Alan

I love teaching and since retiring, I have been tutoring privately for the past 4 years. Being retired, and very experienced, I am able to give full attention to my students, working on the areas that they need to improve on, and I have enough time for setting out challenging and interesting work, that works alongside the student's school curriculum, but adds flavour, colour and depth to their understanding.

Tutoring Experience

I am a very experienced teacher, who has worked in education since the 1980s, at all levels from NQT to Senior Leader, ending up as Vice Principal in an Academy that we took to the grade of Good and then Outstanding in Ofsted inspections. I have taught many and varied subjects over the years, Economics, Business Studies, Sociology, Leisure & Tourism, ICT & Communication Skills, Key Skills, Employment Skills, CISCO, Latin and French. I have taught at all levels at Secondary level, from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 5, through to adult education and all ability ranges. This experience gives me the skills to understand when a student is able to move faster, or where we need to stop and focus on areas that are less understood.

Tutoring Approach

I teach via FaceTime or Skype only. I use Google Docs, which we share online, so that I can monitor the students progress in real time. I prefer to meet face to face with parents for an initial discussion, but understand that sometimes this is not possible. Using real time live shared documents means that I am able to monitor the student's progress at every moment of their progression through the course, spotting delays and hesitations that can be used to see where they are having difficulties and then to devise new teaching / learning approaches and strategies. I have found this to be a very powerful way of generating the highest results. I am also a strong believer that languages cannot be approached without a strong emphasis on the understanding of grammar, and grammar itself does not have to be stuffy or dull, being an essential part of everyday life.