Information About Donal - Portrane tutor -

(5 reviews)

Personal Description:

I am a mature, qualified English teacher. I have lived in the UK for most pf my life but decided to move back to Ireland when my father passed away six years ago. I received an MA(Hons) in Creative Writing from Cork University in 2017; I am presently working on my first novel. I have worked as a illustrator, music video and documentary director and a researcher for a 10 part BBC documentary on traditional healers. I lived in the Peruvian Amazon for a year between 2001-2 fulfilling a life long ambition; in 2000 I founded the charity 'Friends of Usko-Ayar' with the internationally renowned visionary painter Pablo Amaringo. We raised money to build a school in the jungle, supply a computer and provide IT training, English language and Art classes for pupils of the Usko-Ayar Amazonian School of Painting, Pucallpa, Peru (2000-2005).

Tutoring Experience:

I have twenty years experience as a Private Tutor. I have extensive experience teaching and mentoring young people from a variety of social and ethnic backgrounds in London. My students have been achieving excellent results and I can provide written testimonies from the parents of past pupils. I also have experience tutoring students who have fallen behind, been excluded(for a variety of reasons) or have a mild learning disability (dyslexia etc.). I have 8 years experience Teaching English as a Foreign Language to a wide variety of nationalities. I also have extensive experience teaching in the arts, including film-making, animation and photography.

Approach to Grinds:

I take a personal interest in all my students. I believe that personal development and academic achievement go hand in hand and I am effective at setting goals and coaching students to attain them. I have the highest expectations of my students and am committed to helping each of them to fulfill their academic potential. Each session will be tailored to the student's needs: this could include basic literacy skills, grammar, essay and creative writing skills, preparing for exams or getting to grips with media texts, analysing films, Shakespeare, poetry, plays and novels, along with exploring the cultural context and social or political issues raised by the texts. The services I offer have been proven to raise levels of school performance, help increase confidence, enjoyment and motivation and develop study skills and discipline that can be applied to other subjects.