Gerard

Hi. I am from Ireland and have been teaching in a high achieving school in Cardiff now for the past 21 years. My classes regularly achieve the highest grades in the department. Something which I am very proud of. I always strive to do the best for pupils I teach. I have taught the three sciences to GCSE level and taught Biology to A-level. I am really passionate about getting my pupils excited about Science. I can provide many supporting statements from my past pupils if need be.

Tutoring Experience

As mentioned I have been teaching in a high achieving school in Cardiff for the past 21 years. Many people think they can tutor but you really need to have taught in a class to understand what exam boards demand and what is expected of students. I can safely say that every pupil I have taught has risen by at least one grade (some by 2 and more) after having moved into my lessons. I have been given low attaining pupils in the past because the school knows that I make them work to the best of their abilities.

I have also marked and been a team leader for AQA, WJEC, EdExcel and OCR for the past 18 years. This has helped me vastly improve the way I teach in lessons and the way I tutor my pupils outside school. It has given me a much better idea of what is required of pupils to do well in exams.

I have also tutored for many families in my local area for the last 21 years. Each family has asked me to continue with their kids that are moving through school. This shows that my approach works and parents feel that I am a good consistent worker. I can also provide references here if needed.

Tutoring Approach

All sessions would be delivered online via TEAMS. I like to make pupils feel at ease during out time together. One of the biggest obstacles to pupil progression and improvement is the relationship formed with the tutor. I believe I have formed very good relations with the pupils in my care over the years. My initial meeting with the pupil will be free of charge. Here we would meet via Teams and would discuss the barriers to their learning or the approach they believe works best for them. This session will also include how they can access the vast amount of resources I have built up over the years.

As mentioned, all tutoring sessions will take place over Teams. Each pupil will be given their own folders that they can access via SharePoint.
The cost of the session depends on how many people would be in the group. The groups would never go beyond 4 students in the group. The more in the group, the less the cost.

Some pupils (and parents) have had negative experiences during COVID lockdowns with working online. They have in fact made me develop a much better way of supporting young people and making them much more responsible for themselves and their own academic progress.
I have not had one pupil yet who has not liked the way I have set out my courses. My groups are usually full as I have put a lot of time into making the best resources available for pupils.

The sessions would last for 1.5hrs. The first half of the session is the introduction to the topic and teaching content. This is where the major learning happens. Pupils are questioned and each session has a document that runs side by side with the content of the lesson.
The final part of the session is practicing past papers and working on exam technique. Pupils will do this via a live word document that I can feedback instantly on as they continue to work. Misconceptions are dealt with immediately.
After the session is over, there will be weekly homework (which is optional) that is set to support the learning of the session.
This is then checked by me and the mark schemes are provided before the next session so that pupils can see where they have gained or lost marks.
I can guarantee that if you put in the effort, the rewards will follow.