Stephen

My name is Stephen. I am based in Old Whittington, Chesterfield. I have taught at many local schools, including Henry Fanshawe, Silverdale, High Storrs, Meadowhead, Hasland Hall & Netherthorpe (but to name a few). My degree specialism is History. However, in recent years I have predominantly taught GSCE Language & Literature (the latter is a finely-tuned, tried & tested specialism). To add to my English credentials, I am a poet, who has had over 90 poems published in various journals & online magazines. I am also very well read, & continue to read or listen to audiobooks daily. If travelling to your home, I would prefer to stick to local areas. Dronfield is particularly useful to me, as my own children live there & I can pay them a visit afterwards!

Tutoring Experience

This is my 20th year of teaching in secondary schools throughout the Yorkshire & Derbyshire areas. I now intend to make the complete transition to private tuition, following an academic year of also teaching KS3 & KS4 English in a secondary school in Derbyshire. In terms of the literature syllabus, I have vast experience teaching Anthology Poetry (particularly the ‘Power & Conflict’ poems), Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Lord of the Flies, Blood Brothers & A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time I am also familiar with the texts Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro is one of my favourite authors) & Animal Farm. I am more than confident of teaching any GCSE text that I have not taught before, given adequate preparation time. I have most recently been employed as a Private English Literature tutor. As for GCSE History, despite the subject being a broad church, I am completely confident of delivering any GCSE syllabus.

Tutoring Approach

I prefer to meet the student, put them at ease & identify their specific needs (i.e. subject knowledge, exam technique or both), then tailor their lessons accordingly. Although remaining the consummate professional, I am prone to inject a little humour into each tutor session, explain potential conceptual difficulties by using analogies that I think the student will understand, as well as checking for understanding at regular intervals. I tend to keep the writing to a minimum during the session (i.e. jotting down a few bullet-points or annotating a poem), but may ask the student to attempt a written piece of work in their own time, if both the student is willing & the parent is happy with this approach.