Matthew

I was born into an anglo-franco bicultural family in Paris, and moved to England at a young age.

I studied Biology, Chemistry and Spanish for A level which enabled me to join a team of researchers called the Fulcrum Challenge where the team carried out several projects on behalf of the National Geographic and the Botswana Society.

I started my undergraduate in Zoology with Marine Zoology at the University of Wales, Bangor. I graduated 3 years later with a First Class Honours. I undertook further studies specialising in Marine Mammology and completed my Masters, with Distinction.

I then gained a number of research posts working for marine research institutions and in 2009, I spent a field season researching Bottlenosed Dolphins and Humpback whales in Kenya and supporting the conservation efforts of the coral reef system on behalf of Kenya Wildlife Service.

The call of education becoming ever stronger, I returned to the UK to pursue official Teacher Training and completed my PGCE in Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) at King`s College, London.

My first post was as part of a rejuvenation and improvement team at Epsom and Ewell High School, which at the time was a failing school (OFSTED category Special Measures). Lead by Executive Headteacher, Alex Russell, the school was moved out of Special Measures and received a grading of Good With Outstanding Features within 10 months. After a very successful beginning at Epsom and Ewell I received several promotions to the position of Head of Year 11 and achieved record results for the school in 2013.

Since then I have moved towards teaching teachers! I am able to assist and improve the teaching and learning within the Science Departments of other schools. At present I am working closely with the Science Department at The Matthew Arnold School in the role of SLE (Specialist Leader in Education) with The Bourne Trust.

It is important to deliver tutoring of the highest quality and as such imperative to engage with the student in a style of learning and delivery that fits with them. Then the student begins to feel in control of that subject and gain in confidence and begins to attain higher success.

I use many methods that take the student away from sitting and writing. I focus on verbalisations, illustrations and modelling. A student is far more likely to understand, apply and manipulate information from a context if he/she is able to explain it with their own vocabulary and framework.

Availability: Weekdays, week evenings and weekends

Willing to travel: 1 miles

Experience: AS Biology (AQA, Edexcel, OCR)
A-level Biology (AQA, Edexcel, OCR)

GCSE Biology (AQA. Edexcel, iGCSE)
GCSE Chemistry (AQA. Edexcel, iGCSE)
GCSE Physics (AQA. Edexcel, iGCSE)

GCSE French (AQA. Edexcel)

I have been teaching since 2009 gaining Full Teacher Status in 2010 where I was quick to ascend to positions of responsibility, namely Head of Year. This position enabled me to form a team that pushed the Year 11 cohort to achieve exceptionally high grades, which resulted in Epsom and Ewell High School being placed 2nd for FFTD+ out of the 52 secondary schools in Surrey. This was also a personal best for the school. I has also worked in consultancy capacity (SLE) to enhance the teaching and learning of science in association with The Bourne Trust. My professional tutoring career started in 2007 and I have assisted students from a wide range of schools including Papplewick, Benenden, Epsom College, Bradfield College and Stowe School.


Here is some feedback from my time as a tutor:
Matthew is enthusiastic, reliable, punctual, friendly and supportive. He has motivated our daughter with her AS Biology and has made her believe she can do it!
He sets her tasks to complete between visits and is very good at understanding and teaching in the way that helps the individual best. He has taught her how to revise and is very focused on the target and the time we have available!
Thank you!!

Matthew has tutored our son for the last 7 months. J swapped onto the biology course at school 4 weeks late. He felt overwhelmed by how much he had to catch up with and therefore we looked for a tutor. Matthew has provided J with a structured approach to learning and a very sound base for his AS level. At the beginning Matthew carefully assessed what J needed and also took on board our comments about Jonathan’s learning style and challenges. He has given J huge confidence in tackling past papers. He has regularly fed back to us about the progress being made. He is very organised, professional and totally reliable. Most importantly he has made the learning fun and manageable for a 17 yr old boy which has to be an achievement in itself. We have no hesitation in recommending Matthew as a biology tutor.

Without hesitation, Matthew was totally brilliant. Well prepared, well versed in the syllabus, willing to go the extra mile, engaged my daughter brilliantly and really made a difference. Thanks again Matthew!

What can I say - he took my daughter from a C/D to an A/A in her double award science GCSE in roughly 2 weeks. He not only taught her the science, he taught her a method which really assisted her across all her GCSE`s. He`s motivational, serious - and seriously doesn`t put off the kids. Best tutor we`ve ever had!

Matthew is marvellous! We use Matthew for two of our children, one who is doing GCSEs and one doing A levels. Both children report his dynamic and vigorous approach to tutoring has made things much more interesting, fun and above all brought clarity to the subject. Matthew has even managed to engage our teenage son which is a miracle in itself. We are really pleased we found Matthew we certainly feel we are in a safe pair of hands and really appreciate the added touches he has added like recording on to I-pods information they can listen to as they travel to school. I unreservedly recommend Matthew as a tutor.

Matthew worked with my daughter leading up to GCSE Science in June 2013. It was actually a mad crash course because she (finally) realised she really hadn`t done any work at all. A natural A student who was languishing around C Grades. Matthew not only rose to the challenge - he actually inspired her to learn and want to learn for herself. She actually looked forward to going because it was fun! Matthew got her back on track concentrating on Biology and Chemistry to pull the grade up. With Matthew`s help she achieved an A* for the Biology component missed an A* by 1 mark for Chemistry and achieved an A grade overall. Thank you, Matthew.