Anna

I'm Anna - a professional tutor with a passion for making English fun!
I've been tutoring for ten years, and it's my dream job! I love expanding my students' minds by delivering appropriately challenging lessons while still keeping a relaxed, supportive and fun environment. I particularly specialise in GCSE and A-Level English, but I've successfully taught a range of areas from 11+ to university writing skills so please get in touch to discuss your needs!

All my work is online at the moment so I can work with students anywhere.
I can offer:
- 1-to-1 tuition
- Consultation sessions to help students plan their reading and study following the Covid disruption
- Small group/sibling group tuition
- Revision sessions for students preparing for the October resits
- Teaching for home educated children
- Support with university applications

I have an academic background - I studied English Literature at Oxford and St Andrews universities - and lots of letters after my name!
Dr Anna, CELTA, DipABRSM, MA, MSt, PhD

As well as my work as an English tutor, I teach music in local schools and in the community.

Tutoring Experience

I have a range of classroom and 1 to 1 teaching experience. As an English tutor, I have worked with a range of students from primary to PhD level, including students who were gifted and talented and some that had special needs such as autism and English as an additional language. I am experienced at preparing students for exams, school and university entrance, and I am happy to help with revision on a short-term basis as well as longer-term goals.
After qualifying with the widely recognized CELTA certificate in English Language Teaching, I spent several summers teaching English language to classes of children and teenagers aged from 10 to 18. At the University of St Andrews, I was employed for 3 years as a tutor for undergraduate students in the English and Music departments. As a violin and piano teacher, I have taught students aged from 4 to 18. I have also worked with children aged 5 to 12 in a voluntary capacity, leading after school clubs and holiday clubs. Alongside my tutoring work, I currently run music sessions for under 5s and teach classroom and instrumental music in local primary schools.

Tutoring Approach

I believe that English is a really exciting subject! The dynamics of an individual or small group tutorial is perfect for discussing and exploring English literature, making it more fascinating than it might seem during school classroom lessons. I particularly love to teach university-style tutorials to GCSE and A-Level students - organised into groups by topic, we'll focus on a particular work of literature from the syllabus and really discover it in detail, gaining deep knowledge of the text and the ability to think creatively and write excellent exam essays more easily.

I believe that English is a really exciting subject, and I come to my lessons with an enthusiasm to inspire my pupils to think about their texts in a new way. I like to teach literature with plenty of questions and discussion, enabling students to take charge of their own learning. I teach the same approach to writing skills to my GCSE pupils that I use with my university undergraduate students, so that my pupils learn techniques that will stand them in good stead throughout their academic and future careers. I find that through pushing the boundaries between school and university education, students find the subject more exciting and are more motivated to develop their own ideas with the creativity and flair that is needed for the top marks. With younger children, I use a range of activities and games to make learning fun. I keep my lessons structured but varied, and I share my lesson plans and term overviews with students and parents.