Abdullah Muhammad - Maths Tutor

🤞 Good luck to all year 11 students taking their first maths paper tomorrow! 🤞

Last minute tips:

Get a good night’s sleep before the exam day and have a healthy breakfast in the morning

Read the question and make sure you understand what maths it’s asking you to do

Pace yourself - as a general rule you should spend a minute per mark given in the question

Show your working out clearly and don’t cross working out unless you’re 100% sure you’re wrong (most likely not!)

You may get some marks even if you can't arrive at an answer.

On the Higher paper, you can get a grade 7 even if you get all answers wrong but show good working. On a Foundation paper, that would be a grade 4.

I’m sure you’ll smash it!

WILL WE EVER RUN OUT OF BARCODES?

This was a question posed to me by one of my year 11 students in the run up to her final exams. I then examined her water bottle, which unsurprisingly contained a barcode, which is an unsung hero of modern technology which makes retail transactions seamless. The bar code on this girl’s water bottle provided fertile ground for mathematical discussion and analysis.

The mathematical tool used here is the product rule for counting, a topic on the current GCSE syllabus. To introduce the topic, I could ask how many two-digit numbers are possible to make? To make the first digit, there are 10 digits from zero to nine to choose from. Likewise, to make the second digit, there is the same choice of 10 digits. So the total possible quantity of two-digit numbers (00 through to 99) can be arrived at by calculating 10 x 10 = 100.

Back to barcodes. There are 13 digits on a standard barcode, which means there are 10 to the power 13 possible barcodes available. That is 1 followed by 13 zeros, or ten trillion. Now as of June 2024, there are just over 8 billion people in the world. This allows for a maximum of 1250 unique products for every man, woman and child on this planet. Despite capitalism being the dominant system that runs our world today, I don’t think there are 10 trillion unique products or indeed that anybody owns anywhere near a thousand unique products, so it is safe to say we will not run out of barcodes any time soon.

*Image obtained from the back of my son’s 6th birthday card. If this post interests you, please write a comment below!

NORTH BY NORTH WEST

No, Kanye west’s daughter hasn’t released a fragrance called North. I’m talking about points of the compass, which primary school children learn at an early age, maybe through an acronym like Never Eat Shredded Wheat (it’s not that bad 😉 or Never Ever Support [insert football team beginning with W]

When picking my 5 year old up from school one day, he asked me are there any other compass points apart from North, East, South and West? I then mentioned the four points in between, and naturally being the maths geek I am, moved the conversation towards bearings.

I told him there are up to 360 ways of describing a direction which makes navigating more precise than using the compass points, corresponding to 360 degrees in a full turn, clockwise starting from North at zero degrees.

Now this is a pretty heavyweight intellectual discussion considering that secondary school students up to ten years older than my son usually struggle with bearings.

So I will break it down here:
If you are asked to ‘find the bearing of B from A’
- Draw a north line vertically upwards at point A
- Draw a line between points A and B
- Measure the angle clockwise between the north line and the line AB (between points A and B )
- This is your bearing, which must be given using three figures. For example an angle of 36 degrees would be written as a bearing of 036.

🤩Parents who want their child to achieve their target GCSE grade in Maths...

Ready to...

Help your child start feeling confident in their Maths abilities…
Help your child start feeling prepared for their GCSE exams...

Let me personally show you the "Maths Mastery Matrix" I've used to help students develop the knowledge to secure a grade 5 or above in just one academic year so they can pursue their desired A-levels and career paths.

✔️ WITHOUT feeling overwhelmed by complex concepts
✔️ WITHOUT the stress of falling behind in class
✔️ all in a matter of weeks...

Ready to help your child achieve their target GCSE grade in Maths?

✅ Send me a message now and I’ll give you the details on how you can book in a call to speak with me.

3 Reasons Why Online Tutoring Is Effective

Are you unsure how to support your child's progress in Maths while they're learning from home? 🤔

Discover 3 reasons why online tutoring could be the game-changer you've been searching for! 🚀

Every parent wants the best for their child, and with the rise of remote learning, it's more important than ever to find the right support outside the classroom.

Whether your child is struggling in Maths, preparing for their GCSEs, or simply wants to get ahead, online tutoring can make a world of difference. Here's why:

1️⃣ Flexibility & Convenience: Online tutoring allows your child to learn from the comfort of their own home, without the need to travel to a physical location. This saves time and energy, making it easier to fit tutoring sessions into your family's busy schedule.

2️⃣ Access to Expertise: With online tutoring, your child can connect with specialised tutors in Maths from all over the world. This gives them the opportunity to learn from the best, regardless of where you live.

3️⃣ Engaging & Interactive Learning: Online tutoring platforms offer a wide range of tools and resources that make learning more engaging and interactive. This can help your child stay focused and motivated, leading to better academic performance in Maths.

Ready to help your child unlock their full potential in Maths from the comfort of your own home? 🏠

Comment below with your thoughts or message me directly to learn more about how my Maths Mastery Matrix services can support your child and help them thrive! 🧑‍🏫

The Top 5 Reasons You Need A Tutor!

Are you worried about your child's progress in Maths?

Are you unsure how to support your child's learning at home? 🤔

Here are the top 5 reasons why a tutor might be the solution you've been looking for!

Every parent wants the best for their child, and sometimes, that means finding extra support outside the classroom.

Whether your child is struggling in Maths, preparing for their GCSEs, or simply wants to get ahead, hiring a tutor can make a world of difference. 🧑‍🏫

Here's why:

1️⃣ Personalized Attention: In a classroom setting, teachers can't always provide detailed support. A tutor can give your child the direct attention they need, focusing on their unique learning style.

2️⃣ Mastering Maths: A specialized tutor in Maths can help your child build a strong foundation in the subject, making it easier to understand complex concepts and tackle challenging problems.

3️⃣ Confidence Boost: A tutor can help your child overcome their fears and insecurities in Maths, empowering them to approach their studies with newfound confidence.

4️⃣ Improved Study Habits: A tutor can help your child develop effective study techniques and time management skills, setting them up for long-term success in Maths and beyond.

5️⃣ Support for Parents: Let's face it – not every parent is a Maths whiz. By hiring a tutor, you can ensure that your child gets the academic support they need in Maths without stretching yourself too thin.

Ready to help your child unlock their full potential in Maths? 🚀

Send us a message and learn more about how I can help your child thrive in Maths and beyond!

3 Ways To Boost Your Child’s Motivation To Get Better Grades In Maths!

If you want your child to succeed in Maths and go on to secure their target GCSE grade and perhaps open doors to their desired A-levels and future careers, where they learn and who they learn with matters!

Have you ever been worried that there are other students at school that may be a bad influence on your child and stop them from reaching their potential?

This is all too common - Because their environment (who they are associated with) dictates their habits, and we already know how important building the right habits are!

At school students don't have a choice - they have to go whether they like it or not.

Which means there are some students who want to be there and learn and others who don't.

Imagine this... If you were to climb to the top of Mount Everest by yourself or with a group of unmotivated people, would you be likely to make it to the top?

Or would you be better off with a leader and other people who were highly motivated and wanted to get to the top of the mountain?

Students need to be around other students who want to achieve the top results and grades. So that they feel motivated to do better, study harder, and develop the belief that they are capable of achieving their target GCSE grade in Maths.

What this does is that it provides an unlimited boost of motivation for students. Here's how you can help your child do this:

1) Help your child understand the importance of winning environments and being around like-minded students.

2) Access education outside of school for your child so that they can upgrade their environment.

3) Find small group focused learning with students who also want to achieve their target GCSE grade in Maths.

How Your Child Can Quickly Become Top Of The Class In Maths!

Students who perform at the top of the class in Maths are 'wired' differently and study harder than most other students - Even when they don’t want to!

Just like the top professional athletes on the planet, they train harder than all the other athletes. Students don't develop winning study habits at school because many students have been conditioned to see school as boring or difficult, which means there is a negative association with wanting to continue learning outside of school - You don't do more of something you don't enjoy!

But if most students know that the more they study and invest in their education, the better results they will get - Why don't they do it? Simple - It's not important enough and therefore additional study doesn't become a habit.

Take this for an example - Why do we brush our teeth multiple times daily? Is it because we enjoy brushing our teeth? No, it's because we realize how important it is and there are consequences for not doing it. So we develop a habit and a routine to brush our teeth that happens whether we feel like it or not.

The key to help students achieve their target GCSE grade in Maths is to re-wire their current study habits so that they naturally do all the things they know they should be doing and everything becomes easier. If it’s easier, they start to enjoy it more because they’re naturally more focused and become good. Here's how you can help your child do this:

1) Invest in your child's education outside of school so that there is accountability to help them develop better habits and a better routine that enhances their learning.

2) Learning needs to be fun so that your child doesn't see doing additional study as 'boring'.

3) Goal setting to build a mindset for success by aligning your child with the importance of education and the benefits. Send a message today to build a successful study plan for your child in Maths!

The 3 Steps To Help Your Child achieve their target GCSE grade in Maths.
Most students fail when it comes to doing well in Maths not because they aren't capable but because they are simply given the wrong strategy to succeed!
Which is kind of frustrating because a sports team that prepares for their next competitive fixture with the wrong strategy isn't going to succeed.
So how do you know your child has the wrong strategy to help them achieve their target GCSE grade in Maths?
Simple... Do any of these sound familiar?
- "I study a lot but my grades don't reflect my effort."
- "I just don't get Maths, it feels like I'm missing something."
- "Exam questions seem so different from what we do in class."
That's why I started to change my approach and strategy as a teacher and developed my Maths Mastery Matrix and once I started working with my students this way the results have been incredible.
Here's what your child needs to focus on:
1) First, pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses with Diagnostic Decoding to save time and focus their energy effectively.
2) Then, build a solid foundation with Conceptual Clarity, turning complex problems into understandable concepts.
3) Finally, boost their confidence with Confidence Conditioning, preparing them for exams just like an athlete preps for the big game.
These 3 things are fundamental in helping your child achieve their target GCSE grade in Maths.
Just like a boxer preparing for a world championship fight...
When they prepare with the right strategy their chances of success increase dramatically.
If you found this useful please feel free to send me a message to learn more about how I can support your child in their Maths journey!

My mission is to help students master GCSE Maths so that they can go on to achieve their dream A-level courses and careers!

Here’s 3 reasons why I want to see more students achieve their goals in Maths:

#1 - Maths helps students to think critically and solve problems.

#2 - Maths helps students to build confidence in their abilities.

#3 - Maths helps students to open doors to exciting future opportunities.

Are you looking to help your child accelerate their learning and reach their potential in Maths?

Message me directly to learn more about how my services can support your child and help them thrive! 🧑‍🏫