Claire

I am a retired teacher having taken early retirement in 2019. That said, I still love teaching, and continue to do so via Zoom/Skype. I am very happy to do exam coaching if required. I am not presently coaching for exams, rather Italian for enjoyment and conversation and teach an age range from six to sixty six! I enjoy travelling and therefore prefer to teach via Zoom or Skype in order that my availability remains consistent.

Tutoring Experience

I qualified in 2001 having previously been a Graduate entrant with NatWest. The career change was inspired by having my own children and wanting to become more involved in education. I taught French and Italian at GCSE and A level and marked for Italian GCSE. I have a wide range of material and always send notes to the student before the lesson along with homework if required. I was Head of Italian at Bede’s Sussex before moving onto a Management position at the prestigious St Mary’s Ascot where I continued to relish teaching Italian ( and French) on a reduced timetable. Being a full boarding school I enjoyed evening duties when I was able to help students with their study and exam practice, just as would happen at home.

Tutoring Approach

I love the Italian language! Having learned it as a non native speaker ( and French too) I am intuitive to obstacles that a student may face. Hopefully I am able to pre-empt them! My lessons are structured, including grammar, conversation and comprehension and homework is always offered to consolidate a lesson. I mark and return this with explanation prior to the next lesson so that only questions arising need to be discussed and we do not lose teaching time. Despite the lessons being structured, in that they have a perceived outcome, I am always happy to go off piste to explain something, or to give further detail and the opportunity for further practice. I am also very happy to be student lead and respond to their requirements or preferences.