Capel Tutors and Capel Tuition

Personal Description:
With nearly 15 years of online and in-person tutoring French Common Entrance/13+, Westminster Challenge, Winchester entrance, GCSE, IGCSE, A-level, Pre-U, and SAT, I`m a 50-year old graduate of the excellent University of Sussex languages course with a First Class Honours degree in French and Russian. I lived for four years in Paris where I mastered the language and the accent!

I have also acted in plays in French, taking on the role of Alphonse in a production of The School for Wives, and touring to schools abroad to perform in front of students learning French elsewhere in Europe.

I like to stay abreast of French culture and society, read Le Figaro everyday, and regularly watch French TV news and discussion shows.

Teaching Experience:
I have tutored students at all levels, from 13+ entrance exams, including the Westminster Challenge, to most UK exam boards at GCSE, IGCSE and A-level, and I have also helped prepare students for their SAT in French and the DELF exam. I've taught adults who are complete beginners, or have some vague memories of what they learned at school, as well as helping several students gain entry to Westminster School via their Challenge exam

Since the switch to mostly online teaching, I have become an expert in making the most of the resources available, particularly the collaborative tools provided by Google, among others, which are particularly good for working on exercises and explaining grammar in a clear, helpful way.

Successes from the last (2019-20) academic year included: an two As at A-level, and two 9s at IGCSE, as well as entrance to Winchester College via their own exam.

For A-level students, I have already taught Camus's L'Etranger, Françoise Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse, Joseph Joffo's Un Sac de Billes, and Zola's Thérèse Raquin, and am very familiar with all the other set texts. Au Revoir Les Enfants, Intouchables, Entre Les Murs (The Class) and La Haine are the films I am best acquainted with from a teaching point of view.

Here are some comments from a few previous students - originals available on request.

'We could not have asked for a better result - A*s! He got full marks for the reading paper. Thanks so much for all your help, and patience.' - Margaret (parent of home-schooled GCSE student)

'Henry won a scholarship to Westminster. Exactly what he was aiming for." (Leslie, student's mother)

`Thank you so much for all your patient hard work - you taught her exactly the right stuff and there is no way she could have done it without you! I really didn`t think it was possible to teach the whole year 7 curriculum in a week but somehow you managed it. Tiffin Girls is one of the top state schools in the country and rather competitive. Chatting to the other parents outside the exam, most of the competitors went to good independents or had been tutored over a long period of time. You really knew not only what to teach but how to teach it, which shows you have exceptional skills.` - Anoushka (pupil`s mother)

`Just thought I should let you know I got an A! Thanks for all your help` - Helena (A-level student)

'I ended up with an "A"... thanks for all your help, both my spoken papers improved, over my previous efforts.' - Philip, mature student sitting AS and A2 French

Tutoring Approach:
It is important to tailor lessons specifically to a student's needs, but my general method is to engage him or her at a level just above their 'comfort zone'. Learning is about challenging yourself to do better, and it is crucial for a tutor to be supportive and encouraging, and also to keep the bar high.

Lessons can be conducted entirely in French, or in a mixture of English and French. I can work alongside a student's existing course (that is, from a textbook a student is already following), or we can use course books that I recommend.

Where the level allows, I like to draw upon material from contemporary sources such as French news magazines.

For "conversation classes", I find it is useful to base the discussion on an article or a book to help build vocabulary, and also think that incorporating grammar instruction (where appropriate) can be a good idea.

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Personal Description:
My name is Karina. I am 45 years old. I am from Argentina and I am currently living in London where I am teaching Spanish. I really enjoy my job and enjoy meeting different people all the time. I love languages and the cultural exchange that comes with the process of learning a language.

Teaching Experience:
I have a university degree to teach both English and Spanish as a second language, both have been recognised by NARIC and I also have a CRB. I have wide expirience teaching English and Spanish both to kids and adults. I have worked in very well known companies such as Univeler, Neoris, Ernest and Young and Mogan Staley, HMT, Nabarro Solicitors, KMPG, Wieden + Kennedy, McKinsey & Co, Credit Suisse. I also have experience in GCSE and A levels.

Tutoring Approach:
Tailor made classes based on you needs and interests. Communicative approach where you learn by doing things with the target language.Dynamic and fun!!

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Personal Description:
Professional Maths Tutor with BSc Mathematics (1st class) from the University of Aberdeen and MSc in Sustainable Energy Systems from University of Edinburgh.

I am friendly, easy going and take great pride in helping people reach their academic potential.

Teaching Experience:
I have over 8 years of tutoring experience and have tutored 100+ pupils of varying mathematical ability, which has given me a great insight into the common problems pupils have. The majority of my lessons happen face to face but over the last few years, especially in 2020, I have had a lot of requests for online lessons.

I cover the main syllabuses taught in Scotland and England. I also have experience tutoring international curriculum such as American K-12 and South African Matriculation. Here is a list of the levels I have most experience with:

National 5
Higher
Advanced Higher
GCSE
AS and A Level Maths and Further Maths (AQA, Edexcel etc)
IB SL and HL, Applications and Interpretation or Analysis and Approaches

A large number of my tutees were found through word-of-mouth from former tutees pleased with their results.

Tutoring Approach:
Every student is an individual and deserves to be treated as such. There is no one size fits all approach that works for everyone so I make sure to really understand how all my students think in order to optimise their learning.

During lessons I go as fast or as slow as needed. I can start from the basics and build up or get straight into more advanced concepts. Practice questions are extremely important and lessons usually consist of us working careful through a question set on a particular topic. It is very important to me that my tutees feel comfortable and their confidence continues to rise with each lesson.

I believe that everyone deserves the best chance at school. It does not matter to me if you are a straight A student looking for some insurance, or if you are a bottom set student who has always struggled with maths. All I ask from my tutees is a willingness to learn.

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Personal Description:
I have a BA (Hons) degree in Acting which I received at Birmingham School of Acting. I have 11 years performing experience; this combined with the inspiring training I absorbed in drama school gives me extensive knowledge and insight into my specialised area. During my training I was awarded a Laurence Olivier Bursary by the Society of London Theatre for being one of the most promising actors in the UK. I was also nominated for the Carleton Hobbs Radio Award, recording at the BBC. I have attended workshops at the Royal Shakespeare Company and was extremely privileged to be selected to perform & attend workshops at Shakespeare's Globe at the Sam Wanamaker Festival in 2010.

I am a professional actor, director & writer as well as a tutor; so am able to understand the importance of each perspective and explain and explore the possibilities within these areas.

Teaching Experience:
I have a PTLLS Teaching Qualification so am able to organise my knowledge and teaching plans to suit my student's needs.

I understand that student's have their own learning style and my role is to discover, adapt and then help them explore within that style.

Tutoring Approach:
Positivity, relaxation, bravery, understanding writing and a respectful connection to your emotional core are what I believe makes an actor special.

I will give you the tools and encourage you to reach your highest potential in the specialist area you would like to explore.

I will teach you to stretch your imagination in order to make the bravest, most exciting acting choices.

My specialist areas are Classical Acting, Contemporary Theatre, Physical Theatre, Psychological Realism, Stage Combat, Acting through Song, Performance Art, Vocal Technique, Comedy, Contemporary Dance, Audition Technique, Stage, Screen and Broadcast.

I am excited at the prospect of sharing my knowledge and insight to inspire the inner greatness out of my students!

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Personal Description:
Originally from London, I've lived here my whole life, which means I have a clear and easy-to-understand accent. I have studied Computer Science at Newcastle University for four years, achieving well above a first and received an award for graduating top of the year in my masters. With over 7 years of experience in the finance industry as a software developer, I bring real-world insights to our sessions, helping you bridge the gap between theory and practical application. I have recently quit in order to start my own business, which also allows me to be flexible with tutoring hours.

I very much enjoy teaching, as well as the satisfaction of helping a student reach their goal. I welcome students of all abilities, especially those who are enthusiastic about succeeding.

Teaching Experience:
I have been tutoring for over 10 years with students from GCSE all the way up to degree level Computer Science. I have also taken part in several mentor schemes where I supported younger students with their academic problems.

Tutoring Approach:
I have a very organised approach to tutoring, with small goals set per session, as well as a long term goal to work towards. However I understand this may be different for those who need help with specific pieces of work.

For younger students, I feel that relaxed but structured sessions are important, with small breaks so that focus is kept. I also ensure that the lessons are as fun as possible. I always work towards building a good relationship with my students, with many keeping in touch long after we finished, and encourage them to ask questions without any hesitation. I adapt my approach depending on my students` learning style as I feel this is the key to successful teaching. I spend a lot of time planning for sessions so that my student gets the very best out of each lesson.

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Personal Description:
I am a very dedicated, patient and outgoing person. I am fluent in French, English and Hindi. I have good communication and organizational skills as I have been team leader for different projects both at university and at my place of work. What I have to offer is an approach to tutoring which will be fun, engaging and challenging on all individual levels, adjusted to their preferred progression pace. I am currently studying Psychology at Kingston University. I have an A-Level certificate bearing an A grade in French and I must say I have always loved the subject.

Teaching Experience:
I gave private tuitions in French and Mathematics up to GCSEs for more than 3 years now, with a group of 8 students. Throughout my experience, I have developed excellent teaching skills and I am now confident in guiding students to the rightful path and help them achieve excellent grades.

Tutoring Approach:
I can easily put myself in the skin of my students and try to turn complicated things into simple terms. I try to maintain a friendly relationship with my students and at the same time be very professional at work. The most important thing to remember is that I was and still am a student, which helps me understand what is expected from a teacher. I also keep track of the student's progress and use different methods such as exam papers which I find very useful to achieve the desired grades to motivate them. Also, I always try to make the student do the same exercises more than once as practice makes perfect. I want to develop a career in teaching hence any experience will be valuable for me.

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Personal Description:
I am a qualified and experienced native English ESL/EFL teacher, specialised in working with adults in companies and universities.

I help people in a wide range of professions to give presentations, participate in meetings and conference calls, write emails, and to be generally more conversational and confident when speaking and listening.

I also work with university students to improve their academic writing, to pass exams such as the TOEFL, TOEIC and IELTS, and to prepare them for entering the work environment after graduation.

I offer a free, 30-minute evaluation without any obligation, and a course book is included in the price if you sign up for 20 hours or more. Classes take place at your home or workplace with no extra charges for travel.

Teaching Experience:
January 2013 - August 2016
Director of Studies and Principal Teacher at LE Maison, France

February 2012 - December 2012
Pedagogical Manager and English Language Training Consultant at Mahoney Training Consultants, Paris, France

August 2010 - December 2012
Freelance Business English Teacher in Paris, France

October 2009 - February 2012
Business English Teacher at Business and Technical Languages, Paris, France

Tutoring Approach:
Adult learners are often juggling several professional and personal commitments which makes finding the time to learn a struggle. Therefore, I make the process as fun and efficient as possible.

For this reason, I begin with an in-depth evaluation of the student's needs and objectives as well as their strengths and weaknesses. From there, I build a course using a wide range of materials that meets these requirements.

My classes are always engaging and never the same two weeks in a row. During each lesson, I discover something new about my student which allows me to continually adapt the course to help them stay motivated, interested, and improve as quickly as possible while making learning a pleasure rather than work.

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Personal Description:
I am a 57 year old lady, born in England and I have a passion for teaching English as a Foreign Language.
I originally qualified as a nurse and spent many years working within the NHS before moving to Malta in 2014 and completing my TELT and TEFL qualifications.
I really enjoy working with students from different backgrounds and cultures and get tremendous pleasure from helping them and supporting them to achieve their goals.
My husband and I have recently moved back to the UK to be closer to our family, but I still feel that I have so much to offer to all age groups who want to learn English as a Foreign Language.

Teaching Experience:
After I qualified in 2016,I worked at an English Language School on Gozo, Malta and I originally started teaching small groups of students at an elementary level. My lessons included all aspects of English.For example, grammar, vocabulary, speaking, writing, listening, spelling and pronunciation and I taught all age groups from the ages of 5 years of age to 80 years of age.
After teaching one particular student on a one to one basis for a number of months, I soon realised that I really enjoyed this method of teaching as opposed to teaching groups of students, as my lessons could be tailor made to suit the individual's needs.
As a result of my Nursing background, I also found myself teaching English to Paramedics, Medical Students and Midwives which I thoroughly enjoyed as I could combine both my medical knowledge with my knowledge of the English language.
I built a particularly good, professional relationship with one student who, once she had left school and returned to her native country, we continued to have Skype lessons in pure, conversational English.

Tutoring Approach:
I feel that each student has individual needs, strengths and weaknesses and these should be discussed openly at the initial meeting in order for lessons and their content to be planned according to the student's requirements.
The relationship between Teacher and Student should be relaxed and both should feel comfortable to express their feelings as regards to lessons and progress etc freely to each other.
I also feel that both Teacher and Student should set realistic learning goals together, with regular assessment and re-evaluation from both parties.
Most importantly, both Teacher and Student should enjoy their lessons together, which I feel is the best environment in which to learn.

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Personal Description:
I am a fully qualified and experienced Maths and ICT teacher, and have taught all secondary year groups and abilities. I am also an examiner for GCSE maths for two exam boards.

I now work part-time as an online tutor, and part-time as a web developer. Both roles are flexible which means I can tutor at any time of the day and am free to adjust my schedule at short notice.

Prior to becoming a teacher, I studied aerospace engineering at university.

Teaching Experience:
I have more than 10 years classroom experience at schools in the UK and abroad. As well as teaching Maths, I have taught ICT in the majority of those schools.

As a teacher, I estimate that I must have taught well over 1000 students. Those students have come from a wealth of backgrounds and abilities. All those who have had external key exams (GCSE, A level, IB) have passed, including at least two students who were expected to fail by a significant margin.
I have had students with Special Educational Needs as well as students who are Gifted or Talented. Whilst I like to teach the whole spectrum of abilities, I find it most rewarding to teach those who are struggling because it is satisfying to see them flourish and start to enjoy the subject.

As an examiner, I am well aware of the common mistakes that students make, and why they happen. I highlight these common errors to students so that they are aware of them and can avoid making the same mistakes themselves. The better a student can understand what an examiner is looking for, the more prepared that student is for the exam.

Tutoring Approach:
When teaching online, I make use a range of resources including the online whiteboard, web apps, a physical whiteboard, pen/pencil and paper. I have access to a tablet for use with the online whiteboard and an HD document camera for demonstrations using my physical whiteboard or pen and paper.

Some student like to tell me what to do each lesson, in which case I encourage them to let me know prior to the lesson so that I can prepare myself a little. Others prefer me to choose what to do. In both situations, if students have work they would like me to check between lessons, I am happy to do so.

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Personal Description:
I have a PhD in chemistry and have published a book on Study Smarter: a lecture's inside guide to boost your grades.

With over 15 years as an academic, I have published extensively in peer-reviewed academic publications. My passion and outstanding commitment to teaching were recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2016 with a Higher Education Teaching Award. In 2017, I was awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship in the UK.

Teaching Experience:
I have tutored A-level students and taught undergraduate and postgraduate students in my academic work.

Tutoring Approach:
Most students are wasting time with the study habits they use. This may seem like a crazy thing to say, isn't working hard the foundation to good results?
Research shows that at least 6 out of every 10 students are using suboptimal study strategies.
I've met this a lot in my own work. I have created a Study Smarter Audit to help identify where study habits can be improved. This can be over 2 sessions or longer depending on what you want to achieve. I work online and create a personalised plan to target effective study strategies and evaluate the changes.

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Personal Description:
I studied French and Japanese as part of my degree in Applied Language and Translation Studies at Dublin City University and Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. As part of my degree, I also studied linguistics, and how to learn languages most effectively, given how the brain retains language. I have also taken the Irish Leaving Cert Japanese exam (A-Level equivalent) and Japanese Language Proficiency tests, so I have plenty of resources geared towards exams if that is your goal. If you are a more casual learner I am happy to make the lessons more fun and conversational, based on your preferences :)

Teaching Experience:
This year, I have taught my younger brother a 2 year higher level Japanese syllabus in 6 months for his Leaving Certificate exams, as he only found out in January there was a foreign language requirement for the course he wants to take in university. This was achieved through clever resources and study plan. With only 6 months tuition (one quarter of the usual 2 year syllabus time), my brother passed higher level Japanese with a grade equalling between 50-60%.

Other language teaching experience:
While in Japan I taught Japanese students English as a Foreign Language, from ages 4 to 20; in Ireland I gave casual English lessons to a Lithuanian woman who already had conversational English, but wanted to better understand certain English grammatical points; I also have a TEFL 160 course to teach English as a Foreign Language.

Other teaching experience:
I teach beginners piano every week from home.

Tutoring Approach:
Using the concepts learned in my Linguistics degree for language learning (L+1, Optimised Intervals for Repetition and Content Exposure for Memorisation Incentive), we will put a study plan in place with clever resources to ensure language learning is both fun and effective! We want our lessons to be so effective that we spend less time studying, and more time learning :)

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Personal Description:
Hi! My name is Jessica, and I hold a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology from the University of Kent. Over the years, I have gained extensive experience working within the education and healthcare sectors, primarily focusing on supporting young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). My professional journey has been dedicated to enhancing the educational experiences and overall wellbeing of children and adolescents, and I hope to continue doing this through my work tutoring children and young people here.

Teaching Experience:
As a former Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Assistant, I supported therapists in running language groups and worked directly with children 1-1 to improve their communication, comprehension, verbal and written skills.

I have also helped to support a number of family members with their Maths skills, working 1-1 to tutor their children and give dedicated space and time to work on their understanding and to help them achieve improvements.

Tutoring Approach:
My tutoring approach is deeply rooted in empathy, patience, and a personalised understanding of each student's unique needs. Here are the core principles that guide my tutoring methodology:

1. Individualised Learning Plans: Recognising that every student learns differently, I create tailored learning plans that cater to their specific strengths and areas for improvement. This personalised approach ensures that each student receives the support they need to thrive academically.

2. Building Strong Relationships: My background in relationship management and communication with key stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and educational institutions, has equipped me with the skills to build strong, trusting relationships with my students and their families. I believe that a supportive and collaborative environment is essential for effective learning.

3. Interactive and Engaging Lessons: I strive to make my lessons as engaging and interactive as possible. Using a variety of teaching tools and techniques, I aim to keep students motivated and excited about learning. Whether it's through hands-on activities, visual aids, or real-world examples, I ensure that my lessons are both educational and enjoyable.

4. Focus on Wellbeing: Understanding the importance of mental health and wellbeing, I incorporate strategies that promote a positive mindset and emotional resilience. My experience working with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) allows me to support students not just academically, but holistically.

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