** I specialise in teaching English Language and Literature for GCSE and 11+

** I have 35 years teaching experience

** Average improvement for GCSE is 2-4 grades.

** I have an empathetic, calm, patient and intuitive approach and believe in gently encouraging and motivating all learners to achieve their potential.

** I like to help all students to reach their potential and really enjoy helping those who don't really like English and may have struggled with English; feel lost in the classroom and have a loss of confidence; don't know what to do to achieve those higher grades; need to learn to structure and craft their essays better; or just need a little boost and direction and personalised attention.

**I also like to push and extend those hoping for higher grades to achieve the best they possibly can.

** I teach English Language and Literature and am familiar with the mark schemes and exam format of all the exam boards. I thoroughly know the texts and exam requirements for: *Macbeth, *Romeo and Juliet, *Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, *A Christmas Carol, *An Inspector Calls, *Lord of the Flies, *The Sign of Four *View From a Bridge *Of Mice and Men *Various poetry anthologies and many 'unseen' poems for practice.

** To accompany my lessons I have written my own exam question guides and notes for revision purposes.

** I have a small number of spaces available for 2026/2027 ** There is no commitment or obligation for a certain number or frequency of lessons

*I have been teaching for 30 years and have been tutoring GCSE English for the past 10 years.

• Many students have come to me on a grade 2 and have all achieved passes in the GCSE. It is possible! Most students increase 2-3 grades.

*One to one tutoring is about understanding the needs of individual student. Every student is different!

*Fundamental is confidence, self- belief; and motivation and this is what I try to find and build in every student.

*From my experience tutoring privately and working in schools overseas (in Japan, Singapore, Italy and Moscow) I have gained valuable expertise, sensitivity and insight in teaching all levels, backgrounds and abilities.

My students have had fantastic results and I have received very positive and wonderful feedback from all my students. I have a gentle tutoring style and holistic approach which is intuitive, empathetic and focused on the student for their individual needs. My aim is to build primarily confidence as well as knowledge to help all students achieve their potential. The role of empathy cannot be underestimated to make a connection which then enables and encourages the student to have self-motivation and self-belief. This is essential for success.

*I am gentle, intuitive, and empathetic

*I offer a free chat before tutoring begins so you can ask any questions.

*I ask to be sent a piece of written work before the first lesson to help assess needs and level.

*I identify ways a student can improve from the initial lesson by having a chat, trying a reading comprehension together and by seeing a sample of their work if they have it. With this, I am then able to identify small changes to make that will help them improve and gain increased confidence.

*I start with language analysis skills as this is essential to all components of English.

*In Literature, I believe that understanding the question, and the introduction is the most important part of the essay. I provide guidance on how to write it for all possible exam topics.

*The lesson is a combination of coaching and working together on exam type questions. As well as checking understanding orally I give mini written class exercises if needed to consolidate the skills learnt.

*I always set a small amount of homework which is essential to monitor improvement. This makes all the difference!!

*I am always available to contact between lessons and am happy to mark work and give detailed feedback. This feedback is essential and significantly helps the student improve.

• I base exam preparation on practice papers and exam question practice.

*I have myself written a vast library of resources that include notes to accompany my lessons, quotations from literature texts, and many GCSE sample and model answers.