Karen

• Now accepting last minute tutees for this year's exam diet *

I am a fully-qualified, enthusiastic and encouraging secondary English teacher with 12 years of teaching experience. I hold an Honours degree in English from Dundee University with a PGDE in Secondary Education from Strathclyde University.

I'm looking to tutor pupils who are preparing for National 5 or Higher exams. While I mainly tutor on weekday evenings, I often offer daytime sessions during the school holidays if desired. I can offer weekly or fortnightly sessions and depending on availability, several sessions a week. I am incredibly flexible in school holidays and often offer as many extra sessions as desired by my students.

Tutoring Experience

I am currently working as a secondary school Assistant Principal Teacher of English in Edinburgh. Over my 12 years of teaching, I have taught from S1-S6 and have been responsible for leading pupils through National 4, National 5, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, GCSE, A-Level, Higher and Advanced Higher exams. This has given me a wealth of experience in working through the new curriculum and qualifications in both the Scottish and English system. Department standardisation also helps me ensure that I am kept up to date with the standards and expectations at each level of qualification.

I have been tutoring pupils from both the public and private sector for 11 years. Particular areas I have focused on with these students are RUAE, essay skills and the Critical Reading paper. Having spent a large portion of professional development time on raising attainment in RUAE for my department, I created an abundance of materials to aid students in this particularly challenging element of the course. I have also taught most prescribed Scottish Text writers across the Nat 5/Higher courses, producing a wealth of resources available to my students for revision in this area.

Having spent substantial time working in Support for Learning departments, I am experienced in working with pupils of all abilities and motivations, including pupils with additional support needs, such as dyslexia and ADHD.

Tutoring Approach

I base all of my sessions around the student's learning needs. Contact will be made in advance of all sessions to confirm what the focus will be, allowing me to prepare materials to bring along to further aid our session. I like to cover the basics with students before going into more depth and practising sections of the exam.

I believe myself to be a friendly and supportive tutor with whom students feel comfortable discussing their targets and areas of weakness. I particularly strive to restore confidence in pupils who doubt their abilities in English.

Having tutored for 11 years, I am able to provide references from parents with children in both the public and private sector. Both will attest to my exceptional success rate with their children.