Harry

I am a recent First Class graduate in chemistry from the University of Oxford, with over eight years experience in private tuition, focusing on science, mathematics, and foreign languages.

My favourite part of teaching is finding new ways to engage students by paying careful attention to how best they learn as an individual, and by finding out about their own interests and passions so as to tailor lessons to involve these as much as possible. A nice example of this was a neurodivergent student I taught a few years ago who struggled to find any interest in A-level Chemistry. Getting to know him better, I discovered that he loved animals; to make the subject more exciting for him, I then always made sure to contextualise concepts through this lens. We learnt about van der Waals forces as the way geckos stick to walls, and how hydrogen bonds are what holds DNA in its double-helix shape. I was really proud to hear that he went on to achieve an A* in his final exam.

In my own career, having focused on environmental science and sustainable battery technology during my degree, I am now looking to expand my expertise to include humanitarian and refugee support through further study into the applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence to these two global issues. I recently finished a two-month internship at Caritas Migrant Centre in Cyprus and have continued to work to support asylum seekers and refugees through roles at multiple migrant centres across London. I am passionate about foreign languages and the power of multiculturalism, and speak French, Spanish, and Russian. I am currently learning Levantine Arabic, and aim in time to add to these Mandarin and German. In my free time, I love playing and watching sport (football, running, and any sports involving a net), painting, and woodwork.

Tutoring Experience

I have over 700 hours of experience spanning GCSE, A-level, and ESL tutoring.

Caritas Cyprus: July - September 2024 (2 months, 120 teaching hours)
Provided daily one-to-one and group English classes to asylum seekers and refugees as part of my role in a migrant centre in Cyprus.

TutorTheNation Volunteer: 2024 - Ongoing (60 teaching hours)

Working one-to-one with an A-level Chemistry student from a disadvantaged school, providing tailored support on areas of particular difficulty.

Gotoco, Italy, English Teacher: July – August 2023 (1 month, 90 teaching hours) 

Worked in a team of five running two two-week summer camps of sixty students aged 5 – 13, teaching English classes in mornings and leading outdoor activities in the afternoon.

Volunteer A-level Chemistry Tutor: March – June 2020 (3 Months, 50 teaching hours) 

Provided free tuition twice a week over the course of three months during COVID to three A-level Chemistry students from my local secondary school, whose permanent teacher had left and therefore were receiving only sporadic support in their studies. From predictions of D grades, all three achieved A* in their final exams. 


GCSE Tutor: 2017 - 2021 (approx. 270 teaching hours)
Provided weekly one-to-one tuition to three students in a range of GCSE subjects, including the Sciences, English, Maths, French, and Russian. Developed creative methods to engage students in subjects they found uninteresting and to foster confidence. 


Treehouse School: 2017 – 2019 (140 teaching hours)
Worked with a group of five students with autism once a week over a two-year period, providing support in their academic and social development.

Tutoring Approach

My approach to teaching chemistry has two main aspects. First, I believe it is essential to contextualise the concepts I teach through real-world examples. The most exciting part of chemistry is its ability to explain on a molecular scale phenomena we can observe with our own eyes, so it is my view that the best way to make chemistry engaging and fun is to show its relevance to the world around us. If not, it can sometimes seem a bit too abstract (at least I have definitely felt this at points in my degree!).
Second, I believe the only way to get better at chemistry (and to have fun while doing it) is to solve chemistry problems! That is why my lessons are, after an introduction to a concept, focused on answering real exam questions. It is far easier to recognise what you don't understand about a concept when you actually try to apply it to a problem!
When approaching each question, I encourage the student to approach a problem as independently as possible, expressing his thoughts out loud. If they are on roughly the right track, I will ask them to complete the question and after try to pinpoint any mistakes themselves, before sharing my thoughts. Where the student is going in the wrong direction, I will ask them to consider other possibilities; if it is clear that they have not yet fully understood the concept, we return to the introductory notes. :) I use the CGP Chemistry Complete Revision & Practice (specific to each exam board) for introductions to topics, because these are, in my opinion, the most clear, concise, and true-to-the-syllabus books for GCSE and A-level.