I recently watched Anthea tutor one of her Year 6 students on long division, and it was honestly a really good reminder of how much teaching is about how you explain something, not just what you explain.

Instead of jumping straight into a big, messy question, she started simple. She gave the student a few division problems with no remainders first, just to build confidence and get the basics right. You could see the student relax a bit once they realised they actually understood what was going on.

Then she slowly stepped it up. When they got to a harder question like 931 divided by 3, she didn’t just say “do long division.” She broke it down into really small, manageable steps. She asked questions like “what’s 3 divide 9?” and waited for the student to answer before moving on. Then she followed with “what’s 3 divide 3?” and so on. It wasn’t rushed at all, and each step felt clear.

What stood out most was how she kept the student involved the whole time. Instead of explaining everything herself, she guided the student to work it out. Even when the student hesitated, she didn’t jump in straight away, she gave them time to think, which made a big difference.

By the end, the student was doing the questions with way more confidence than at the start. It showed how effective it is to break things down, start easy, and build up slowly. Long division can feel overwhelming, but the way Anthea taught it made it seem completely doable.

Eireyna Papinyan