Deborah

I have been teaching English at secondary school level for over 20 years and I am just as enthusiastic and passionate about the subject now as I was at the beginning of my career. I have taught in a variety of secondary schools: inner city, suburban, large and small. Whatever the school, in whatever the area, my primary aim as a teacher has always been to provide an excellent education for my students; an education that will help students to develop as students of English and (where necessary) help them to succeed in externally set exams such as GCSEs and A Levels. In all areas of my life, whether professional (as a teacher and tutor), or personal (for example as a parent) I encourage the development of a growth mindset: the idea that we can always improve and always do better than we think possible if we are open to learning, do not have pre-conceived ideas about what we can / can’t achieve and are willing to listen to and act on advice and feedback.

Tutoring Experience

Throughout my career I have taught all secondary key stages: Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. At Key Stage 4 I currently teach both English Langauge and English Literature and for the last three years I have been an examiner for one of the major exam boards. Working as an examiner on one of the GCSE English Language papers has given me invaluable insight into how to prepare students for their GCSE English Language examinations. At Key Stage 5 I currently teach A Level English Language. With regards to GCSE Media, I currently teach the new 2017 AQA specification. As a tutor I have experience of teaching English Language and Literature for all of the GCSE specifications: AQA, Eduqas, Edexcel and OCR.

Tutoring Approach

The job of any teacher or tutor is to identify the skills or knowledge gaps of their students / tutees and then work out the best way to address these gaps. For this reason, regardless of whether the tutee is just starting out in Year 7 or weeks away form their GCSEs, the same fundamental questions will be addressed at the first tutor session: what is it you need to know? What knowledge / strengths do you already have in this topic? Which areas of this topic are you struggling with? What’s the most effective (and enjoyable) way to address these knowledge gaps / weaknesses? This will then allow me to put together a plan of study to address these knowledge gaps / weaknesses.

At the end of each tutoring session I will provide parents / carers with a brief written summary of what has been covered in the tutoring session and also details of any homework that has been set.

I am available for one-off and weekly tutoring sessions and during the school holidays I can offer more intensive tuition over a number of days.