Liberty

Hello! I am an enthusiastic, qualified English teacher with a passion for helping students achieve their goals. My patience, positivity and kindness helps me to build strong relationships with all learners, which encourages even the most reluctant students. I specialise in AQA English Literature and English Language GCSEs.

I received a Distinction in my PGCE and a university award for outstanding practical and theoretical work during my teacher training. Furthermore, I have been credited with the highest level (exceeding expectations) for several of the Teaching Standards including subject and curriculum knowledge, planning and teaching well structured lessons, making accurate and productive use of assessment, and setting high expectations. I have also received positive feedback from teaching colleagues on my ability to build strong relationships with reluctant learners.

Teaching is my passion and I am constantly seeking to improve my teaching practice by reading articles on pedagogy and participating in training. Outside of teaching, I enjoy Latin and Ballroom dancing, history, photography, hiking, reading and film.

Tutoring Experience

I teach English to Year 7-11 students with a range of target grades. I adapt my teaching strategies to ensure that students of all abilities can access a full range of grades. I teach the AQA GCSE exam specifications; for English Literature, I specialise in Macbeth, An Inspector Calls, A Christmas Carol, and Power and Conflict poetry.

Additionally, I provided online, private tuition to a small group of Year 11 students who were bordering Grades 3 and 4 in the weeks leading up to their GCSE exams. I focused on exam technique, practice paragraphs, revising key texts, and independent revision strategies. The students reported that the sessions were very helpful.

In 2022/2023, I taught English as a foreign language in Thailand using my Level 5 TEFL Diploma to teach basic to advanced grammar in an enjoyable, accessible way.

Throughout my English BA degree, I volunteered in secondary schools as an English Teaching Assistant and worked part time as a swimming instructor. These experiences have provided me with a wealth of teaching strategies that I transfer into online teaching.

Tutoring Approach

Research shows that connecting learning to students' interests and building strong relationships with the teacher dramatically increases student engagement in the subject. This informs my approach as a teacher and a tutor.

I wholeheartedly believe that creating strong relationships with my students is crucial for learning. Throughout my lessons, I build a rapport with my students to cultivate a friendly learning environment where they feel comfortable to share their ideas and make mistakes. Furthermore, I learn about my students' interests and then connect the lessons to their interests as much as possible. This could include the selection of extracts, choices of creative writing topics, or discussions and debates of key texts.

Active learning and quizzing are proven to increase retention and recall of information, therefore, instead of accepting "I don't know", I guide and support students to come to the answer themselves. This could look like developed 'how' and 'why' questioning to expand on answers, revising content from previous lessons, and self-reflection on practice paragraphs. Furthermore, I work with the student to create high quality exam answers, while explaining the step by step process to achieve these, so that the student can take this forward as an exam strategy in the future.

The benefits of a private tutor are that I will understand my student's specific needs, learning styles, strengths and areas to improve in depth, and will adapt lessons accordingly. With a problem-solving mindset, analytical thinking, and attention to detail, I am quick to discover areas where progress can be made. I build trust and confidence through precise constructive feedback, encouragement and praise.