Una

I have been a highly successful private tutor for over twenty years. My pupils and students quickly gain in confidence, as we share learning activities together. My reviews bear testimony to my ability to engage rapidly with every pupil and student entrusted to my care, thereby ensuring that they realise their full potential. Parents, pupils and students alike regularly comment on my expert subject knowledge, but far more importantly from their perspective, on my ability to share that knowledge in a way that is readily accessible and closely linked to developing individual skills, to ensure the desired outcomes. Equally, I strive to develop independent thinking skills in those whom I tutor, as I regard it as an essential tool to equip young people to meet the demands of our rapidly evolving society.

Tutoring Experience

Walthamstow Senior High School: Head of Spanish 1973 -1975
The Green School for Girls: Head of Department 1975 -1978
Adult Education:Tutor of French and Spanish 1981 - 1985
St. Swithun’s School: Teaching French & Spanish: also Examinations Officer and Senior Day Housemistress 1984 - 2005
Heathfield School, Ascot: Deputy Head Academic 2005 – 2007

I have a wealth of experience of teaching and as a manager of learning and teaching in schools. I have also written programmes to enhance learning and teaching for individual schools.

Tutoring Approach

The essence of my approach to my high quality tutoring is to insist at all times that tutoring is a two-way process and to build and foster trust throughout all our sessions. I strive to ensure that:
The tutee realises that his /her individual needs are of paramount importance, that he /she is not simply another member of a class, who may well be reluctant to express concerns in a large group.
The tutee’s needs, as they become increasingly identified, will serve as the focus of the programme I devise.
There is a climate of sensitivity to moments when young people are feeling unsure in their subject knowledge and skills, moments when their confidence can so easily plummet.
Allow for humour, on a mutual basis, as it is such a powerful tool.
I am acutely aware that the prospect of a tutorial on a one to one basis can be daunting. Therefore, I always ask the tutee and parents to discuss whether a second session is what they would wish. To date, I have never had a refusal.