Taunton Baptist Church & Brittons Ash Community Centre, Monkton Heathfield
Our Story and Educational Mission
Every child deserves the opportunity to develop their true potential. Inspired and guided by a well-established Japanese methodology and educational principle, the main focus of our programmes is to unlock the potential of every student, to ensure mastery in core subjects, while fostering independent thinking and key problem-solving skills.
Tony Heywood, Maths & English Tutor
“I began teaching Maths in secondary schools the same year that the leaving age for children was raised from 15 to 16 years. These students became known as ROSLA kids! It was a baptism of fire for a young teacher, having to cope with a cohort of disaffected young people who had not been expecting an extra year in school!
In the course of my first year, I already began to question how a school system could allow large numbers of children to fall through the cracks. I believed that there had to be a better way of doing things that would address some of the issues I was encountering. I quickly realised that many of them had been failed by the system long before they entered secondary school.”
Why Zenshin?
My career in education has involved teaching in a wide range of institutions; from state secondary schools, independent grammar schools, at Middlesex University and, finally, as a private tutor.
In 2015, I was introduced to the Japanese method of teaching Maths and English that was established by Toro Kumon over 70 years ago. I was fascinated by the philosophy and concepts that Kumon was based on, trained as a Kumon Instructor and opened Kumon Centres in Taunton and Bridgwater in that same year. Following the COVID period, I began to develop my own Maths and English programmes, which follow the Japanese philosophy. At the heart of the philosophy is the desire to unlock the hidden potential of every child. I call this approach “Zenshin”.
“Zenshin”, means “moving forward, making mindful advancement, making onward progress with a sense of purposeful evolution”. For me, Zenshin describes the path that students take when following my Maths and English programmes. Students make consistent progress at their own pace, moving forward in small steps using the skills they have already mastered.
Each learning level is clearly defined and at the end of each level there is a low-stress test to assess whether a student has acquired the necessary skills and expertise to progress to the next level. The advantage of this is that taking the tests becomes routine, and continuous success builds confidence and motivation, while regular testing removes much of the anxiety that exams often produce.
Success story
Kylie joined my Maths programme when she was in Year 2 and began her journey by adding 1, 2 and 3. Here she is, having just received her Certificate of Completion after 8 years of dedicated study. Although she is only due to start her GCSE studies in September, she successfully passed the advanced level of the Maths programme more than four years ahead of her peer group.