Penketh Tutors and Penketh Tuition

Personal Description:
I am a fully-qualified professional teacher with more than 30 years of teaching and tutoring experience, both in the UK and abroad. I regard myself as a friendly and approachable tutor, as well as honest and conscientious, and I pride myself on being able to communicate with students of all ages, from pre-teen to pensioner.

I am the father of two boys, and we live in the Sutton area. My wife and I successfully tutored our sons for Sutton's grammar schools (WCGS), and they have since both graduated from top Russell Group universities. My hobbies are limited to reading these days, and I am particularly fond of English Literature. Dickens and Hardy are two of my favourites, but I am also keen on modern and less serious writers, such as Tom Sharpe and the two Rankins - Robert and Ian.

Teaching Experience:
After obtaining my first degree in Spanish with Politics and Economics, I started teaching abroad; first in Spain, then in Turkey, and later in Central Asia and the Middle East. Since retraining as a teacher of English, I have taught for more than 15 years in the UK and almost 15 years abroad, where I was Head of Department at an Institute of Higher Education for three years.

Most recently I have taught English at an independent school in Sutton, and previous to that I taught Academic Writing for East Anglia University for several years. Nowadays my tutoring is split 50:50 between English for the 11+ and Common Entrance (13+) exams, and English, Spanish, Economics and Politics & Government for the GCSE and A-level exams (all boards).

11+ and 13+ (Common Entrance)
I am very happy to report that all but one of my twelve Eleven Plus tutees passed the SET (Selective Eligibility Test) for Sutton's grammar schools last September. Of these, 100% of them passed the second stage exam and obtained their first choice of grammar or independent school. I use a selection of published materials and those of my own creation, and insist on a high standard of weekly homework in reading, writing and language knowledge. For 11+ pupils I start tutoring in Year 4 or 5, whereas 13+ pupils begin in Year 7 or 8.

GCSE and A-level
I am equally happy to report that all of my most recent GCSE and A-level students have passed well, with top grades from B to A* (A-level) and 6-9 (GCSE). The majority of those have gone on to their first choice of further and higher education institutes, and in most cases this has been achieved by my insisting on regular homework done to a high standard. For GCSE pupils I prefer to start tutoring at some time in Year 10, whereas A-level students typically begin around Year 12.

I also provide individual tutoring in ESSAY WRITING and STUDY SKILLS, as my experience has taught me that many students at GCSE, A-level and undergraduate level face real problems in these areas. By working together on your essays, substantial improvements can be made in style, organisation, argument, presentation, and much more. This way, I can teach you how produce more effective and mature essays, and thus help you to obtain better grades and increase your confidence in producing written work.

Tutoring Approach:
With every tutee I carry out an initial assessment of his/her needs and abilities, and my teaching begins from there. Typically I work on improving their weaknesses and consolidating their strengths, and this essentially involves them producing high-quality homework on a regular basis. I use both established published materials and those that I have created myself over the years. This approach appears to be successful, and I can provide references.

Over the past twelve years I have successfully tutored students for the following schools and universities:

Schools: Sutton Grammar, Wilsons, Wallington County, Wallington High, Nonsuch, Whitgift, Trinity, Wimbledon High, Kings School, City of London, Reigate Grammar, Caterham School, St John's, Westminster, Epsom College, Ewell Castle, and many others.

Universities: Manchester, Warwick, City, East Anglia, St Martins, Lincoln, Kings, LSE, UCL, Nottingham, Reading, Birmingham, Bournemouth, and several others.

Please note that my fees are very affordable, bearing in mind that I travel to your house and offer a personalised tutoring programme.

I currently charge between £45 and £50 per hour, depending on subject and level.

NB: Any tutoring that involves more than 6 miles travel (round trip) usually incurs a small extra charge.

If you are looking for a fully-qualified, highly-experienced and versatile tutor, you need look no further. Here are a few messages from some of my most recent successful tutees:

Hello Jeff, I just got my IELTS results and I FINALLY passed it! Listening 8, Reading 7.5, Writing 7, Speaking 7.5 and it's 7.5 overall. I would like to THANK you sooooo MUCH for your help and all advice you have given me! It would not be possible otherwise. (Vanja)

Sam got into Wilsons and we are pretty sure that his English performance carried him through. Sam said we ought to say 'thanks' to you as you made a massive difference to his standard of English in a very short period of time. Not sure how, but you made something click in his brain where his school teachers had failed! (Cathy)

Hi Jeff, hope you are well. I am extremely delighted to tell you that Rick has a place at Westminster, and we are going ahead with that. He has also had offers from HABS, KCS and RGS Guildford. Thank you so much for all your support. (Animesh)

Hi Jeff, just to let you know that Dillon got a place at Sutton Grammar on Monday. He also received places at Whitgift, Trinity and Epsom. We have decided to accept Sutton Grammar, and thank you for all your help and time.
Thanks - Paulomi and Dillon.

Dear Jeff! Thanks you so much for tutoring me last year. You have helped my English greatly and without your advice and guidance I would have had a nervous breakdown when I was given the task of an essay. You taught me about causal connectives, signpost words, paragraph structure and much more vital strategies of writing an amazing essay.
Finally, I am happy that I got a place at Wilsons and know I would have failed the English language test without what you taught me. I am very grateful that you gave up your time to help me pass.
Yours Sincerely, Makar

Hi Jeff, I hope you're well. I just wanted to let you know that Andriy got offered a place at Whitgift and we have accepted it. Thank you very much for helping and recommending this great school to us. Andriy is really excited about it and cannot wait to start.
(Oksana)

Dear Jeff, sorry for the delayed reply as we are in India. Rishi has done well, has received English Language 9 and English Literature 7, and scored 8 in six other subjects. He could achieve good results only because of your support. Thanking you.
(Chandra)

Hi Jeff, I am pleased to inform you that Mahati cleared the 2nd round. Her cut-off score is 354. We hope she gets into either of the two schools. Thanks a lot for your support throughout.
(Sassi)

Hi Jeff, Tamana's results have come in for the Sutton Stage 2 test. She has passed with a relatively good score of 315, and based on last year's stats, she should get in comfortably to Nonsuch or Wallington. Thanks for all your lessons that significantly helped her in the preparations.
(Vedant)

Hi Jeff, hope you're doing good. We have got the exam outcome, and Samrudha is able to apply for Nonsuch. Her score is 309, and the highest total score is 389. Secondly she has cleared Tiffin's Stage 1 test and has been invited for Stage 2 on November 11, and we would like to take your help whenever possible.
(Kirthi)

Hi Jeff, I just wanted to let you know that Ed passed the entrance exams for all three schools. Thank you so much for all your support! (Emma)

Hello Jeff, I hope you are well. Vivaan passed the exams for Wilson's, Wallington and Sutton. He also got through Tiffins Stage 1. Thanks very much for your help and support! His English improved massively under your guidance.
Kind regards
Jyothi

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Personal Description:
I work as a Maths Academic Mentor in a local secondary school. I work with students on the borderline of success. My job is to raise their understanding of Maths and to help them raise their attainment along the way to getting a grade '4' in Maths.
I am very reliable, flexible to your childs learning style with an open mind and a non judgemental attitude.

Teaching Experience:
I spend my time at school in identifying students who are not working at their potential levels in Maths. I work across all the years, but specifically Years 10/11.
Once identified, I work with students in class, one to one, or with small groups and also afterschool. The majority of students in my group will be around the grade 4 borderline and my job is to take them that one step forwards to a secure grade C and then onwards to higher grades. However, I can help your child Improve at any level including 7 & 8.
This is what I do everyday and over the years I have built a very firm understanding of the aspects of Maths and the specific topics which cause students to lose marks.

Tutoring Approach:
It's important to build relations with students, to promote confidence and encourage independent learning.

This takes time, but once I identify the areas of difficulty for the student. I can target those areas (Fractions, Factorising, Percentages for example) and along with the major topics of Maths which contain the 'must get' marks, I can help your child to make weekly progress by teaching, practising and then testing, to check their learning is progressing. .

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Personal Description:
Prior to becoming a maths teacher I trained as as a Chartered Accountant and worked in Business and Finance. After having my family I moved into education and qualified as a secondary maths teacher and have taught KS3 and KS4 maths in a high achieving, outstanding ofsted rated, 11- 18 local school for 9 years as well a providing one to one tuition both at school and privately.

Teaching Experience:
Secondary Maths teacher, KS3 and KS4 since 2009,
Sixth Form tutor in Business and accounting
Private Maths tutor, KS2,KS3 and KS4 for 10 years

Tutoring Approach:
I love maths and believe everyone is capable of succeeding and also learning to love maths if they are given the confidence to do so. Many students struggle because they may have been put off maths at a early age or missed out on some essential building blocks which have limited their progress.
I believe in going to back to basics and establishing a thorough understanding of crucial concepts, using different teaching styles to suit the individual needs of the student. I enjoy getting to know my students and being able to tailor my teaching to their personalities and needs.
My mission is to make maths fun and accessible to all.

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Personal Description:
I grew up with early computers such as the ZX Spectrum, and was writing simple programs from the age of five. Thirty years on, I now have 13 years experience working as a programmer in the videogames industry. I've worked on games that have sold millions, including Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, Kinectimals and Kinect Disneyland Adventures.

Programming languages I've worked in:

C/C++
C#
Python
Lua
Java
Perl
68000 assembly language
HTML
Training languages such as BASIC, Pascal, LOGO, Scratch and MIT App Inventor

Technologies I've worked with include:
Unity (game development system)
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
Allegro


I worked on the following games:

Dog's Life (2003) - PlayStation 2
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (2004) - PC
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked! (2005) - PC
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Wild! (2005) - PC
Thrillville (2006) - PS2, Xbox, PSP
Thrillville: Off the Rails (2007) - PS2, XBox 360, Wii, PC
LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (2009) - Wii
Kinectimals (2010) - XBox 360
Kinect Disneyland Adventures (2011) - XBox 360

Teaching Experience:
I have been tutoring for nine years, during which time I have tutored around 200 students at all levels.

Tutoring Approach:
Tuition is available both locally (Newmarket area) and nationally (via Skype or Google Meet, using screen sharing). I typically do 45 minute sessions.

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Personal Description:
I am a Common Entrance tutor specialising in the 7/8/11/13+ exams in all subjects.

Teaching Experience:
I have over 20 years tutoring experience.

Tutoring Approach:
Patient, firm and thorough.

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Personal Description:
I have been studying music, in particular, playing the flute since I was 6 (7 years of music school, 4 years of college, 3 years of university and a year at the conservatory.
I have experience to play a classical music as solo as in orchestras, ensembles. Also worked in India with a solo show.

Teaching Experience:
Teaching experience from 2013
Tutoring experience from 2014
Pedagogical activity since the age of 18, both in music schools and private classes at home, online.

Tutoring Approach:
I try to always listen to the wishes of the student, carefully approach the issue of psychological attitude, so that the student does not have complexes and any barriers to successful learning.

I give lessons with both children and adults.
For each student I find an individual approach.

I use various teaching methods, both traditional and new.

Assistance in the implementation of homework.

The main priority is to make the classes enjoyable and interesting to the student.

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Personal Description:
I am a qualified Accountant with years of one to one teaching experience. I worked for Greater London Tutorial Agency in the past and can confidently confirm that I assisted degree level and professional accountancy students. I also have years of practical experience in the following areas:

Management Accounting
Financial Accounting
Taxation
Information Technology

Teaching Experience:
I have also done one to one teaching (i.e. visiting or being visited by students). My teaching experience with Greater London Tutorial Agency commenced in 2003

Tutoring Approach:
I approach every assignment by first getting to know every potential student's requirements (i.e. the areas of their studies that they find very difficult to handle). Working with the student, I concentrate on those areas with a view to getting them ready for their exams.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, I have been available for remote (on-line teaching).

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Personal Description:
Experienced teacher of 12yrs with an MEd, able to tutor in 4+/7+/11+ common entrance, EFL, IELTS preparation, lower primary English/maths/homework help, homeschooling, language and literacy support, early years, Phonics and end of year exam preparation. Can also offer drama, voice & beginners guitar tuition. Will travel locally. Enhanced DBS checked.

Teaching Experience:
12 years in EFL, Early years education and general primary education in the UK independent sector and in international schools overseas. 8 years experience as a private tutor. IB PYP, Montessori, UK EYFS, KS1&2 and US Common Core training and experience.

Tutoring Approach:
Tailored lessons to suit individual needs, aimed at heightening engagement for younger learners as well as thinking skills, confidence and curiosity. 1:1 attention with homework help and distance learning or homeschooling. Available on weekdays. Reduced rates for online tuition.

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Personal Description:
My self Smita. I am post Graduate in Mathematics.
I was teaching in India to year 11and year 12 students. I want to teach here in England.

Teaching Experience:
I have 7-8 years of experience in teaching Mathematics.

Tutoring Approach:
Role play method and many more methods

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Personal Description:
Hello, I'm Amy. I live in Jersey in the Channel Islands. I have been travelling around New Zealand and Asia over the last 18 months, meeting people and learning so much about the world. I love people! I love learning in all forms and so travelling is a great way to meet new people and learn about different cultures and approaches to life.

Teaching Experience:
I have 20 years experience as a qualified teacher, teaching in UK, Jersey, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Kenya.

Tutoring Approach:
It is really important to me that you enjoy our lessons. This way, you are more likely to remember the work we have covered. It is important that the work we do is tailored to suit you as an individual. Therefore I am always eager to hear your opinions and for you to ask lots of questions. Questions are one of the best ways to learn!

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Personal Description:
I am a chartered engineer and I have been a part-time tutor for nearly 11 years. I achieved both my undergraduate Master's degree and PhD in mechanical engineering at Imperial College London. I myself have been passionate about maths, science and engineering ever since I learnt about climate change back in year 3. Since then I have always wanted to do as much as I can to make a difference and try to help with the problems we face involving energy and climate change.
Outside of engineering and tutoring I have many hobbies including cycling, archery, playing guitar and video gaming.

Teaching Experience:
I have been providing private tuition since summer 2014. In that time, I have taught over 500 hour's worth of lessons. I was also heavily involved with Outreach during my time at Imperial College London, which included both mentoring and leading academic day events and summer schools for school students from across the UK.

Tutoring Approach:
I would like to offer tuition for maths, physics and chemistry from year 5 up to year 11. Although I want every student I help to achieve the highest results possible, my main aim is to develop a firm understanding and interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects so that they may enjoy studying them and have a greater capability to take them on at higher levels if they so choose. I mostly tutor online, and since transitioning to online tutoring as a result of COVID I have successfully provided over 100 hours of tutoring to a number of clients through online platforms. I primarily use Discord to speak with my tutee and to screenshare an exam paper or textbook, and we have used shareable online whiteboards such as Miro to write on. I am always open to trying other online platforms if they are more suited to you. As long as I can hear my student clearly then I have found online tutoring to be just as effective as in person. I am very flexible with times for lessons, including doing lessons at weekends, so please do send a message asking if I am available.

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Personal Description:
I am a former teacher at a GCSE and Sixth Form college in west London. I currently work in the E-learning industry. I also have my own podcast about education, Education Bookcast. I cover a book a week about education research, for the benefit of teachers, parents, and anybody who takes an interest.

I am a Chemical Engineering graduate from Trinity College, Cambridge.

Teaching Experience:
I have worked as a tutor for 7 years in total. My students vary from 11+ to Key stage 3 to GCSE to A-level as well as university level students. I have taught over 70 students one-on-one so far, as well as many more in school and in private courses for examinations such as STEP, usually for several months at a time.

Here are some of the things that my students have said about me:

"Stas is an excellent tutor, I am studying Mechanical Engineering and his knowledge of Maths, Mechanics and Thermo Dynamics is extensive. He explained things in a clear and precise way and was always well prepared for the sessions. He was also punctual and reliable; it was a pleasure to learn from him."
Jack, Liverpool University

"I am currently studying Chemical Engineering, and Stas tutored me for Process Engineering, his teaching was nothing but the best, i understood the course in no time. He explains everything from the basics, something i wanted. Honestly, I will recommend him any day! He is a brilliant tutor."
Zahra, Manchester University

"Stas is an enthusiastic and patient Maths tutor. He has provided me with some very good examples, and has been a great help."
Jim, Manchester Metropolitan University, MA Bioinformatics

"Stas is a great tutor. I feel much more confident with Maths now then I did when we first started. It is evident in my grades that Stas has helped me improve in Maths. He is very good at explaining the material that I don't understand; he uses different scenarios to help explain them which enables me to apply Maths to real life situations. I enjoyed our tuition sessions, as Stas made Maths fun!"
Sehr, Manchester, AS Maths

"My son, Alex was having problem with Biology, so far he had only few lessons with Stas but there's been a huge improvement in his grade already. We have been so impressed with Stas's teaching techniques, that we are taking on extra lessons in Maths and Physics with Stas. Stas is the most genuine teacher I've come across, there is no nonsense with him. I can see that Stas truly enjoys teaching and more importantly my son finds learning from Stas is so enjoyable."
Mel, Cheshire

"Stas has tutored me in Maths, Chemistry and Physics at GCSE level. He is very clear and explains things well. He is also very patient, will listen and when I don't understand will try to explain things in a different way. He has been very supportive throughout my exams and has helped me to feel more confident about them. We went through all of the difficult things I struggled with, so that I had a better understanding of them.
I got A*'s in all the subjects he tutored me. He is helping me with A levels now."
Kaija, London

"This has been our first experience of using a tutor and it has been very good, thanks to Stas. Not only is he very reliable, but my son has enjoyed the sessions and learnt a great deal in terms of problem solving with his maths, Further Maths and Physics. Stas has also been able to help with some more complex Chemistry work. So far, they have worked through the more challenging sections of the Further Maths syllabus and past papers. Most importantly, my son finds their sessions extremely useful and Stas inspirational to work with."
Tamlyn, London

"Stas is extremely easy to get on with, always polite and extremely patient with me.
He maintains a constant positive approach and encourages me dutifully regardless of how badly I perform.
He helps me keep track of how I am improving so that I can watch my progress based on timely reviews of what we have achieved.
Stas is a fantastic guy and a terrific teacher. Based on my experiences I would certainly be able to recommend him to anyone.
Overall Rating (10/10)"
Joe, London

Tutoring Approach:
It is easy to overcomplicate things.

- Anyone can learn anything. It's a matter of method, support, application, and belief.
- Students learn new material at first by seeing a need to learn the new thing (e.g. because they don't know how to solve a new problem), and connecting new information to things they already know.
- They then need to strengthen this understanding by engaging in problems themselves and trying to remember what they have learned.
- Many students need to gain confidence. This partly comes from encouragement, but true confidence comes from progress and success, which comes from following the above.
- Students need guidance. It's challenging enough to try to focus on the material. Teachers need to make sure that all of students' focus is placed on thinking about the content, rather than on sideline issues like trying to figure out what comes next.
- Efficiency is important. Most people have specific targets (e.g. passing an exam). Things need to happen quickly.
- At the same time, early stages sometimes need to take longer in order to build a foundation for what follows. Taking a step back can be important in order to be clear on what's really going on, and avoiding rote memorisation or "going through the motions".

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