Customer story · Independent maths tutor · UK

How Helen Osmond teaches maths onlinewith every tool at her fingertips

Helen Osmond has tutored maths since 2010 and won Secondary Tutor of the Year at the 2024 National Tutoring Awards. She teaches GCSE and A-level students in person in North Wiltshire and online on Pencil Spaces, where the whiteboard, video, maths tools and her own worksheets sit together in one Space.

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GCSE maths · PrismsLive

Volume of a prism

A triangular prism is 10 cm long. Its triangular face has a base of 6 cm and a height of 4 cm. Find its volume.

A = ½ × 6 × 4 = 12 cm²

V = 12 × 10 = 120 cm³ ✓

TTutor

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Illustration: a one-to-one GCSE maths lesson on Pencil Spaces, worked by hand on the shared board.

Tutor: Helen Osmond, Osmond Education osmondeducation.co.uk ↗
Based in: Chippenham, North Wiltshire, UK
Teaches: GCSE and A-level maths, online and in person
On Pencil Spaces: Since 2023

Helen at a glance

A tutor other tutors learn from.

Sixteen years of maths tutoring, recognized by her peers and shared with other tutors.

2010

The year Helen started tutoring maths, mainly at GCSE and A-level.

2024

Secondary Tutor of the Year at the National Tutoring Awards.

Free episodes of her Masters of Tutoring series on YouTube, about an hour of teaching in all.

She was shortlisted for the Professional, Secondary and Online Tutor awards in 2023 and 2024, and was a finalist for Professional Tutor of the Year in 2025.

Sources: National Tutoring Awards 2024 winners and 2025 winners, The Tutors’ Association.

The short version

One tutor, one Space, every tool she needs.

The tutor

Helen Osmond, Osmond Education

A maths tutor since 2010 who teaches GCSE and A-level students around Chippenham, Corsham and Calne, and online. Secondary Tutor of the Year 2024.

What she needs

Every tool within reach

Her lessons change course as she goes, so shapes, graphs, simulations, dice and her own worksheets have to be ready the moment a student needs them.

On Pencil Spaces

Teaching, and sharing what works

Helen has taught online on Pencil Spaces since 2023. In 2025 she filmed a free lesson series for other tutors, and she is often among the first to try new features.

Her story

Confidence first, then content.

Helen Osmond founded Osmond Education and has tutored maths since 2010, mainly at GCSE and A-level. She teaches in person around Chippenham, Corsham and Calne in North Wiltshire, and online.

Many of her students arrive sure they can’t do maths. Helen has said her favorite part of the job is the moment a student finds out they can. She plans each lesson loosely, then changes course once she sees what a student understands: back to the topic underneath, faster through what they already know, or a different way in.

Known to other tutors

In 2024 Helen won Secondary Tutor of the Year at the National Tutoring Awards, run by The Tutors’ Association. In 2025 she was a finalist for Professional Tutor of the Year. She spoke at the National Tutors’ Conference in 2023 on the power of connection, and she brings tutors together through her Maths Hub.

Why the online lesson has to keep up

Teaching that way online needs every tool within reach. Since 2023, Helen has taught her online lessons on Pencil Spaces. The shared whiteboard, video, maths tools and her own documents are in one Space, and she and her student both write on the board.

“I use Pencil Spaces as my choice of digital whiteboard because it has all the tools and features I need, right at my fingertips. … The team at Pencil Spaces are keen to include features that tutors need and are quick to respond to any issues or queries that arise.”

Helen OsmondFounder, Osmond Education · Secondary Tutor of the Year, National Tutoring Awards 2024

Watch her teach

The Masters of Tutoring, with Helen Osmond.

In July 2025 we filmed Helen for The Masters of Tutoring, our free training series for tutors. Its 11 short episodes, about an hour in all, are cut from four lessons she recorded on Pencil Spaces. Each one shows a way she makes maths visible online.

Helen Osmond teaching a maths lesson on shapes and prisms in Pencil Spaces

Episode 1: Shapes and prisms (12:24).

Make the shape visible

Episodes 1 and 2: shapes and prisms, then angles and circles, worked on the shared whiteboard.

Algebra you can see

Episode 3, the longest at 15 minutes, makes algebra visual on the board.

Constructions on the board

Episode 4 constructs bisectors on the shared board.

Bring the real world in

Episodes 6 to 9: probability with dice, Google Maps and pyramids, simulations and graphing calculators, all opened inside the lesson.

Your own worksheets

Episode 11 puts PDFs and Word documents straight onto the board to work through together.

授業の実施

Episodes 5 and 10 cover teaching several students at once and a set of power features for tutors.

Watch every lesson on YouTube

Three more ways to meet Helen.

A short film about Helen

Our two-minute film about Helen, an award-winning maths tutor who teaches on Pencil Spaces. Released in January 2025. Watch on YouTube (2:10) ↗

Her National Tutoring Awards 2024 interview

A three-minute interview from our National Tutoring Awards 2024 series, published in June 2024. Watch on YouTube (3:27) ↗

The Power of Connection

Her talk at the 2023 National Tutors’ Conference on connecting with students, parents and other tutors, and why trust comes before learning. Watch on YouTube (31 min) ↗

On Pencil Spaces since 2023

A tutor who helps shape what we build.

Helen tells us plainly what tutors need, and she is often among the first to try new parts of Pencil Spaces.

2022
A first look
Helen tries Pencil Spaces and gives our team feedback as a working maths tutor.
2023
Online lessons move over
She starts teaching her online lessons on Pencil Spaces, is shortlisted in three National Tutoring Awards categories and speaks at the National Tutors’ Conference.
2024
Secondary Tutor of the Year
We interview her for our National Tutoring Awards 2024 series, and she wins Secondary Tutor of the Year.
2025
On camera, then first in line
Our short film about her comes out in January. In July we film The Masters of Tutoring with her, and that autumn she is among the first on our new web viewer and new whiteboard.
2026
Recommending it to tutors
Helen recommends Pencil Spaces to other tutors in The Tutors’ Association community.

質問

About Helen and Pencil Spaces.

Who is Helen Osmond?

Helen Osmond is a maths tutor in North Wiltshire, England, and the founder of Osmond Education. She has tutored since 2010, mainly GCSE and A-level, and won Secondary Tutor of the Year at the 2024 National Tutoring Awards. She teaches in person and online, and her online lessons run on Pencil Spaces.

What does Helen Osmond use to teach maths online?

Pencil Spaces. Her online lessons run in a Space with a shared whiteboard and video. She can draw shapes, open graphing calculators, simulations and websites, and put PDFs and Word documents on the board to work through with her student. She has taught online on Pencil Spaces since 2023.

Can I watch Helen Osmond teach?

Yes. The Masters of Tutoring with Helen Osmond is a free YouTube series of 11 short episodes, about an hour in all, published in July 2025. It covers shapes, angles, algebra, constructions, probability, simulations, graphing calculators and teaching with your own documents. Her 2023 conference talk and a 2024 interview are on YouTube too.

Does Pencil Spaces work for GCSE and A-level maths tutoring?

Yes. Helen teaches both on Pencil Spaces. Students write and draw on the same board as their tutor, and the tutor can bring in graphing calculators, simulations, websites and past papers as PDFs without leaving the lesson. The board stays in the Space, ready for the next lesson.

Did Pencil Spaces make Helen an award-winning tutor?

No. Helen’s awards recognize her teaching, built with her students since 2010. Pencil Spaces is where she teaches online, with the board, video, maths tools and her own documents in one Space. For transparency, Pencil Spaces sponsored the National Tutoring Awards in 2024 and 2025.

How can I try Pencil Spaces for my own tutoring?

Pencil Spaces is free for 2 weeks on any paid plan. No credit card required. Sign up, open a Space and invite a student to your first lesson. If you run a tutoring business with several tutors, you can also book a demo and we will walk you through it.

For independent tutors

Try it with your next student.

Open a Space, put your worksheets on the board and teach your next lesson on Pencil Spaces.