Jane Hope

BSc, PGCE, MSc

I have loved Maths since a wonderful teacher taught me, aged 7, how much fun it was; learning binary as a two-toed alien, making circles out of string and a drawing pin to discover what pi is! I love to pass on my enthusiasm, and believe that when students truly understand, it leads to confidence and enjoyment. Once they start to enjoy themselves, they will achieve at Maths.

I have worked as a specialist Maths Tutor for over ten years since retraining as a teacher after gaining a First Class Hons degree. I have taught in various types of school at all Secondary Levels but I enjoy individual work now. It is delightful when a student ‘sees’ the Maths and has a ‘lightbulb’ moment or says, ‘I really love algebra now’!

I also work as an examiner for IGCSE Additional Maths and will soon be examining A level. So I have experience in what is needed to achieve good results.

I am a bit of an advert for distance learning; I enjoyed my Open University degree so much that I have recently completed a Masters in Astrophysics with distinction. This involved using a robotic telescope in La Palma, which led to discovering an unusual eclipsing binary star system. It was all so fascinating. I didn’t want the course to come to an end! So I can empathise with students organising their workload and staying motivated to achieve their goals. I enjoy using Maths to calculate things about our universe, sizes and distance of stars, galaxies or other cosmological items.

Along the way, I have written a visual Maths book explaining the formulas needed for GCSE and A level Maths very simply using diagrams and minimal algebra, and I am working on a couple more aimed at making Maths understandable.

I have quite a few pastimes and can be found working in my cottage garden, going for long country walks, riding my Welsh horse ‘Ffagan’ with my son, playing the piano or looking up at the night sky with binoculars or telescope. I am thrilled to be a part of the homeschooling experience of Wolsey Hall.

Subjects: Maths