Hi, my name is Robert Ollis, for the next few weeks I will be the educational columnist for the Western Weekender.

My credentials

As well as my academic qualifications my credentials for this position are as follows:

1. I was a State High School teacher for eighteen years in four different large high schools in the Western suburbs of Sydney.

2. I was Head of Mathematics for nine years in three different schools.

3. I left school to start an educational tuition business, which I later franchised.

4. I sold over 100 franchises throughout Australia including at least one in every State and Territory.

5. During the past twenty years I have run professional seminars in at least 50 different schools and in the process trained at least 1000 different teachers through my self-developed unique teaching methods.

6. I have been a guest lecturer and teacher on a number of schools in both China and Korea

7. For a number of years I was the Educational Spokesperson on the Leon Byner program, 5AA Adelaide, the number one talkback radio program in South Australia.

Education is my passion – Robert Ollis

My passion is education, specifically coaching students in mathematics. My philosophy is that every child has unlimited potential to learn. I am not afraid of controversial issues and would welcome the comment of dissenting opinions. I know that it is only by listening that you learn, as an educator I appreciate the value of continued learning.

In the next few week we will look at such issues as ‘how children learn’; ‘the controversy surrounding homework’; ‘creating good study habits’; ‘the HSC, what it really means’; ‘tips for examination preparation’; and many more.

Occasionally, the column will be replaced with a puzzle for you to enjoy. A small sample: ‘Jai tosses two fair coins, looks at the result and truthfully exclaims; “I have at least one head”. What is the probability that Jai coins both show heads?’ Answer next week by Robert Ollis.

Source:   The Weekender  ( Page 55)