James

Very experienced secondary/high school English teacher. Informed, friendly and fun teaching style = excellent results.

Availability: In university term-time, some mornings and afternoons through the week. Available through most school holidays. Weekday evenings (Mon-Fri) and in the days at weekends, too. Currently, I offer an online-only service.

Willing to travel: 10 miles

Experience: I am a Head of English and Drama undertaking a sabbatical to complete my MPhil at [contact details removed] in children`s literature. I am an experienced examiner so understand how exam papers work for students. When I arrived at my (state) school, the results were 53% grades A-C at GCSE. After my first year of leading in English and Drama, they improved to 83%;; summer 2017’s cohort rose to 88.9%;; and in 2018 we achieved 92% A-C. Further, we achieved the best A Level results on record. My teaching approach of ‘challenge, creativity and encouragement,’ has transformed student attitudes and outcomes in English.

I have over a decade’s experience in teaching English Language and English Literature to students of all abilities from ages 11-18: at Key Stage 3 (11-14), GCSE (14-16) and to A Level (16-18). This includes securing key literacy skills for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) through to challenging and motivating the most gifted and talented cohorts. I have a wealth of experience and professional training in working with students working at the C-D borderline (now called grades 3-5). I have applied many different pedagogical strategies and approaches to encourage reluctant learners or to inspire very able students: including specialised masterclasses for A to A* students (both at GCSE and A Level) and developing literacy ‘boot camps’ for less able, younger students: both strategies reap impressive results. In private tutoring, I have experience of helping students move from an A to an A*;; or from D-E grades to C-B grades.

My educational and leadership philosophy is simple: high expectations for every student developed in a supportive and stimulating learning environment. There is a positive emphasis on building confidence, creativity and independent enquiry. We learn from our mistakes as much from our successes, so I encourage students to innovate and try new or different ideas: to think critically and to contextualise accurately. This approach has led to excellent results;; and feedback from staff, students and parents is very positive. As a private tutor, classroom practitioner and subject-leader, I have been consistently graded as ‘outstanding’ in performance management reviews, including by external inspectors (most recent Ofsted March 2017).

ADDITIONAL SUBJECTS:
In three schools, I lead on the delivery of GCSE Media as an additional subject for high achieving pupils, always with very impressive (above target) results. With drama, I have many years’ experience of working in the theatre: delivering performing arts workshops for all school ages and abilities. I currently lead on the delivery of GCSE Drama and BTEC Performing Arts (Level 3).

UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS EXPERIENCE.
Pastorally, my specialism is in university recruitment. Before I entered teaching, I worked at university-level (Leeds) recruiting and retaining undergraduate students through UCAS. In all schools, I have provided student guidance in the UCAS application process.