and email notification when they do so.
How do the introductions work?
Sherpa gives you the opportunity to meet our tutors in a free 20 minute introduction, which takes place through the Sherpa classroom.
How do lessons work?
All lessons take place through Sherpa's online, industry-leading classroom. This is a combination of a collaborative, real time whiteboard and a video call, like Zoom.