Our son is progressing very well under the guidance of Miss Josephine and he has started taking interest in English Literature.
Josephine's biography
Josephine is one of our most experienced tutors, having taught and tutored English for the past 20 years, 14 of which were spent in the classroom.
Josephine is now a full-time, professional tutor and draws on her years' of experience - both as a teacher and examiner - to help students excel in public exams (including GCSEs and A Levels) and school entrance exams at 11 Plus and 13 Plus.
The first five years of Jo's teaching career were spent at the prestigious St. Paul's Cathedral School. As part of this role, Josephine was responsible for preparing pupils for Scholarship and Entrance Exams. She therefore has a thorough understanding of and insight into the demands of these exams and how best to prepare students, ensuring they reach their full potential. Josephine is proud of her 100% success rate at preparing students for entry into some of London's most competitive schools, including St Paul's, City of London, City of London for Girls, KCS and Francis Holland.
Jo also spent eight years teaching GCSE and A Level English Language and Literature. She has extensive knowledge of the current texts and curricula followed by examining boards including Edexcel, AQA, OCR and the International Baccalaureate. She has run booster and crammer classes in poetry, prose and drama, and can help students master the tools required to hone exam technique. Most recently, Jo helped a student improve her GCSE English grades from a Level 5 to a 7 in Language and 8 in Literature in just 6 weeks. Her unique skill set and sensitive but thorough approach has proven to be successful at GCSE, A level, and at 11+ and upwards for Entrance and Scholarship exams.
Having achieved two Bachelor's Degrees in Business and English, Jo then went on to gain an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths College, University of London. With a strong academic background herself, Jo instils her own love of learning in her students. She also has extensive experience of teaching children with complex SEN and is adept at devising plans to overcome learning difficulties.
Outside of tutoring, Jo is currently working with Egmont publishers producing curriculum linked resources with their best selling authors. Her lesson series (2017/18) for Monster by Micheal Grant has been distributed in schools across the country. Josephine is also working on her own series of exam informed resources for publication.
In her spare time, Jo likes to run, do yoga, write and develop her partner's art.
IB Experience
Having led and delivered the IB English programme for Academic Summer at DLD college in 2016, I’m familiar with the design and requirements of the IB. Since 2017 I have been English Leader for the IB language and literature diploma at TBAP, London.
Josephine's availability
All times are displayed in UK time.
Some availability during the week.
School entrance experience
Josephine has worked with children aiming to attend the following schools:
English (KS2, KS3, GCSE AQA, GCSE Edexcel, GCSE OCR, IGCSE, IGCSE (Cambridge), A Level AQA, A Level Edexcel, A Level OCR, IB Standard Level, IB Higher Level and IB MYP)
SEN (ADHD/ADD, Anxiety/Depression, ASD, SEMH, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and Dyspraxia)
SEN experience:
Josephine has specific experience with the following:
Our son has just completed his final lesson with Josephine before his 13+ entrance exams. He has been having weekly online lessons since August and has thoroughly enjoyed them. Jo has stretched his brain and encouraged him to view texts differently, often using art as a way to encourage him to verbally analyse things. This has helped him to approach critical thinking more confidently, especially when analysing poetry which can be daunting. Jo has given our son much more confidence with his comprehension as well as his essay writing, encouraging him to use his own brain rather than spoon feeding him information. This will stand him in very good stead, not just for the upcoming exams, but also for his future learning. Jo’s enthusiasm for English is infectious.
