Rebecca

My name is Rebecca and I am a seasoned English teacher, having clocked up nearly 17 years of teaching experience. I have a good sense of humour, and plenty of resilience and patience, which can all come in handy in my work! I love reading, hiking, yoga and swimming in my spare time.

I love my job, and I am very passionate about supporting young people with their learning ensuring that their experience of English is enjoyable and made relevant to their every day lives.

Tutoring Experience

I have taught in many secondary and middle schools across Berkshire and I am currently working in an alternative provision so I have varied and wide ranging experience of teaching English in many settings and to many types of learners.

I have held various positions throughout my career ranging from Head of Department to Teaching and Learning Leader so I know the different facets of teaching very well - I know exam board requirements for good results, and how to get good results through pedagogical approaches.

I have tutored in the past, supporting learners to prepare for their GCSE literature and language papers, as well as tutoring KS3 learners.

Additionally, my experience teaching in middle schools, preparing Year 5 and Year 6 classes for their English SATs, enables me to offer tutoring at this level.

Tutoring Approach

It is important for me that my students do not feel that tutoring is a burden or something that is going to add work and stress to their already busy academic lives. It is therefore useful for me to know what curriculum they are following and receive some brief feedback from their English teacher, if possible, to ascertain if there are particular areas to focus on in addition to areas I can see need developing. In this way, the tutoring sessions will link to the student's learning at school and this will enable them to boost their confidence and progress in the classroom, allowing them to see and experience the benefits of one to one learning.

I like to spend the first session getting to know what level the student is working at, what kind of learner they are, and how they feel about English. Getting to know my students allows me to find and prepare resources which they will engage with and enjoy using, rather than using generic teaching practice and worksheets which they may find tedious or simply unsuitable for their learning needs. Tutoring should be a positive and engaging learning experience.

While I prefer in person tutoring, I understand the growing trend in online learning and I am happy to accommodate this. However, I feel sitting with a student in person enables the tutoring experience to be far more effective as human interactions (speaking and listening skills, recognising facial expressions etc.), which are often lost through online learning, are a requirement for every day life and part of English language learning, and cannot always be modelled and practised in the best way through online learning.

I want to make English accessible, engaging and enjoyable for any student who may be struggling or simply wants to expand their knowledge of English language and literature.