Sarah

I am a full-time tutor with a love of reading, music and discussing ideas. I recently moved back up north to the Lake District, where I can spend more time swimming and listening to the rain.

Tutoring Experience

I've been a full-time private tutor since 2008. I tutor A-Level Philosophy, Religious Studies and English Literature for AQA/OCR/Edexcel/IB, also incorporating Cambridge and WJEC for GCSE and iGCSE, including for home-schooled pupils and re-sits. I have worked with pupils in a fairly wide range of educational settings, mostly one-on-one or in small study groups, through the whole course or leading up to exams, though I was also invited to teach short-course GCSE RS to groups of 12 at a London secondary. I am often asked to help pupils to better analyse and write about poetry, how to include references to context or critics in their essays, for Philosophy to make sense of the more tricky topics around language and epistemology or in RS to help tighten and cohere the material, though I'm comfortable across the courses and always focus on moving up through the grades. I can also fill in for a missed unit, teaching from the top. I tutor for some top London agencies, though my tutoring ranges across school types, ie. Oundle, Harrow, Dulwich Boys, Ampleforth, Stowe to local sixth forms or pupils out of school for illness. I enjoy longer-term roles since there is space to build more of a relationship, but I have cut my tutor teeth on A-Level exam preparation in some short-term and intense situations, leading to busy Easter-times.

Tutoring Approach

My lessons depend on where the pupil is and the nature of their specific needs, though I encourage everyone to aim higher. We spend time reading from text or textbooks - or the equivalent of me explaining, YT videos if the pupil is having a tough time, though always out loud for poetry and Shakespeare - including delving into some primary sources and supplementary material where we can, always discussing the ideas, words, meanings, implications so the pupil can both develop their understanding and try their own take out on me. This is a very free and open part of the lesson and can go in a range of different directions. For Philosophy, for example, clear and precise understanding is crucial but takes time; Literature is more about critically exploring different interpretations, 'looking underneath' the text. We then practise writing and structuring essays or exam answers, I mark (gently, if need be) and give specific guidance about what to work on next. A previous home-school pupil (9,9 in English iGCSE), on being asked for an adjective to fit my tutor profile, said 'terrifying'. She was probably joking.