Colum

I am a 44 year old father of two who lives in Central London. Apart from spending time with my wife and children I love to keep fit and compete in endurance running events. I am taking a year out from teaching this year at my school in Battersea to look after my children and also pursue other passions outside of teaching. I am therefore available 2 days per week (Am+Pm) for tutoring. I would prefer online tutoring but if needs be can meet the student in their home or a public place like a library for example if within the radius below.

Tutoring Experience

I have been teaching for the past 9 years in mostly mainstream classrooms in Central London. I have spent 8 years teaching in different mainstream/non private schools such as the Ark Academy chain where I completed my QTS under their rigorous two-year programme. I have also taught in a maintained local authority school and a stand alone academy school both in the borough of Wandsworth. I spent 1 year teaching in an Independent school in Knightsbridge also where I taught KS3,4+5 Geography. I also was an examiner for the AQA exam board 2 years ago so have a good understanding of what exam boards look for in a students answer. I have predominantly been teaching class sizes of 25-30 mixed ability students so I am really looking forward to being able to focus on, and teach one student at a time.

Tutoring Approach

I feel like Geography as a subject doesn't get the respect it deserves in secondary education in the UK. Many schools drill home the importance of Core subjects like English, Maths and Science and while they are very important so are Humanities subjects like Geography which give the student a more in depth and balanced view of the world. Geography is also a much sought after subject at university level as it combines well with most subjects (being a Social Science) and shows the student can comprehend a subject that has a very broad range of content (National Curriculum at KS3, exam board specifications at KS4/5). Geography students are also seen as those who can combine comprehension with the ability to analyse and interpret data whether it be through Fieldwork analysis or general map or statistical skills that come with trying to understand the processes that have shaped both our Human and/or Physical worlds. That said, the ability to understand and answer complex exam questions is also very important especially at GCSE and A level. Having taught a KS4 class(year 10+11) each year for the past 9 years I know how to prepare students for their exam whether it be Paper 1 (Physical), Paper 2 (Human) or Paper 3 (Fieldwork/skills). I always start with understanding the Question thats been asked closely analysing everything from the 'command word', subject specific terminology and even amount of marks awarded. From there we look at the relevant content and after the student attempts said Q, we mark it together using a formal Markscheme. This gives the student a chance to enjoy the subjects rich content but also be in a very strong position to do themselves justice come exam time.