Teacher Dubbed Math Whisperer When Entire Class Gets Highest Grades Possible In Exams Six Months Early

Jan 23, 2020 by apost team

Math is a dreaded subject for many secondary education students around the world; a lot of what makes it challenging is based on algebraic concepts that require abstract thinking, but his does not seem to be a problem for a classroom in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, specifically at Fitzalan High School, where they all scored "double excellent" on their General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations.

An entire classroom scoring at the highest level on the math GCSE (an exam taken at 16 in the UK) is highly unusual and would naturally bring about suspicion, but administrators at Fitzalan High School know exactly what is going on. Students have had a secret weapon since the seventh grade, and his name is Francis Elive, a 55-year-old teacher who has earned the "math whisperer" nickname. Elive is a clear example of what the British education system would like all teachers to be; he is a quiet man whose pedagogic methods feature an intense passion for seeing his students excel.

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Naturally, Mr. Elive enjoys math on a personal level, but this is not what he is really passionate about is helping his students succeed. What he is really good at is convincing students that the work they accomplish in the classroom can easily be translated into top grades when the GCSE comes around. He is quite modest and insists that his students work hard to succeed, but administrators who know him well noticed that he was quite anxious when the exam results were unveiled. His assistant Jo Kemp told Wales Online that the room gasped when they realized they got the same results.

The statistics in Wales speak for themselves: Only 14% of students score the highest grades in math, which makes Fitzalan an outstanding school in this regard. The veteran teacher does not have a magic key for the results only saying that "There's no secret method. All my pupils have worked very hard and I'm really proud of them," to The Daily Mail.

It is not every day that we get to learn about great teachers such as Mr. Elive. Pass this story around so that your friends can reminisce about great teachers they have had in their lives.