Tutor profile - Charlie

Charlie is a passionate, experienced and highly-qualified teacher. Following a brief spell in the Army, he has been teaching in some of the country’s top prep schools for 20 years. He has a sound record not only of instilling a love of History and English in children with a wide range of ages and abilities but also of children getting good CE and scholarship results to many prestigious independent schools.

To further his expertise, Charlie took a sabbatical to study for a Masters in Education, specialising in contemporary teaching and learning theory and practice, and was awarded a distinction. This degree has equipped him with a superior knowledge and understanding about how children learn and how to teach them so they develop the confidence and ability to effect their own progress. He believes that each pupil should have agency and ownership of their own learning and does this through giving them choice, challenge and differentiation. Not only does this enable them to progress at their own pace but also it increases their confidence and, ultimately, their progress. This underlines his success as a teacher.

Outside of teaching, Charlie spends of his weekends and holidays entertaining his two young daughters or living the rural life. When given the chance, his favourite passions are sport, travelling and salmon fishing.

Testimonials from parents/pupils:

"I'm extremely grateful for Charlie's interview coaching. He is an experienced teacher who excels at guiding children to showcase their strengths. During his sessions my child gradually became more talkative and started to build confidence - something that cannot be learned from books. This is especially valuable for children who are more introverted! If we have similar exams in the future, we will undoubtedly seek his help again. Thank you so much!" Mrs X (December 2024)

"Charlie has been tutoring my son in English for almost a year to prepare him for his English entrance exam into Westminster School. From the outset, Charlie brought lots of energy and enthusiasm to his lessons which kept my son engaged throughout. He had some very useful tips on how to tackle different types of questions on comprehension and creative writing exercises. He also helped build his confidence and, while some of his answers were good, he would often rewrite them with him to show how he could have done better. Ultimately, his teaching technique worked as my son did very well in his English exam and got a place at the school. We would highly recommend Charlie." Mr Z (June 2023)

"Charlie has been a fantastic English tutor for our 12-year-old who needed to be prepared for the 13+ entrance exam to a private school. Two main issues that had to be addressed were essay-writing technique and, particularly, confidence in creative writing. Charlie accomplished both goals very well. Furthermore, he addressed a broader issue of pre-exam stress. Charlie made his sessions real fun for our daughter. They were very well structured. Our daughter found small step-by-step goals that Charlie set each time they worked particularly useful. Based on his feedback, in a short period of time, she could see for herself the progress she was making. By the time of the entrance exam, our daughter no longer thought that she ‘just could not write’ and was confident that she would write her exam well. In his interaction with us (parents), he was very flexible and accommodating, which we greatly appreciated. All in all, I highly recommend Charlie as a private tutor." Mrs K (May 2023)

"Charlie's lessons are very useful for overseas students like my daughter, not only for English lessons but also for learning about British manners. He is able to give his students a lot to learn in a limited amount of time and is very good at instilling confidence in his students. Most importantly, my daughter really enjoys his lessons and feels that she is improving her English by applying what he teaches her. She happily tells me that her teachers at school have praised her progress and positive attitude. It is also thanks to his lessons that she received an offer from the school of her choice." Mrs I (Jan 2023)

"Charlie prepared my daughter for one of the top and most academic boarding schools in the UK. They were doing interview practice, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. All I can say is that Charlie is absolutely brilliant. He is not only highly knowledgeable in the subjects and professional but also fun to learn from. My daughter enjoyed his lessons a lot. I listened in on some of the sessions and must admit that the tips are even useful in the future for job interviews etc. Charlie comes across very friendly and easy to understand. His advice is always easy to follow and remember because he explains the logical connections between the questions and the outcomes that the examiners are looking for. All in all, I highly recommend Charlie's expertise, it almost certainly guarantees success." Mrs R-M (Dec 2022)

"Professional, caring and a passionate educator, Charlie has recently tutored my daughter towards successfully completing her 11+ exam. He is an outstanding English teacher and passionate historian. He rapidly established an excellent rapport and put her to work immediately, expertly coaching her on interview techniques, as well as verbal and non-verbal reasoning. He has similarly tutored my son towards his Common Entrance in English. My son is quite dyslexic and finds English difficult. Charlie has been consistently patient and understanding. My son's writing and confidence in English have improved significantly." Mr N (Apr 2022)

"Charlie has taught our son for the last three years and he has been his tutor for two years. Over that time Charlie has really developed our son’s learning style and exam technique, as well as providing a wide base of history knowledge, that culminated in the successful award of a scholarship to Sherborne. As a tutor, he has helped develop our son’s all-round approach to education, focussing on time-management and learning methodologies, resulting in a confident and organised young man who was ready for the challenges of taking a senior school scholarship. Charlie is approachable and dependable, meaning as parents you can trust him to provide the right solution for your child’s requirements." Mr F-S (Mar 2022)

"My son Hugo has been working with Charlie to prepare him for an academic scholarship at Canford. Charlie has tutored him for the History paper both in source work and essay questions. He also assisted Hugo with preparation for two days of academic testing and several rounds of interviews. I am so grateful for the mental preparation, focus, and calming techniques that helped quash nerves and meant that Hugo did not feel overwhelmed or intimidated on the day. The interview technique sessions and practice were invaluable, and they will benefit Hugo for many years and interviews to come. Hugo came home buzzing with confidence and compliments, grateful for Charlie’s many pearls of wisdom, giving him fantastic reviews. We both agree that Charlie is an inspiring coach and teacher." Mrs McH (Mar 2022)

"Dear Charlie, Thank you so much for all of your hard work [with Theo]. Theo has remained focused and enthused and enjoyed the direction given. We are very impressed with your work ethos and your attention to detail. It is SO IMPORTANT!! Thank you for all you have done for Theo. Best wishes. Susie and Guy M." (July 2020)

"I just wanted to say thank you again for inspiring me so much at FSM. You are an amazing teacher and I am so grateful that I had a teacher who really made me want to push myself. Without your help I would definitely not be doing as well in school as I am today. If you want to know, you made a difference because you made us think in our lessons. Not only about our subject, but about things in a wider scale and our own individual skills. You challenged us. Now after every big piece of work I do, I reflect upon it in my revision notebook and since I have started doing this I have noticed that I have been improving in many of my lessons. Also, you were always so enthusiastic in lessons which kept us concentrating and made us want to listen to you... Some how in year seven, you even made me enthusiastic about English lessons (which is impressive as for every other year of my life English has been one of my least favourite subjects.) Thank you :)" Charlotte S (Jan 2020)

"Dear Charlie, You may not remember me, but you taught our daughter Laura in year 7 and 8. In fact you did more than teach her, you inspired her, and instilled a love of history in her. I just wanted to drop you a line to say that Laura chose history for GCSE, and achieved a grade 8 this year, she was absolutely over the moon. She is now continuing her studies to A level. I just wanted to say thank you, as it was down to you that the seed was sown. Best wishes from Laura, John and myself." (Sept 2019)