Laura

I'm really passionate about helping young people to be able to access those all important next steps. Currently teaching GCSE and Functional English, I’ve been teaching in some way or another since I was 18, qualifying as a windsurfing and sailing instructor and spending summers abroad sharing my passion with both adults and children across the Mediterranean and beyond. I’ve always been passionate about English, whether that be settling down with a good book, or writing my own stories when I was younger. I love how you can begin to experience someone’s culture and personal experiences through their writing.

Tutoring Experience

I have just entered my third year of teaching and work at a small secondary school in Bristol teaching exclusively GCSE students. I teach both English Language and Literature to the AQA specification and in summer 2022 I worked as an examiner for AQA. This has given me a huge amount of experience with exam scripts, coaching students to perform their best As well as supporting a challenging students from a range of backgrounds and with a wide range of abilities, I have also supported students in successfully completing Functional Skills and GCSE resits.

I am most experienced with A Christmas Carol, Macbeth, An Inspector Calls the Power and Conflict Anthology, and the AQA English Language spec, however I do have familiarity with other texts on the AQA specification and the understanding needed to drive students towards the higher grades if that is where they are aiming.

Tutoring Approach

All students are unique and have something interesting to say, I try to coach students as best as possible to develop their own opinions of texts to encourage them to write insightful and interested responses. English isn’t easy for everyone so I focus on working with students to discover the joy in reading and writing for pleasure. I try to define students own expectations and put clear short term goals in place to help them feel successful. They will see model answers and complete regular practice questions to increase their confidence in writing and get over the fear of the blank page. I will coach students in both quick wins and building confidence in extended writing so that they can be successful in their upcoming exams and beyond.