My late grandfather was a brilliant man.

One thing I admired most about him was his garden. It was an oasis.

He used to take great pleasure in touring me round. Showing me what was in season.

I’m not sure when I was more in awe: when I was a kid and the fox gloves towered over me and the bees sounded louder or… when I tried gardening myself.

You see it took me some time to secure a flat with a garden but when I did I vowed to follow his example.

To make my own oasis.

I had a perfect blank canvas. The grass was green and the beds were trimmed.

In fact, there was already some shrubbery and flowers which was a bonus!

Alas – I rested on my laurels too long.

Life took over and I settled for this pleasant picture of shrubbery.

The problem was it didn’t last for long.

Weeds started to take over, plants started to die and my once lush garden quickly descended into an eyesore…

By the time I plucked up the courage to attack the damn space, it was a mud pit before it had any hope of re-generation.

Now where am I going with this?

Well… hear me out.

I was always a top student at school, a bit like my grandfather was at gardening.

What was our collective secret?

We kept on top of things and stopped anything from getting out of hand.

If you weed for 20 minutes a week, you don’t have to turn up the garden.

If you listen in every class intently and tackle any problems that arise on the spot, you hardly need even revise for exams.

The problem is with gardening and maths it is so easy to get over-taken by the weeds.

To feel helpless.

Where my garden had got to, I felt like I had two options – leave it to grow into a jungle or pay a professional.

Now the same thing is true of students. If they feel stuck, helpless, like they hate maths – you have two options.

• Bury your head in the sand and hope their self-esteem isn’t too badly crushed.
• Get professional help.

The crazy thing is that it does not take that much effort to get students out of the weeds. You just need to have targeted help.

That’s why I designed my program to get students back on track quickly so they can go back to staying on top of things.

Tending to the proverbial weeds once a week, rather than ripping up the top soil.

It’s why I don’t believe in tutoring for one hour a week.

I’m in the business of transformations.

I could have spent an hour a week on my mud pit for years and not much would have changed – if I didn’t make a big effort at the start to turn things around.

So there you have it in a roundabout way, that’s why I advise tackling the problem with intensity.

See the picture of gramps garden below!

Much love,

Tom xx

PS – If you’re interested in my 3-month program to Triumph over Maths, message me as I have only a few places left this term.

This is particularly important if you have a child who needs to pass their GCSE. I have a guarantee that if you’re not worry free after 3 months, I work for free (assuming they put in the work).