March 4th, 2010
The BBC’s Question time is to host The Maths Factor’s very own Carol Vorderman tonight, to weigh in on contemporary matters of state.

BBC Question Time to host Carol Vorderman, creator of new online maths school The Maths Factor
She is joined by Lord Adonis, Boris Johnson, Shirley Williams, Carol Vorderman and the eternally miserable Will Self.
Vorderman’s presence on the programme has nothing at all to do with the World Maths Day launch of her new online maths school The Maths Factor, absolutely not.
Instead, our Carol has probably been wheeled on to discuss the odds of a Tory win in the coming elections (given her association with the Conservative Party) and the state of British maths education. If she happens to mention her new online maths school, well, it happens.
I suspect she may also be prompted to say whether graduates with third-class degrees should be allowed to teach. The Tories have pledged to be “brazenly elitist”, and restrict future trainee teachers to Desmonds, and up. Unfortunately, shadow education secretary Michael Gove was somewhat caught out on this issue recently.
We’ll have to see if Carol is up to snuff, and what level of cleavage she decides to reveal. Tune into the BBC tonight to catch her!
Tags: tutoring
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March 2nd, 2010
Former Countdown number-cruncher Carol Vorderman is launching a new online maths school called The Maths Factor, and the website opens to paying customers tomorrow.

From Countdown to The Maths Factor - Carol Vorderman launches an online maths school
We can’t say exactly how The Maths Factor is going to work, but first impressions indicate that Vorderman, lately darling of the Conservative party’s education task force, will be presenting maths concepts to children by video, and then testing them with simple quizzes.
This is potentially a different approach to the online maths tutor behind Maths-Whizz, but when we know more about the service we’ll be sure to keep you posted!
The Maths Factor launches on World Maths Day, tomorrow, when children of all shapes and sizes spend a day hammering maths questions in the name of international competition, and with the aid of unethically large doses of caffeine.
UPDATE, 4th March, 1740: Watch Carol discuss maths on BBC’s Question Time, tonight.
Tags: tutoring
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February 25th, 2010
Live student reports for parents and teachers have been key to the success of Maths-Whizz Tutoring.
Since we launched Maths-Whizz Tutoring four years ago, we’ve been providing ‘live updates’ to parents and teachers on the progress of their students’ Maths-Ability.
It’s something of a no-brainer: when Parents and Teachers are able to access the same student progress information, it strengthens communication between the school and home. This produces purposeful and positive understanding of every child’s current ability - strengths and weaknesses.

This Friday, BECTA will recognise the benefits of live reporting in a conference for Primary School Head Teachers and Leaders: Engaging parents through online reporting - London 26 February 2010.
Educating schools on the importance of a transparent relationship between Students, teachers and the home environment is at the core of Maths-Whizz beliefs and is applied through our Best Practice Methods.
With Head teachers now taking the step towards embracing these methods across the country, we can expect only a positive step toward all students reaching there full potential through ICT and Maths-Whizz.
Tags: tutoring
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January 28th, 2010
Quick plug to read up on ‘raising standard in maths with online tutoring‘ in this month’s edition of PIR Education magazine.

(Raising standards in maths - PIR Education)
Some great coverage of our efforts to boost maths standards in schools and home:
Maths-Whizz, which first appeared at BETT in 2006, returns this year with the latest generation of its animated maths teaching tools. The company’s method is to make services that work simply to raise standards in maths, regardless of the classroom environment, the student’s year group or the prevailing new vs. old maths agenda. For this, Maths-Whizz won a BETT award in 2006 and has since been adopted in domestic and schools markets as diverse as Mumbai, Seattle and Tunbridge Wells. The company has further boosted its credentials with two BETT award nominations this year.
Click through to PIR Education to get the full piece and share with all and sundry.
Tags: tutoring
Posted in Fun, Maths, News, News, Press & Feedback, Teachers' Resource, Tips & Support, Tutoring | No Comments »