Nicola

I am a qualified primary school teacher (PGCE with MFL specialism).
My undergraduate degree was in languages (French) and I was lucky enough to be able to incorporate this into my teaching qualification and practice. I love travelling, learning new languages and immersing myself in different cultures. I recently returned from a teaching position overseas, in The International Preparatory School, Cascais and am currently working as primary school teacher in Plymouth.

Tutoring Experience

I am currently teaching in a primary school in Plymouth. I am a full time class teacher, teaching an upper key stage 2 class. As a result of this, I have a sound working knowledge of the national curriculum and am very experienced in filling in any 'gaps' from earlier years, ensuring that children are successful in end of key stage SATs, so that they are fully prepared for secondary school.
I have recently returned from a teaching position overseas, at The International Preparatory School, Cascais. I worked as a class teacher with a year 5 class of children from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures. I was also science coordinator and the lead of student council. I worked as a private tutor over the weekends and in the evenings, offering tuition to children mostly in Upper Key Stage 2, in order to prepare them for SATs and entrance exams for UK secondary schools.
Prior to this, I taught in West London, again in a year 5 class. This was in a very socially deprived area and I had the task of motivating children that presented very challenging behaviours. I had to ensure that all of my lessons were carefully and enthusiastically delivered in order to effectively motivate my students and to accelerate their progress.
During my teaching placements (as a PGCE student), I spent 12 weeks in a year 6 class. As a result of this, I have experience preparing children for their SATs in a classroom environment as well as through private tuition.

Tutoring Approach

I have a wealth of experience in private tuition, working with children with a variety of different needs. I believe it is very important to assess the needs of the students, and also how best to grab their attention in order to motivate the child, so that they are able to enjoy their learning and as a result, make the most progress possible. I tailor each of my sessions to suit the individual child's need. I have a great deal of teaching experience so am very confident in my approach and am able to be flexible in order to best cater for each child's learning needs. As has been mentioned above, I have a good understanding of where there are gaps in a child's learning and am able to adapt my tutoring sessions in order to ensure that these needs are address so that the child is able to achieve their full potential. I communicate with parents regularly, and, where possible, with the classroom teacher in order to gain a real insight into how best to help the student to reach his or her full potential.