Ali

I am a fully qualified current secondary school Science teacher with over 15 years actual teaching experience. I teach all ages at secondary, 11-18, and specialise at GCSE and A-Level in Biology. Whilst I love Biology I am also passionate about all sciences and enjoy teaching Physics at GCSE level. I am an easy natured person who thrives on helping others find their strengths in the classroom. As well a a science teacher I am a tutor and a Dad, who fully understands the pressure that young people face. My experience allows me to identify barriers to students learning and work collaboratively to overcome them. I particularly enjoy helping students understand difficult concepts and providing models and analogies to help secure knowledge and long term memory.

Tutoring Experience

I have taught for over 15 years in three secondary schools. I have been a Head of Key Stage 3 Science and a Director of Science. Prior to that I worked at Plymouth University in the Centre of Excellence for Teaching and Learning (Experiential Learning). Throughout my career I have had students successfully gain A grades in Biology and take places to study Natural Science and Medicine at Oxford and other Russell Group Universities. My classes exam results at GCSE have always been consistenly high and I take pride in securing success regardless of students starting points. I have taught BTEC Level 3 Engineering and seen students go on and gain higher level apprenticeships at national institutions such as Qinetic, Babcock, The Royal Navy and McLaren. For a number of years I have lead school STEM clubs and encourage lots of students to take science courses as an option. More recently I have been an examiner for the AQA exam board which gives me an even greater insight into how to be successful in exams.

Tutoring Approach

I approach teaching with a universally accepted and successful formula. Know what it is the student needs to know, find out what they do know and then work to fill in the gaps. Being a qualified and experience teacher as opposed to someone who just knows a lot of science, I have a wealth of pedagogical knowledge and strategies to draw on to help students learning. The power of effective questioning and my knowledge of misconceptions allow me to tailor my approach to each individual. I am very happy to provide guidance about students should structure their learning, or equally to work more collaboratively to support more independent students.