Meet Dylan: Our Functional Skills Tutor
A brief introduction about yourself
"My name is Dylan and I am a functional skills tutor at Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Training and have been working here for almost two years now."
Can you tell us about your experience in teaching functional skills?
"My background started off as a youth worker and after 10 years of doing youth work I moved into tutoring and whilst I was doing my tutoring qualification I was told I needed to study maths. I trained and became confident in maths and one day on a December youth programme the maths tutor didn’t turn up and I stepped in. I went on to do my higher level maths and eventually became a maths tutor."
Why are functional skills important?
"Functional skills are important as they are relevant to the real world and are used in daily life so that any of the maths will be relatable and usable."
How often would an apprentice have to do functional skills?
"If you are on an apprenticeship programme you will need to achieve your functional skills qualification and you will be with me at least half a day a week every week, whilst that goes on you will also need to be doing your own studying your maths at home for at least 6-10 hours per week so that you can the knowledge and understand maths ready for your next session."
What do you enjoy the most about teaching?
"I enjoy teaching and helping individuals to overcome their struggles with maths. I find that my role is rewarding, and I can help to make a difference to each individual I teach to help them progress within their job role as well as in their everyday lives too."
How do you overcome teaching individuals that are struggling?
"If someone is struggling with maths, the first thing I do is reassure them. A lot of people don’t think they are any good at maths. If someone doesn’t know what to do it doesn’t make them stupid. As a functional skills tutor, I make sure to break maths down into bitesize chunks so that information and learning can be manageable. I also show different methods to reach an answer to try and find a suitable method that the learner will understand."
Watch our recent TikTok video on Dylan here: https://www.tiktok.com/@chamber_training/video/7331033841731161377?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7213032503623271941
If you are struggling with maths and are over 19 years of age, you may be eligible for Multiply, a government funded programme to improve maths skills of adults that Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Training is supporting. The course aims to boost numeracy skills in work and daily life. They range from drop-in sessions to longer intensive courses. If you are interested please email enquiries@cw-chambertraining.co.uk or call 024 76231122.