Emily - Stoke Newington tutor





Emily's profile picture

Information About Emily:


Personal Description:

I am a classically trained actor with an academic background in Geography and Politics.

During my degree at King's College London I studied physical and human geography, politics, international development and international relations. My dissertation regarding the economic collapse in Argentina and its impact on the growing co-operative movement has recently been published by Morgan and Claypool in the book 'Needs and Feasibility: A Guide for Engineers in Community Projects - The Case of Waste for Life'. I have also conducted primary research into microfinance systems in Kerala, India.

While working in the House of Commons I gained a great deal of knowledge about the British political system at a local and national scale. I resolved a diverse range of complicated cases brought forward by constituents, including problems with immigration claims, benefits and housing, and answered queries about government policies. Although I decided to leave the political field in order to pursue a career in theatre, I am still very politically active by volunteering for my local Labour party and keeping up with current affairs.

I have since decided to pursue my lifelong ambition of becoming an actor. I love the power of language and am always reading plays and going to the theatre and cinema. During my three years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama I worked on everything from Aristophanes to Shakespeare to Pinter and I found that even if a writer isn't to my taste I am still fascinated by how they use language to convey a message. In this way you can see the link between politics and acting! The most recent work I did was in a new play at the Almeida Theatre called 'Children's Children' by Matthew Dunster.

The life of an actor fits very well with tutoring as I have a fair amount of free time and usually work quite strange hours!



Teaching Experience:

I have taught pupils aged between 5 and 18, and would be confident working with any age group or ability. I worked in two very challenging schools and have learnt to adapt my methods of teaching to suit different subjects, pupils and teachers.

2004 - 2005
Teaching Assistant and one-to-one Tutor at Cheney School, Oxford
Providing one-to-one and classroom support to students aged 11 to 18 in Maths, English, Science, Music, Drama, French, R.E., History and Geography. This included working with SEN students, specifically with autism.
Assessing and recording their progress, adapting teaching methods accordingly, and liaising with staff and parents.


2002 - 2003
After-School Club Supervisor at St Andrew's Primary School, Oxford
Organising educational and entertaining after-school activities for children aged 5 - 9. Each activity was based on a different subject, including Biology, English and Music.

2006 - 2008
Founder and Workshop Leader for 'Children's Theatre Workshop' at Charlotte Sharman Primary School, London
Setting-up a student volunteering project to provide weekly drama lessons and performance experience for children aged 5 to 11.
Liaising with the university, school and parents, handling the budget, conducting risk assessments and managing a team of volunteers.
Developing educational drama activities for each workshop and producing plays for the students to perform in.



Tutoring Approach:

As a classically trained actor, it is my job to have excellent communication skills and to use them creatively. So much of being a tutor is about capturing the student's imagination by connecting the subject with things they are interested in, therefore making it relevant, accessible and fun.

The reason I work as a tutor is that I believe all children should have access to an excellent education but am aware from my own experiences that the mainstream education system cannot meet every individual need. It is my job to start with the individual's need and work from there.

I believe that learning should be fun and interesting in order for students to really engage with a subject and I love the challenge this can present, especially in exam revision. I am not one of those lucky people who have a photographic memory and as a result have tried and tested numerous ways of revising for exams, and would be glad to share my discoveries with students in the same position.

I think it is extremely important to investigate the different teaching methods individuals respond to, and to try different angles of explaining something. I believe this is where the combination of my creative and academic abilities is extremely useful as I am able to think up dynamic and interesting approaches. For example, as a teaching assistant I noticed how many of my students responded better to kinetic learning, which involved some sort of physical activity such as counting out coins rather than writing down sums on paper, or acting out sections of Shakespeare rather than just reading them aloud. I even once got a group of 14 year olds to physicalise a volcanic eruption, with each person representing a different part.

I believe that a key problem that many school students face in their education is a lack of confidence in their abilities. I have found that by giving frequent genuine encouragement, while also pushing them an appropriate amount, students are more likely to become independent learners.



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Qualifications:

  • Development Geography BA (Hons) from King's College LondonUpper Second Class. King's College London
  • Acting BA (Hons) from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama: Upper Second Class
  • A Levels from Cheney School, Oxford: Geography (A), Theatre Studies (B), Music (C)
  • GCSEs from Cheney School, Oxford: French (A*), Geography (A*), Music (A*), English (A), Science (AA), R.E. (A), Drama (A), Maths (B)

Further Information:

Availability:  Weekends
Types of Tutoring:   Travels to you
References Supplied?   Yes
Current DBS/CRB Check?   Yes