Helen

I'm a freelance English consultant and have worked at the highest levels in education. I qualified in 2002 from Keele University with a PGCE in English and I am a specialist AQA GCSE English language and literature tutor.
I've been a Principal Examiner at both GCSE and A level for AQA and I also co-wrote the current GCSE literature exam papers. I helped to launch the current specifications so I possess an in-depth knowledge that few others do. I've been training teachers on this specification for the last 8 years and I run training both in-school and colleges nationally. I've been tutoring since I qualified as a teacher in 2002 so I have over 20 years of proven experience.

Tutoring Experience

Ex-Principal Examiner and Lead Assessment Writer. Chair of Governors in a secondary school, national lead for Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors, GCSE English lead for The University of Surrey GCSE English masterclasses and HEON program. National Professional Qualifications, Leading Teacher Development mentor and Leading Literacy facilitator. National freelance consultant and trainer.

Tutoring Approach

My role as an English tutor firstly involves a careful assessment of the student and I base everything around this to ensure that lessons are completely tailored to individual needs. I like to take a structured and logical approach and I focus on the skills required for the exams and use this as a starting point. Having trained teachers at all stages of their careers for so long, I am adept at quickly pinpointing areas to focus on and as a highly-skilled examiner I am able to identify which skills need to be built in order for the student to achieve their best.

I pride myself on my rapport with my students who find me approachable, friendly and knowledgeable. This comes through getting to know each student and encouraging them throughout their sessions and having confidence in their own abilities.

My practice is a combination of written work and discussion and I provide students with a wide range of standardisation scripts and talk them through the mark schemes so that they are fully aware of how a paper is constructed and marked. It is this depth of understanding that ensures that my students achieve extremely well.

A common theme that I've experienced in my twenty years of being a tutor is a lack of confidence and fear of writing the 'wrong' thing. This is not confined to working as a tutor. As a consultant I regularly work with whole cohorts of schools nationally and it is this experience that I believe helps to equip me in my work as a personal tutor.

As with any teacher, I am highly adaptable and can tailor all lessons to individual needs. Being a tutor is a privilege and a highly rewarding role when I see student confidence improve and witness them achieving what they are capable of.