Joanna

I am a fully qualified teacher, having worked in UK schools in Suffolk and Northumberland. In addition, I have also taught overseas, including Shanghai, Spain & Switzerland.

My students exam results both in the UK, China, Spain & Switzerland are exemplary, a result of my knowledge and understanding of the exam board requirements, the depth of knowledge of my subject and of my ability to engage and form relationships with my students.

I am an examiner for Cambridge and IBDP English, enabling me to understand current exam board grading and to remain up to date with ongoing changes within the examination systems.

I teach English and English Literature and have previously taught RE, Humanities and Drama. With a solid academic grounding in my subject I am also approachable and friendly and find it easy to relate to pupils that are disinterested or struggling with English in the classroom.

Tutoring Experience

My classroom experience encompasses children between the ages of 11 and 18 (KS3, 4 & 5). This includes middle school, GCSE and IGCSE, A Level and International Baccalaureate Diploma.

My tutoring experience has covered ages ranging from 3 to 17. Tutoring has involved work in a Chinese preschool with children between 3 and 6. Currently I am online tutoring two 17 year old IBDP English A Language and Literature students and a GCSE English Language student.

I am currently teaching ages 13 to 18 which covers SEN, low, middle and high ability GCSE classes, both English Language and English Literature, and also AS (6th form) English.

I have been working as a tutor for over 20 years. My experience includes working with children with behavioural issues as well as children with various SEN, from autism to dyslexia. I have also taught children for whom English is an additional language. My last tutee (who found me through this site) was an A2 (A Level) student who needed help with exam techniques and practise.

Tutoring Approach

I treat each pupil I teach as an individual, tailoring my approach to suit them after a generalised beginning to enable me to assess them and their needs as well as their likes and dislikes. A recent success involved enabling a student to improve their GCSE grade from an E to a B.

I can assess using both the national curriculum criteria or IB English criteria to enable parents to track their child's progress. If wished, I can also encompass exam practise and techniques and set mock exams in a less pressured environment.

For pupils that are struggling with English in a formal capacity I am able to approach the subject from a more informal and enjoyable angle, to enable them to re-engage and overcome obstacles that may have previously seemed insurmountable, whether due to disinterest, difficulty or an SEN.

English is a subject that should be enjoyable and I enable my pupils to discover this.