Tom

I am a qualified secondary English teacher with experience across a diverse range of educational settings. As an ambassador of the Teach First Leadership Development Programme, I have strong organisational and leadership skills that make me well suited to delivering effective educational schemes and lessons to students of a variety of ages. I am the KS3 English Coordinator at my school, giving me responsibility for the design and implementation of all schemes of work for Years 7-9, although I also teach the AQA GCSE for Language and Literature, and am familiar with the requirements and specifications of all U.K. examination boards. Additionally, I have experience teaching online across a range of platforms.

As well as teaching secondary English, I have taught English as a Foreign Language to children and adults in China, as well as tutoring one-to-one. I volunteered as an English language tutor in Australia on a scheme for newly arrived migrants, where I tutored a Japanese student seeking full-time employment in Sydney. I have also tutored individuals in the U.K. in IELTS examination preparation. I also volunteered weekly at the Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation, teaching English to newly arrived migrant and refugee children from Latin America who are starting at schools in the U.K.

My approach to tutoring uses the same research-informed principles that underpin my teaching practice. I am a firm believer in the importance of metacognition, and am of the opinion that it`s vital that students don`t just learn, but learn how to learn. I also feel that students should be able to articulate not just the `what` of a particular activity, but also the `why` in terms of how it fits within the broader scheme of study and relates to their specific aims.

I also think that learning is about a combination of skills and knowledge, and whilst in the modern world it`s true that we do have information at our fingertips, we only truly develop the ability to make valuable and insightful connections when we have a firm knowledge base of our own to draw upon. As a result, I believe strongly in the revisiting of prior learning at regular intervals in order to firmly embed knowledge into the long-term memory. This ensures it can be drawn upon without increasing the cognitive load of the working memory, leaving that space free to focus on the demands of the task at hand. It`s an excellent strategy for mid- to long-term exam revision, but also for building more general competence in a given field.

Finally, I believe that good rapport with students is essential to true engagement. I tend to connect study to current affairs and student interests to help contextualise learning and inspire passion for the study of English. I`ve always connected well with colleagues, students and parents, being awarded `Kunming`s Most Popular Teacher` whilst teaching in China, and becoming the KS3 English Coordinator within my department within two years.

Availability: Extremely flexible during school holidays.
Available on weekday evenings from September.

Willing to travel: 5 miles

Experience: WORK EXPERIENCE

SAINT GABRIEL’S COLLEGE, UK
September 2017-Present
Teacher of English, KS3 English Coordinator and Literacy Coordinator

• Teaching all year groups English Language and Literature in KS3 and KS4, according to the AQA specifications
• Teaching elementary Latin to Higher Band students as part of the targeted enrichment programme of the school
• From September 2018, responsible for whole-school literacy, focusing on fostering a culture of reading both at school and at home, as well as leading a vocabulary development drive across the school
• From September 2019, responsible for English at KS3, including curriculum, assessments and intervention

THE LONDON ORATORY SCHOOL, UK
September 2016-July 2017
SEN Learning Support Assistant

• Supporting students with Special Educational Needs in the classroom, with a focus on GCSE English
• Holding Homework Clubs for those students to attend to study in a supportive learning environment
• Liaising with teachers to discuss students’ progress and implement individualised provisions to aid learning

EXPLORE LEARNING, UK
December 2016 - May 2017
English and Maths Tutor

• Tutoring students of both primary and secondary age, assisting them with completing computer-based learning activities
• Parent liaison and feedback

i2 INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, CHINA
September 2015 - July 2016
English Language Teacher

• Teaching students of a variety of ages and levels, including exam preparation and Business English lessons
• Lesson planning, producing long-term study plans, marking and parent feedback
• Achieved ‘Kunming’s Most Popular Teachers’ award, having received a 100% parent satisfaction rate


INTERNSHIPS AND VOLUNTEERING

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION, UK
August 2019
Teach First Summer Project Internship (English Hubs)

Developing official documentation regarding the English Hubs programme; presenting early language development CPD suggestions; presenting an analysis of the efficacy of literacy catch-up interventions to support the transition to KS2 to KS3

INDOAMERICAN REFUGEE AND MIGRANT ORGANISATION, UK
November 2016-July 2017
Volunteer English Language Teacher

Teaching English to migrant and refugee children from Latin American backgrounds who are applying to or have recently started at schools in the UK

THE SMITH FAMILY, AUSTRALIA
August 2016
Home Tutor Scheme Volunteer

Providing one-to-one English Language tuition to a recently-arrived Japanese migrant in Sydney, Australia

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