Lydia

I have been a classroom English teacher since 1993, teaching ages 11 - 18, as well as leading departments and being a pastoral lead, with specialism in neurodiverse pupils. I have just semi-retired but cannot give up teaching yet as I love it too much! I have so many years of experience and resources to offer and know how to build confidence and engagement with English Language and Literature. I am enjoying the shift to one-to-one online tuition where progress is so quick because it is so focused. I have taught in London state schools as well as several prestigious private schools; I've taught all boys, all girls and mixed. Within these schools I have offered regular one-to-one support and learnt how to boost confidence, enable pupils to engage, allowing them to make secure progress. I love the progress students can make quickly if they have been struggling to understand and equally I love stretching pupils such as through my successful ‘A*/Pushing for 9 Club’, specialising in nurturing top students’ understanding of literature beyond the curriculum, preparing for top grades as well as top university applications.

Tutoring Experience

I have been an examiner for AQA, CIE, OCR and WJEC as well as teaching all these exam boards and others. I have loved teaching many Shakespeare plays over the years:
A level: ‘Hamlet’, ‘A Winter’s Tale,’ ‘King Lear’, ‘Othello’, ‘The Tempest’ and ‘Measure for Measure’;
GCSE: ‘Macbeth’, ‘Romeo & Juliet’, ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘The Taming of the Shrew’;
KS3: ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ etc.
I have taught a huge range of poetry over the years, including a full history of English Poetry at A level, and many of the anthologies for GCSE over the years, AQA Power & Conflict the most recent.
Other Literature texts include the novels: ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘Hard Times’, ‘Of Mice and Men’, ‘Animal Farm’, ‘Heroes’, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘Great Expectations’, ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Jane Eyre’, ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, ‘Silas Marner’, ‘Lord of the Flies’ and plays: ‘An Inspector Calls’, ‘A View from the Bridge’, ‘Journey’s End’.
Additionally, I have taught a wide range of drama, poetry and novels at A level. I love preparing new texts and resources so always willing to teach texts not listed here.
I am a MHFA Champion (Mental Health First Aid Certificate).

Tutoring Approach

I aim to foster pupil autonomy and confidence by providing the clear knowledge, effective techniques and crucial time management skills that students need to thrive within exam conditions. In lessons, I will set a challenge, model it, question it, then give students practice followed by feedback and further questioning. Learning how to question a text or task is how students develop confidence and engagement.
I have created thousands of resources over the years, allowing pupils to access transparent, actionable, and readily obtainable information, boosting their comprehension and attainment.
For many years I have delivered one-to-one support in English grammar, providing help with proficiency in handwriting, spelling patterns, punctuation, word classes and clear sentence construction, helping students to enjoy opening the engine of English and finding out how it works.