Joanne

I’m a History and Politics teacher and GCSE History examiner with well over a decade of teaching experience, including 9 years teaching at one of the country’s most successful grammar schools. I left the classroom after having my two children but have moved into tutoring as I love teaching and I love my subjects.

Tutoring Experience

After achieving a 2:1 BA (Hons) in History from Durham University, I went on to obtain my PGCE in Secondary History in 2010.

Since starting to tutor privately, I have tutored students online for History GCSE (including teaching the Edexcel GCSE as a sole teacher, as well as providing additional support outside of a student's regular lessons), as well as History A level and A level Politics.

I am also an examiner for Pearson/Edexcel History GCSE and have experience examining across all three papers, so have an invaluable insight into the examination process and know what a top level answer looks like.

At GCSE level I have most recently been teaching the Edexcel specification including Medicine in Britain, Early Elizabethan England, American West, Weimar and Nazi Germany and Russia and the USSR.

At A level I have most recently been teaching the AQA specification (German History), and have taught modern American and Russian History at A level in the past. I have also been involved in delivering and marking the NEA (coursework) component for the AQA A Level on a wide range of different topics.

I am of course happy and able to teach other topics as I have taught a number of different things in the past and my degree covered many other areas of history. Success in History is not just about subject knowledge and I can teach essay and source handling skills relating to any topic.

I can also offer tutoring of History at Key Stage 3 or younger if you have a keen historian who would like to explore topics beyond the classroom - I am happy to tailor sessions around their topics of interest!

POLITICS: I have taught A Level Politics in addition to History for most of my career, and most recently followed the Edexcel A level specification, including UK Politics, Ideologies and US Politics. US Politics is definitely my main area of interest, particularly the presidency and the Supreme Court. I very much enjoy teaching politics and love a good discussion of current issues with my students!

Tutoring Approach

As a teacher I believe I have the right balance of being professional and approachable; I want my students to achieve to the best of their ability but I want them to enjoy lessons too! I can help with subject knowledge, exam technique and building confidence in these challenging subjects.

Below are a few reviews from parents of past students:

“ Would give 10 stars if there was the option! Joanne tutored my daughter for A level politics. She is a true expert on the subject area, but also has a lovely supportive style and really went the extra mile. Can't recommend enough. Thank you so much.”

“ Joanne is excellent. My year 11 son is really enjoying his sessions with her and says she's an excellent teacher.”

“ Joanne has been teaching our daughter for several months now and we are totally happy with the standard of her teaching, her dedication and ability to make history come to life.
Joanne has an ability to engage with our daughter in a friendly way and get the most from the time spent with her.
Our daughter had some learning difficulties early in her schooling and this has held her back a bit, but Joanne is very patient and personable and makes the subject really interesting. This means our daughter looks forward to the tutorials and learns more. Joanne sets really detailed and useful homework and supplies a range of information and references useful for the subject. She also is very helpful in indicating clearly and simply how to tackle the exam questions and has been an examiner so knows how to work towards achieving good results. It is all tailored specifically to make the most of our learning time and it is making the history course so much easier”