Kate

School

Queen's College, Taunton

A-Level: English (A*) History (A), Philosophy (A)

AS-Level: Drama (A)

University

University of Cambridge

BA English Literature, 2:1

BPP University of Law

Teaching and tutoring experience

Selected Case Studies

2020 - 2023 | PRIVATE TUITION | A-LEVEL
I took this student through his GCSEs and then helped him complete his English Literature A-Level. There’s quite a big jump between GCSE and A-Level and a lot of my work with him involved encouraging independent thought. He needed to begin being creative with his approach to the Language and Literature questions. It’s vital that the students know their selected texts inside out and have the various themes in their minds so that they can adapt their ideas to the questions at hand. Moreover, English was his second language, so we paid particular attention to how a writer might incorporate irony, humour or double meanings into their work - such nuance can understandably be slightly tricker for foreign students to pick up.

March 2020- 2022 Home-schooling | 11+ and General Tuition
Throughout the pandemic, I began home-schooling a delightful student in English, History, Maths and the 11+. All our work was online and we had a lot of fun focussing on creative writing, Ekphrastic poetry, comprehension as well as fractions, percentages, decimals and of course, the Verbal and Non-Verbal reasoning! It was lovely to tailor these essential skills in accordance with his own interests, so that he could really engage with the topics at hand. For example, when looking at Ekphrastic poetry, we were able to draw inspiration from his favourite artist!

2020 - 2021 | PRIVATE TUITION | A-LEVEL
I helped a lovely student work through his set texts and poetry. In this instance we considered the work of 1984 and JOHN KEATS as well as the language paper. We worked through his essay
writing skills, prioritising how to embed and analyse quotations. The key is to highlight the effect of the literary devices at play and consider how they relate back to the question.

2018 - 2021 | Tennis Avenue Academy | Year 4 - GCSE
I was head of English at this wonderful school and taught years 4 through to GCSE. With the GCSE groups, I was working with the AQA GCSE syllabus. All students passed, the majority with level 7 – 9. We went through Shakespeare, the set texts as well as unseen poetry, tackling analysis, exam strategy and persuasive writing. Naturally, we also had to tackle context and consider the ways in which Historical Events informed the nature of the writing we were examining. These skills were then transferrable for other key subjects (chiefly History and Philosophy). I taught every age group from year 4 to GCSE, including two year 9 classes, wherein we studied different types of non-fiction and examined how to incorporate rhetorical devices.

2019-2021 | Private Tuition | GCSE
Over these two years I was working with two GCSE students, both of whom sat their exams with great success. With the first, I focussed on THE CRUCIBLE, 1984 and the language exam; we examined the context of these texts and worked on embedding the historical events into the framework of an exam answer. With the second student, we looked at MACBETH and the Language Paper, considering how to analyse quotations and discuss themes in the context of a long essay. Withboth students, we went through mark schemes and past papers in meticulous detail; it’s vital that students know what the examiners are looking for at this level.

2019-2021 | Private Tuition | Year 9
I worked with a lovely year 9 pupil, who was looking to change schools and gain entry into a top Private School in London. We worked through History (NAZI GERMANY) as well as her persuasive writing skills (considering the roles of bias and objectivity). We later focussed on interview technique so that she could feel confident walking into a room and presenting her intelligence to the best of her ability. I’m pleased to say she gained entry into her top school of Choice.

Teaching style and philosophy

My style will naturally change according to the varying needs of the pupil in question. For example, where a student has dyslexia, my approach will be to consider the teaching material from lots of different perspectives. Where a student has ADHD, it'll often be a question of working out when and if a break in the class would be productive. If I'm working with an A-Level or GSCE student, I'll focus on the set-texts and really hammer home essay formulation and assessment objectives. As a general rule, my approach is calm, focussed, patient and kind and with the younger students, also playful!

Additional information

I was the head of English at Tennis Avenue Academy and taught pupils from year 4 through to GCSE. I love writing and reading and am also a very keen runner, tennis player and swimmer!