Information About Sarah - Merton teacher -

(7 reviews)

Personal Description:

After 24 years' business experience in blue-chip companies across several functions and sectors, from management consultancy to investment banking, in 2016 I left the 'City of London' to focus on teaching the English language, my life-long passion!

A linguist myself, with a first class degree in French and Spanish and a post-graduate degree in Marketing, I am DBS-checked (to work with children and teenagers), CELTA-qualified to teach English to speakers of other languages (TEFL) and experienced in working 1-to-1 with all levels and ages in private, business or school settings - both primary and secondary -.

In addition to teaching part time in the independent sector (KS1 to 5 - ages 5 to 18), I home tutor online, via Zoom, providing 1-to-1 classes in the following specialist areas:
1.
To adults of all levels, from (false) beginner to expert - customised English for business or exam preparation; to 'survival' English for general conversation or/and practical situations (e.g. language for going to the doctor, the supermarket, thanking, complaining, making conversation etc etc!); and
2.
Customised SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) and reading comprehension skills interventions to primary-aged children (of all nationalities!) who need to build confidence in their skills in preparation for their KS2 SATs or 10+, 11+ or 13+ independent school entrance exams such that they progress successfully towards excellence. A recent proud moment was hearing that a Chinese boy I had been tutoring for the previous 18 months had been given offers, post his 13+, by all three of the independent schools to which he had applied!

As an EAL Teacher in an independent school, I delight in tutoring pupils with EAL, aged between 5 and 18.

In addition, on occasion I enjoy being a 'host mum' to TEFL students from two local private language schools.

It is truly rewarding to watch learners gain in confidence as they improve, whatever their age or first language!

Teaching Experience:

I now have more than ten years' general, exam and business English TEFL experience gained in Spain, Germany and the UK, teaching adults, young children and teenagers from very many nationalities, including Swedish, Ukrainian, Turkish, Iranian, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and South Korean.

Professionally-speaking, I currently wear three hats!
1.
As a teacher in the independent sector, I work with boys and girls from all year groups, from Reception to Year 13.

At the Prep School, I tutor both brand new arrivals to the UK who have low or no proficiency in English and need substantial support in accessing the curriculum, catching up with their peers and over time, reaching their true potential; and children building competence in English but unfamiliar with our National Curriculum. This task includes explicit instruction in pronunciation and grammatical structures and, for the very littlest ones, phonics.

At the secondary school, I prepare girls with upper intermediate to advanced skills in the English language to sit both their Cambridge exams (KEY, Preliminary, First and IGCSE English as a Second Language) and IELTS for university entrance. We build the sophistication of the girls' grammatical structures, their writing and speaking skills, academic lexis and exam technique, whilst also occasionally consolidating aspects of their curriculum course work too!

2.
In addition, in the 'summer holidays' I often work at the British Council's most highly-rated private language school in the UK, where I teach English to multinational groups of up to 16 (young) adults aged from 16 upwards.

3.
Last but not least, I home tutor! I have a broad range of experience - from young adults who need business English for their first job, to those who need to pass IELTS or write their PhD; from youngsters preparing for their independent school entrance exams, to ladies recently arrived in the UK, who want to improve their basic conversational skills -.

I also have state-school experience, having set up from scratch the EAL department and worked as EAL Lead at a secondary school. Encouraging a whole-school approach which was nurturing and supportive, I designed flexible and customised schemes of work which coached pupils, recently arrived in this country with little or no English, in the social and academic language they needed to access the curriculum and catch up with their peers and, in time, reach their true potential.

On a daily basis, I was inspired by the resilience and courage shown by these pupils.

In terms of levels, I have taught all of (false) beginner, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate and advanced.

I find my extensive knowledge of French and Spanish invaluable in predicting, identifying and mitigating likely errors when teaching learners whose Language 1 is a Romance language. I also draw on my extensive commercial experience when teaching business English and English for IELTS.

Teaching Approach:

Every learner is different, has their own experience, aptitudes, interests, motivations, external context and timescales. I embrace this variety and put considerable time and effort into researching and creating individually-customised sessions which ensure progression towards a pre-defined, agreed goal, whether they are learning for business or exam success, or simply for pleasure.

I take pride in building a good rapport with all my students and my approach and attention to detail have meant that all of my tutees have remained with me for many months (even years). We work hard together in partnership to build their skills and confidence and I am genuinely delighted for them when our mutual commitment brings them success. Please see reviews for their feedback.

I have an extensive repository of quality resources: in terms of TEFL, these address the four core skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking and focus on 'British culture' and practical everyday language; in terms of the primary-school children, these consist of age-appropriate materials (exercises and games) which meet the standards and expectations of the National Curriculum by year group, as well as practice past papers to improve exam technique.

Lessons normally last 1.5 hours and are delivered via Zoom or GoogleMeet. Homework is provided (on request) and same-day written feedback provided after each lesson so progress can easily be tracked!

I look forward to meeting you soon - go for it: your introductory lesson is free!