Maths Teacher up for £1M Prize Thanks to Online Resources

Established by the Varkey Foundation, the Global Teacher Prize, in partnership with Unesco, is now in its sixth year. The 10 finalists are now announced for the prize draw later in the year.

Included in those 10 is Jamie Frost, a grammar school maths teacher from Kingston upon Thames. Jamie is the only UK entrant to reach the top 10 out of 12'000 global applicants.

Mr Frost has had many jobs in the past but he has always wanted to teach and feels most comfortable in a classroom. This is what Jamie said after his introductory week observing a classroom “Just when I was in the classroom in front of students I realised I absolutely loved it. I resigned within a week from my job, and that was what decided it.

“Ten years ago I was developing technology for artificial intelligence and robotics. Now I use technology to help students improve in their learning and to help me become a better teacher.

“I just love working with students. When I compare [teaching] to my previous days in investment banking, I wouldn’t have anything else really.”

Jamie is up for the prize after his tuition website went global during lockdown. The site DrFrostMaths offers a free learning platform with teaching resources, videos and a bank of practice exam questions. The platform has grown to reach 1.3 million visitors a day and attracts donations to keep the service free.

The site was developed to both support the school’s lower attaining students and galvanise those who may be disenfranchised with mathematics. However, it has now far outgrown that modest ambition. The site’s learning resources have been downloaded six million times, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the site is used in some capacity by well over half of all secondary schools in the UK.

Frost is still receiving emails every day from teachers and pupils around the world thanking him for his support. Many countries still in lockdown and closure of schools in various cities has meant that the website is a success globally.

The site has proved particularly popular in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, and Frost has even been asked to support younger detainees at a prison in Ohio with their maths studies.

Due to Frost managing to keep the website up and running without charging visitors for resources, teachers everywhere have been praising his help during the financially tough year.

The website is taking up more and more of his time, but he is enjoying being back in school and intends to remain in the classroom. “I just love teaching. It’s something I’m good at and I love that day-to-day interaction with the kids.”

If Jamie has made you curious about the possibilities for online learning and the resources available to you on the internet, check out Sherpa for online tuition that will help boost knowledge and confidence heading into exams.

In other news, Sherpa has just been ranked №33 in the Top UK Educational Blogs and Websites 2020. Take a look for yourself to read up on other useful and informative blogs.

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