Simon

Hi, I'm Simon. I hold a 1st class Engineering Degree from University of Cambridge, as well as a PGCE from Cambridge and I have classroom experience teaching physics full time at state Secondary schools. I am also able to teach Maths and Chemistry on request.
During my time teaching, I have received consistent positive feedback from students and parents, and many of my students have exceeded their target grades by several grades at GCSE.
Teaching is a passion of mine, and I aim to make tutoring sessions engaging and demonstrate the 'wonder' of science, while also coaching to answer questions with wording and specificity as required by the exam board. I have intimate knowledge of specific answers required for both AQA and OCR exam boards for GCSE and A-Level.

Tutoring Experience

I am qualified to teach all sciences with a general science PGCE. My classroom experience is focused on Physics, having taught both AQA and OCR syllabus at GCSE and A-level (years 9-13).
I have tutored during my PGCE and classroom teaching, but this is my first year of tutoring with First Tutors. References available on request.

Tutoring Approach

Personable and adaptive teaching approach, but with high expectations for students. Core principles include consistent formative assessment and feedback, following Rosenshine principles of "Teach, Check, Practice".
All good teaching starts with an assessment of where the student is at, and identifies the level of prior knowledge the student has in a subject, as well as identifying the next core pieces of knowledge that need to be added to this understanding to build up to a more complete picture.
It is then the teacher's job to amend any issues with the students' prior knowledge and re-check this, before instructing on the necessary higher level content.
It is then important to assess whether this new content has been successfully instructed, e.g. through verbal or written questioning, before setting students off to practice their knowledge a few times, which can be either during the tutor session or later homework.

I am able to offer a first shorter unpaid meeting to allow me to identify target outcomes from the tutoring sessions, areas for improvement and plan out a structured program.
In-person tutoring preferred but open to online if travel is an issue.