Sam

I am a full-time tutor with a passion for learning and a broad range of interests.

I graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in English in 2011, and spent the following year travelling in Croatia, Poland, and Ukraine, where I taught English as a foreign language, before returning to the UK in 2013. Stepping into the classroom as a secondary-school Maths teacher, I lived and taught in various parts of the country including Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, and Sheffield, before moving to London in 2018 to pursue an MA in Contemporary Literature and Culture. Initially, tutoring was a way for me to continue working and supporting myself financially during my studies, but it very quickly became my full-time occupation and something to which I am passionately committed.

After over seven years of tutoring, I continue to enjoy working with young people and helping them to succeed, whatever their goals: from introducing high-achieving A-Level English Literature students to wider reading and critical tools that will help them analyse texts at degree-level, to supporting Year-7 students as they cultivate confidence and conquer their Maths-induced anxieties; from helping GCSE students overcome barriers such as dyslexia or slow-processing in order to achieve the grades they want, to preparing young students for entrance exams set by some of the country's most selective schools.

I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to work with such a wide range of young people and I am thrilled that tutoring enables me to share my love of both English and Mathematics, and to encourage students to believe that they can achieve in both, challenging the widely held perception that these two subjects are polar opposites.

Tutoring Experience

I have extensive and varied teaching experience, both in the classroom and on a one-to-one basis.

I spent five years teaching KS3 and GCSE Mathematics in three different secondary schools in the Midlands and North of England. This includes one year as Head of Department at an academy in South Yorkshire, where outcomes improved to reach a record high under my leadership.

Since 2018 I have worked with over 80 students, tutoring in the following subjects:

-KS1 English
-KS1 Mathematics
-KS2 English
-KS2 Mathematics
-KS3 English
-KS3 Mathematics
-GCSE English
-GCSE Mathematics
-GCSE Statistics
-A-Level English Literature
-A-Level Mathematics
-Entrance exams for 7+/10+/11+
-Coaching for UCAS personal statements
-Coaching for application to study English Literature at Oxford/Cambridge (including interview practice and assessment preparation)

I am familiar and comfortable with the three main awarding bodies for English and Maths (Edexcel, AQA, and OCR), and am equally happy working with students at Foundation level or at the top end of Higher (CGSE Grades 8 and 9).

I regularly mark GCSE and IGCSE Maths exam papers for two of the exam boards, an experience which provides valuable insights into common misconceptions and difficulties, and how best to help students overcome these.

Tutoring Approach

General:

I strongly believe in creating a learning environment in which students feel comfortable to try things out and make mistakes without fear of criticism or embarrassment. Patience and encouragement are cornerstones of my approach, as I seek to build students’ confidence and a willingness to experiment and think creatively. I ask questions more often than I provide immediate answers, an approach which encourages students to think for themselves rather than relying upon an external source of knowledge. In this way, students are better prepared to ask themselves the right questions when confronted with a problem or text in an exam or real-life situation, thereby becoming more independent thinkers.

Mathematics and Statistics:

For an initial lesson, I bring a selection of twelve questions on a variety of topics appropriate to the individual student's age / experience. In this way I am able to gauge which skills have been mastered and which require development, and this will then inform the questions I bring to future lessons.

Each lesson I will seek to introduce increasingly challenging elements in order to stretch students and build towards problem-solving and exam-style questions, all the while balancing this with my judgement of the student's own sense of confidence, as I firmly believe in the importance of not overwhelming students.

I am also happy to work on any topics specified by students themselves, perhaps flagged up as gaps in a recent assessment, or as part of revision for an upcoming assessment.

English Language / Literature:

At GCSE-level, I am happy to focus on English Literature, English Language, or both. In the majority of cases the most appropriate approach will be to look at exam papers and discuss the requirements of each question, coaching students through how to analyse the different aspects of a text, including content, language, and structure. I develop my own resources, closely based on previous exam papers, so that students are able to familiarise themselves with the style and demands of the exam without any overlap with material that may be used in schools (e.g. previous exam papers used for mock exams).

I am happy to work with students on any of the texts listed for GCSE English Literature (common examples include Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, A Christmas Carol, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Frankenstein for Paper 1; An Inspector Calls, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, and Never Let Me Go for Paper 2). I have also developed a wide range of ‘unseen’ poetry tasks similar to those which will be encountered on Paper 2 alongside questions on the anthology poems (usually ‘Power and Conflict’ or ‘Love and Relationships’). Exam boards differ on which elements of the course are assessed on each of the papers; I am aware of this and will tailor my work with students accordingly.

For KS3 and below, I base my lessons around texts which we will read together in the lessons. I have developed sets of questions alongside these texts which encourage students to analyse language features and techniques as well as general comprehension and development of vocabulary. We will also work on creative writing tasks.

At A-Level, English Literature students will have specific texts they are studying in preparation for exams (as well as coursework), and I am happy to support with any and all texts, as well as helping to hone exam technique and revision with the use of my original, tailor-made resources.