Tutor profile - Lucy

An encouraging, multilingual and fully qualified English and English Literature teacher, GCSE/IB examiner and EAL specialist. She uses her years of classroom and teaching experience to shape personalised and success focused sessions. She is dedicated to supporting students to reach their full potential, develop their confidence and create a long lasting love of learning.
Since gaining QTS in 2015, Lucy taught KS3, KS4 and KS5 IB English Language and English Literature in a West London Academy. She also led the EAL department for 4 years. Here, she was responsible for EAL student progress, trained staff on inclusive practices, and shaped policies and approaches for welcoming newly arrived students and their parents into the school community. As part of both roles she was praised as an outstanding teacher, as evidenced in students’ fantastic grades with 6 GCSE cohorts and 2 IB cohorts plus positive feedback from learners, parents and colleagues attesting to her resources, teaching style and positive, motivating manner.

As an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher, she has kept her subject, curriculum and exam board knowledge up to date via continuous training. She has a strong and confident knowledge of current curricula at KS3, KS4 and KS5, as well as texts and authors to supplement and compliment them. Having taught exam classes since 2015 both in the classroom and online, along with her role and experience as an examiner for Pearson and the IB, she has an excellent insight into skills needed for success in the main exam boards at GCSE, A Level and IB pathways and how to develop and perfect such skills. Most recently, she has completed sessions on advancements in effective online teaching, diversity in our classrooms and reading lists, updates on metacognition and stretching students to reach grades 8 and 9. She also holds current and up to date training in Child Protection and Safeguarding plus a clear enhanced, current DBS clearance (February 2024).

Having embedded Google Classroom into her practice since 2018 and having taught a full timetable to KS3 and KS4 classes online during the first UK lock down, Lucy currently teaches and tutors students online. Priding herself on collaborative sessions, with opportunities for a choice of task, modelling and joint responses to build confidence and skills. In the run up to exams more specific plans can be created which incorporate school based learning, tutoring sessions and independent revision which can help with confidence, wellbeing and of course, preparing for the rigours of exams.

Thanks to her extensive experience, her tutoring sessions reflect both the student’s needs and goals. As a teacher with engagement and personalisation at the core of her practice, she shares clear and specific praise, incorporates innovative online teaching and learning tools and reflects students' interests and passions in resources and material that have resulted in increased student engagement, motivation and achievement. Clear feedback and progress is always given to both students and parents. Specific actions and goals are added to responses completed in sessions or independently and “review and improve” time included in subsequent sessions. In the first session with a new student, a discussion of strengths, areas of improvement and questions will take place along with a short assessment. Thus allowing Lucy to plan an effective programme of sessions to be shared with student and parents.