Claire

I am a teacher of English with over a decade of experience as both a classroom teacher and Lead Practitioner at Secondary level.

I have always had a passion for the study of English and find my profession extremely rewarding. I thoroughly enjoyed completing my English Literature degree and through my experiences with the voluntary organisation GirlGuiding UK and secondary schools, found that my skills set is extremely suited to working with young people. Hence, I decided to study towards the completion of my PGDipEd in Secondary Education after graduating from University. I am keen to continue with this aspect of my job and further support others in their study of English Literature and Language.

Tutoring Experience

I have taught in a variety of educational settings which has enabled me to develop a range of teaching strategies that can then be tailored to each individual, thus ensuring that every pupil is given ample opportunity to achieve their potential. I have been tutoring pupils 1:1 through both work and private companies such as this, for several years and find it to be a rewarding experience as I can teach topics and texts using different methods compared to that used in the classroom with larger groups. I have completed a Masters in Education which has allowed me to further develop my teaching style and provided interesting research into the delivery of the new English GCSE curriculum, knowledge which is invaluable in both a one-to-one and group setting.

Tutoring Approach

I encourage my tutees to express their personal responses to texts as an initial way of engaging with the writer's purpose and perceiving the text as a constructed piece of literature, skills which are vital to achieving highly in the current GCSE exam specifications. I always encourage an open dialogue with pupils about the texts being studied and ensure that they maintain an awareness of how the specification criteria links to the exam questions that they are encountering with model responses being explored so that they can see how a range of exam answers should be constructed.

I often begin by breaking down the criteria, deconstructing a text and then applying the expected skills to exam-style questions while making it clear to pupils that working towards the exam is, essentially, a learning journey so that they are not afraid to make their own suggestions as the fear of making 'mistakes' is alleviated. It is important that tutees perceive themselves to be part of the process of learning and are encouraged to become part of a team (the tutor and tutee) that is working together to explore a text for its meanings; I have found that this increases investment in the sessions and encourages the tutee to take ownership of their own learning, thus increasing their skills and confidence in the subject at a faster rate.