Philippa

• VERY EXPERIENCED ONLINE TUTOR -

I am 40 years old and based in Woking, Surrey. I have a Master's in Applied Linguistics and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and over 13 years' experience teaching internationally, online and here in the UK. My experience has been enriched by high level tuition and training at universities, leading language schools, high schools, summer schools and in businesses around the world. I am also a qualified actress, improviser and voice coach and therefore place confidence building and personal performance development at the centre of my teaching methodology.

Tutoring Experience

General Experience in Brief:

I teach KS2 - A Level English Language and Literature; and ESL (English as a Second Language)

In addition to working as a Private Tutor, I am also a Pre-Sessional Instructor for the University of Surrey and Middlesex University, and an Academic Researcher. My research explores the positive impacts of actor-training on presentation technique and communicative confidence. When I am not teaching English, I practise, perform and coach Improvisational theatre.

KS3 to A Level experience in detail:

Whether OCR, Edexcel, Cambridge or AQA, I have thorough knowledge of both GCSE and A Level syllabi. Locally, my students attend schools such as SJB, Winston Churchill, Woking High, Woking College, Guildford High School, Farnborough College, Hoe Valley, Bishop David Brown and Fullbrook. I work with students of all levels, indiscriminately, and am as committed to those who struggle as I am to those who find learning easy. Several of my students have begun lessons with a predicted grade of 2, and gone on to achieve level 6 or even 7 in their GCSE exams. Some of my most reluctant students have even opted to continue studying English through to A level. They have cited their newfound enjoyment for the subject and recognition of its value and usefulness to their daily lives, communication skills and consequently relationships as motivations.

I do not promise to get every child a 9 in GCSE English, nor an A* at A Level, however, through both my academic research and professional experience (and supported by reviews from my students and their parents) I believe that I have the skills to inspire both confidence and self-belief, and to ultimately encourage transformational change. I have worked with students who have had no intention of carrying on - any subject - to A level, and then have not only seen their secondary school education through but eventually enrolled into university. Inspiring young learners to reach their full potential is a true vocation of mine and I look forward to meeting new students each year and to providing the 1:1 support and encouragement they need to fully excel on their academic journeys.

ESL experience in detail:

As well as teaching General English and providing in-house and private Business English tuition, I am a qualified KET and PET Cambridge Speaking Examiner. I have extensive experience teaching both Cambridge and Trinity Exams and also in providing English for Academic Purposes to high school, undergraduate and postgraduate students. My EAP specialisation includes the development and delivery of preparatory courses for the increasingly important IELTS Certification.

To outline my IELTS and EAP specialisation experience further, in 2013 I was contracted by a private corporation in Japan to provide university language training. Further to this appointment, I returned in 2014 as a Senior Instructor to prepare IELTS lesson plans, course material and teacher’s resources for the corporation’s professors to use as a syllabus at several of Japan’s leading universities. In 2016, I began working as an Associate Tutor for the University of Surrey as a Pre-Sessional Instructor for the ESL postgraduate cohorts.

Tutoring Approach

My lessons are structured and focused, yet light-hearted and enjoyable. Week on week, I strive to motivate and inspire my students to grow in confidence and ambition. I encourage them (not only in English, but in all subjects) to reach their full academic and professional potential.