Dawn

UK qualified French and Spanish teacher
Experienced online tutor
Speaking examiner for private exam centres (GCSE/IGCSE/A Level)
Exam assessor for speaking and writing for a major exam board
Can cover AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas and CIE.
School and home educated students at all levels, UK and overseas.

Tutoring Experience

I taught French and Spanish up to A Level at schools and I then began tutoring from home when my eldest son was born. I began online tutoring via Zoom in 2019.

Each year students come to me for help with AQA and Edexcel GCSEs as well as Edexcel and Cambridge IGCSEs. I am used to helping them prepare for their specific exams and I am familiar with the new specification for Edexcel and AQA GCSEs, for the first exam sitting this year. I have been examining and marking GCSE papers since 2004, so I am well versed in the techniques required.

I also prepare students for scholarship and entrance exams and I understand the need to help students perform well under pressure. I can focus on past papers or help with grammar and speaking practice.

For A Level, I am familiar with Edexcel, AQA and Eduqas for both French and Spanish. I do speaking A Level and AS exams in the summer, so I can prepare students for specific question types and help them to align their answers with the examiners' expectations. I can also work on past papers so that students practise reading and listening skills and feel confident with the different topic areas. If students have interviews or entrance papers such as the MLAT, I can also work in more specific practice.

Tutoring Approach

In the first lesson I try to listen to students and their needs, as well as sussing out their confidence levels. I can quickly identify gaps in knowledge and areas that can be built on, to boost grades and try to come up with a plan that moves the student forward at the right speed. An hour of one to one tuition per week usually does a lot to enhance the student's learning and and help them increase their confidence. I can also provide more specific essay or speaking preparation to do in between lessons. Nearer exam time I am prepared to hone in on whichever skills need more practice, having past papers ready to go each lesson, if students just want to work on these.

I am just as interested in helping a confident student achieve a top grade as supporting a less confident or motivated student in nudging their grade up to a comfortable pass.

Although I can follow whichever syllabus/exam board a student is using, my lessons are always tailor made, to fit around the individual student's needs, abilities and time scale. I can set homework to maximise the lesson time and supply and mark past papers as required.

I still have some weekday and Saturday times available for the Spring Term. My availability chart is a guide, but please ask as I can sometimes fit in different times. Lessons can be long or short term and I can schedule times over the holidays too. I can liaise over unusual times, to fit around overseas students or fit around free periods for sixth formers.

For the first lesson I will send a Zoom link and then take payment after the class, if everyone is happy. In the first lesson I aim to discretely assess a student's stronger and weaker areas so that we can see a path forwards. I prepare a range of materials for this, so that the student is also learning from the experience. Once a student is clear on a regular day for future lessons, I will then ask for a block payment of half a term in advance, to secure spaces. I occasionally have space for ad hoc lessons, but please make your needs and aims clear before paying the fee on here.