Heather

I teach, I encourage. I enable. I am a GCSE and LAMDA examiner, and a specialist English and drama teacher with over 24 years classroom experience. It is always a joy to work with students from all walks of life. I take a great pride in my work, and do so with an open, engaging and 'can do' approach. FAIL is simply the first attempt in learning - and sometimes it may take us more than once for something to 'click' and then we SAIL!

Tutoring Experience

I have been teaching since 1996 and left my post as a head of department in 2015 to start up my own freelance business, working as a creative practitioner and tutor. I am also a current examiner for a GCSE English Literature board and have been since 2015, and I also marked for three years as an English Language examiner 2015 - 2018. This enables me to really deliver GCSE preparation at a point where the engaged learner can succeed, take a real ownership over their progress to help reach their potential.

I also examine for LAMDA and prepare learners for all grades of LAMDA exams including Acting / Speaking in Public / Reading for Performance / Speaking Verse and Prose / Introductory exams. My own results at my private exam centre are exemplary, with Distinctions and Merits being the norm, across the ability range of my students.

Tutoring Approach

My approach is relaxed, yet focussed. I love my work, and my students do well - success is garnered as much through engagement and enjoyment, as it is through focus and study. I work with students from the ages of seven up to seventy and it is a real privilege to be able to do so!

I can prepare lessons with a focus on comprehension, spelling, writing across all formats. Lessons will be prepared on an individual and bespoke level.

I have a real passion for enabling learners to build up a love for the written and spoken word as well as confidence with exam skills - I consider them to be opportunities more than anything!

I understand exam syllabi and can break them down into units that allow for progress and understanding that feels natural - and developing a love for language and expression is all a part of the process.