Tim

My name is Tim Removed I live in a village near Esher in Surrey. I am married with two grown up daughters
I recently retired and am therefore available both during the week and at weekends.

Tutoring Experience

I taught chemistry ( the majority of my teaching time being focussed on the exam classes) together with coaching rugby and cricket at a local boy's grammar school and did so for 35years . If thinking of employing a tutor it is very important that the tutor is up to date with the huge number of changes that have been seen on both the GCSE and A level specifications, not only in content but also exam structure and practical assessment. As the majority of my teaching time is focussed on the exam classes I am fully cognisant of these developments in the delivery of the chemistry spec, experience that recent non teaching graduates will not have had. I have been the head of the chemistry department in addition to being head of year. I have tutored students, both individually and in small groups, in all of the major exam boards for A level, I.B. Pre-U and GCSE for many years with a great deal of success.

Tutoring Approach

I usually work by asking the student to flag up any areas of concern that they encounter between our lessons. I would then start the lesson off by helping the student to understand the concepts that are causing the problem, often back over the fundamental ideas that are required to develop a good understanding of the principles of chemistry. Once I feel that the student has a better grasp of the problem I will do a couple of past paper questions illustrating the way in which the topic will be examined. Finally the student will attempt some questions to check that they have a good working knowledge of the chemistry that we have been studying.
As the exams approach the emphasis will shift towards looking at exam technique and working through past papers.
Of course if the student would rather take a different approach to that described above I can be very flexible in my methods. I can also help students prepare for their practical exams/assessments by providing the common chemicals and apparatus used in these assessments and showing the pupils the correct method of use.