Thomas

I hold a B.A. in Economics and History, and am an enthusiastic teacher wholeheartedly committed to believing that every pupil will achieve their potential and it is my duty as a teacher to foster a growth mindset. I do not believe that past performance is a reliable indicator of future grades and success comes from good teaching; encouraging and enabling each pupil to master the required skills.

Tutoring Experience

I have over thirty years of successful teaching in Economics, Business, English as a Second Language, English as an Academic Language, History and Mathematics. For the great majority, I was Head of Economics at a leading selective school, The Skinners' School , St John's Road, Tunbridge Wells and regularly prepared pupils for entrance to Oxford, Cambridge, The London School of Economics and Russell group universities.
I also have extensive experience in teaching English both in Southern Africa and in Enlsh language schools for overseas students.
Having marked both Economics and Business exam papers to A level, -in addition to training teachers to mark for the AQA exam board,- I have considerable insight into the knowledge, skills and techniques that a pupil must demonstrate to score a grade A*.
I have also taught History to A level, maths to GCSE level and have prepared younger children for the Kent 11+ exams.

Tutoring Approach

I look at each pupil's individual strengths and interests and,crucially , how they learn. Successful learning depends on developing the relevant skills and knowledge in each subject and that each subject and exam can be broken down and made accessible to every student. I encourage a growth mindset that focuses on practising and refining skills, ( as opposed to seeing success coming from 'talent'). Constantly reminding pupils that each exam is a predictable event, that it is the skills and knowledge that is being assessed , not the pupil, helps to promote a growth mindset and a positive approach.
I believe that a good tutor must be patient and develop the pupil's confidence over time.
In addition, I regularly set practice work to reinforce learning and give detailed feedback.
P.S. I also teach GCSE subjects to the Higher level, but this does not appear in the website's table!