Meet Joel...
I've always wanted to be the kind of teacher that students remember long after they've left the classroom. We all remember those teachers who made learning enjoyable, believed in us, challenged us and made us feel capable of more than we thought possible. Those are the teachers who inspired me, and they're the kind of teacher I strive to be every day.
I began teaching in 2010 delivering primary lessons across the curriculum.
I qualified as a school teacher in 2012.
I've spent 16 years teaching young people and one thing has become clear to me:
Most children don't struggle with maths because they lack ability.
They struggle because they've stopped believing they can succeed.
That's why I created Building Confident Learners.
Building
I bring a wealth of experience, enthusiasm and passion to every lesson. One of the things I enjoy most is making learning fun. I always try to bring a smile—or even a laugh—to my students' faces because I believe children learn best when they enjoy the process. A motivated student is capable of achieving far more than they ever thought possible.
Although I began my teaching career specialising in music, it wasn't long before I found myself helping many of my music students with maths. As I saw their confidence grow, I realised just how rewarding it was to help young people discover that they were capable of succeeding in a subject they had once found difficult.
For me, learning is a building process. Each new concept is built on the secure understanding of the one before it. For example, confidently learning times tables lays the foundation for understanding concepts such as area, fractions and algebra later on. Rather than simply teaching students how to answer an exam question, I aim to help them understand why the method works. When understanding grows, confidence grows with it.
That's the idea behind Building Confident Learners.
Joel building Epping Music School in 2021
Joel on stage winning the
Bobby Award at Edfringe 2023
Confident
Performing on stage taught me that confidence isn't something you're born with—it's something you develop through practice, encouragement and experience.
I've seen exactly the same thing happen in the classroom.
Many students arrive believing they're "just not good at maths." In my experience, that's rarely true. More often, they simply haven't had the opportunity to build their understanding step by step.
That's why my lessons focus on building strong foundations before moving on to more challenging topics. We practise regularly, revisit previous learning and reinforce key ideas over time, helping students move knowledge from short-term memory into long-term understanding.
One of the most rewarding parts of teaching is watching students begin to believe in themselves. Whether it's hearing they've achieved their highest test score yet, moved to the top set, reached the top of their class, or simply put their hand up to answer a question for the first time, those moments remind me why I love teaching.
When understanding grows, confidence grows with it—and that confidence often reaches far beyond the maths classroom.
Learners
I believe one of the best qualities a teacher can have is a love of learning. I never want to stop being a student myself because every new skill reminds me what it feels like to face something unfamiliar, make mistakes and gradually improve.
That experience shapes the way I teach maths. It reminds me to be patient, to explain concepts in different ways and to celebrate progress, because confidence isn't built by getting everything right first time—it's built by persevering until understanding begins to grow.
