Lively, clear, imaginative tutor with a Double First in English from Oxford! Thirty years' teaching experience. PGCE. I don't just teach to the test. I boost creativity, confidence and skills for the future, far beyond the exam hall. Year 7 up to and including GCSE. The apostrophe to Shakespeare and everything in between. Take The Fun Road To The Top!

My teaching experience includes working full-time as a secondary-school English teacher in a wide range of schools, from state schools to Lady Eleanor Holles. I've taught in Italy and Africa as well as the UK. I create my own teaching materials using my drawings and cartoons to explain ideas. My visuals are clear, fun and memorable. I share these materials on the TES Resources platform. I give clear, encouraging feedback, colour-coded: green for good, red for wrong, purple for next steps! For nine years I wrote for the TES as an educational journalist. This was great experience for teaching the non-fiction part of GCSE English. I also write and perform my own songs on guitar. I draw on this love of words in creative writing lessons.

I like to find out what is troubling a student about English and give them things to do to make progress in the first lesson. My teaching can be quirky and memorable, because language techniques are everywhere. There's a simile on a can of soup! I read a student's work to see what is already strong and doesn't need to change. This is why I mark with three pens: green for good, red for wrong and purple for advice and next steps. I draw cartoons to make ideas clear, memorable and fun. Meet the Essay Dinosaur, the Grammar Octopus and the Poetry Flower! Shakespeare comes alive when you see the Model Globe Theatre I made, complete with Playmobil knights, devils and ghosts. You'll see how Shakespeare's plays are scripts: words onstage, not words on a page! I always aim to send students home knowing what to do next and confident that they can do it. My favourite comment from a student: 'I'm making my own discoveries now, instead of learning someone else's.' From a parent: 'When I drove my daughter to her lesson, she was so stressed she was in tears. When she got back in the car after her lesson, she was laughing.' Turning stress into laughter - that's what I like to hear! My regular lessons tend to be given at my home, with all my amazing books and creative resources to hand, such as the model I made of Shakespeare's Globe. Online lessons are possible, though, and can be just as exciting!