Timothy

Oxford graduate with ten years' experience as a private tutor and consistently excellent results in Latin, Greek, Classics and English. Award-winning journalist. Friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Studied Classics at Oxford University and was awarded an academic scholarship for my exam results.

Earned a Master's Degree with Distinction in Latin literature at UCL. Achieved the highest mark in the year and was awarded the Dean's Prize.

Since then, I have been working as an award-winning arts journalist alongside my work as a private tutor.

Tutoring Experience

Private tutor for ten years, with significant experience in private tuition of Latin, Greek and English at all levels, and results well above the national average.

LATIN/GREEK

I started teaching Latin at a prep school, where the small class sizes allowed me to tailor my teaching to each individual student. I was also a teaching assistant for primary school Latin classes, assisting students individually and helping each of them according to their level. I realised the value of one-to-one teaching for building student confidence and ability.

I have in-depth, up-to-date knowledge of the current syllabuses for Common Entrance, GCSE and A-level, and have worked extensively from the Oxford and Cambridge Latin Courses, from Athenaze, Greek to GCSE, the ISEB Common Entrance publications and from other frequently used textbooks. I also have a wide range of my own resources.

ENGLISH

I have been an English tutor for ten years, and I complement it by working as an award-winning arts journalist. I know how to write well in different styles, and how to analyse writing, and I love passing these skills on to students.

I have interviewed several of the authors on the English syllabuses, including Margaret Atwood. I have a particular love of bringing Shakespeare alive, and I have also extensively interviewed many actors and practitioners about Shakespeare's work, including Sir Ian McKellen; I love to feed this real-world experience into lessons, to show that learning English is not just about words on a page.

Tutoring Approach

CONFIDENCE: I love seeing students gain confidence as they study with me, and passing on my knowledge and enthusiasm until they are as excited about a subject as I am. My main focus is finding something for them to enjoy within a given subject.

TARGETED APPROACH: I find out the areas where the student will need the most help, then I plan my lessons carefully to address those areas of difficulty. I always try to build on the way the student has been taught at school, so that my tuition complements their school learning rather than clashing with it.

EXAM TECHNIQUE: I also ensure that we are always working on exam and revision techniques while learning. This includes helpful mnemonics, studying past papers and mark schemes, and ensuring we are engaging closely with the relevant syllabus to pick up as many marks as possible when it comes to exams.

TIPS AND TRICKS: I like to build routine into tuition sessions, so that the student knows what to expect in each session, which helps boost their confidence, and so that grammar which can seem strange and unfamiliar at first becomes second nature. I've got plenty of tips and tricks to help with the most difficult parts of grammar and syntax. It's useful to break things down into smaller chunks - for example, the large set texts can be daunting, but they become manageable when taken piece by piece.

Above all, my approach is to be friendly, patient and knowledgeable.