Shotton Tutors & Shotton Tuition

Personal Description:
Austin is on the professorial staff at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Drama and an approved tutor in performance at Durham University and previously taught at Hull University, Leeds University, Glasgow University and York University as well as in schools. He also enjoys a performance career that includes work with Edinburgh International Festival, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, Berwick Festival Opera, the Musica Na Fabrica Festival in Portugal, Ars Cantata in Switzerland as well as concerts and oratorio in France, Sweden and across the UK.

He has done extensive work in schools with the education department of ENO, is director of Rocket Opera and previously director of Leeds Youth Opera 2019/2020 and director of vocal studies of OperaLabUK and has given masterclasses at universities, the National Student Opera Society, for OperaLab in Brussels and at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris as well as being adjudicator for the International School Musician of the Year Award in China and the Vocal Festival at Repton School.

He became Vice President of Ryton & District Music Festival in 2025.

Teaching Experience:
Singing Teacher - Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, Leeds University, York University, Glasgow University, Hull University, Durham University, Newcastle Cathedral, various schools & privately

Director of Vocal Studies - OperaLabUK
Artistic Director - Newcastle Area Chamber Opera, Rocket Opera

Masterclass leader - National Student Opera Society, Leeds Youth Opera, York University, St John's College, Durham University, Hull University, OperaLab, Rocket Opera, Cite Internationale des arts

Workshop Leader - Trinity Laban Conservatoire, English National Opera, Berwick Festival Opera, Hull University, Newcastle Cathedral, 20,000 Voices, MidNag, New Deal for Communities, Choral groups, Rocket Opera

Tutoring Approach:
Technique
Application of Technique to Repertoire
Repertoire Coaching

Subjects

Personal Description:
PSYCHOLOGY
I have a BSc (First Class Honours) in Psychology from Brunel University (2007), and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Cambridge (2011). I have worked as a research fellow and subsequently as a psychology lecturer at various universities in the U.K. My research is mainly in social, health and cognitive psychology, but I also teach research methods (both quantitative and qualitative methodologies), statistics and SPSS, as well as effective academic writing, including dissertations and research projects. In addition, I have sufficient competence in personality (i.e., individual differences) and clinical psychology to be able to teach these at undergraduate level. I have published over a dozen peer-reviewed articles, including some in world-leading journals, and have over 1300 academic citations of my research. Some of my research interests are: The attitude-behaviour relationship, behavioural interventions, motivation, cognition, and emotion, dual-process models of cognition, cognitive dissonance, self-affirmation, and information processing, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, health psychology, meta-cognition and self-knowledge, persuasion and social influence, intelligence and problem-solving, psychology of music, and psychology of religion.

PHILOSOPHY/CRITICAL THINKING/RELIGIOUS STUDIES
In my own research in psychology, I have drawn on several philosophical ideas, and have integrated different philosophical perspectives into my work. In addition to critical thinking, I am able to teach humanistic philosophy, social cognition, epistemology, existentialism, and related areas. I also teach how to build philosophical arguments for academic and commercial purposes. In terms of religious studies, I have a particular interest in the Abrahamic faiths, as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, and related philosophies.

MUSIC
I am a performer and teacher of Indian classical music (Northern style), and teach the instruments of dilruba, esraj, taus, taar shehnai and a bit of sarangi. I have been learning for 18 years, and been performing for the last 10 years. I teach beginners and intermediate students in basic and advanced raagas (from Yaman to Darbari) and taalas. I also teach vocal and harmonium.

ENGLISH LITERATURE
I specialise in creative writing, particularly short stories, and can teach students techniques in textual analysis and interpretation, especially using the hermeneutic method. I am also interested in how characters in stories (all genres) are given psychological depth, as well as how story structure and character development go hand-in-hand.

URDU
Urdu is my mother tongue, and is one of four languages that I speak fluently. I can teach beginners and intermediate students in grammar, reading and writing, as well as conversations. And I also teach advanced students in conversation. My particular interests in Urdu literature are 18th and 19th century poetry, especially ghazals.

DANISH
I am a native speaker of Danish, and spent the first 22 years of my life there. I can teach all levels of the language and its literature. Some of the key authors that I have an interest in are Søren Kierkegaard, Karen Blixen, H C Anderson, and we can also discuss Danish film, cinema, and culture. Danish is very similar to Swedish and Norwegian so by learning Danish you will be able to read those languages quite well, and you might be able to understand speech in those languages to some extend. There is also some overlap between Danish and German, though not as much.

Teaching Experience:
I taught psychology to undergraduates at the University of Cambridge from 2008-2011. I then taught at King's College London from 2011-2014, followed by the University of Bath from 2014-2017 and then Bath Spa University from 2017-2022. I also supervise BSc, MSc, and doctoral students. I'm currently lecturing at the University of Hertfordshire.

Tutoring Approach:
I aim to use an interactive approach that encourages active involvement of the tutee. My main goal during tuition sessions is to stimulate an interest in the subject and facilitate independent and critical thinking. This, I believe, allows the tutee to become an independent thinker and to enjoy the learning process, which is rewarding for both parties.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I'm a native English speaker (born and educated in America), currently a permanent UK resident. I've been working in schools for the past 21 years and tutoring for 13 years up to KS3. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree, as well as a TEFL certification. I also have specialised literacy training and experience, including dyslexia.

I have been tutoring for a circle of families for the past several years. They have all either moved away, or no longer need tuition, so I am lookin for new students.

I have a good rapport with the students I have worked with and am able to make learning fun!

In addition to tutoring, I am also available for application, CV and proof reading assistance.

Teaching Experience:
I have worked as a supply teacher, learning support assistant (special needs and behaviour difficulties), 1:1 literacy teacher and a tutor for the past 21 years in America, The Channel Islands and London.

Tutoring Approach:
I believe that learning should be an enjoyable experience and try to keep my lessons lively and interactive. I welcome feedback from parents and caregivers, as I feel that family centred learning is important.

The first lesson will be to get to know the learner and make an assessment as to his/her strengths and weaknesses as well as their learning style. I can then tailor my lessons to suit.

Subjects

Personal Description:
My language learning journey started in the same way it does for most of us - at secondary school. I fell in love with the French language at an early age and went on to complete an honours degree in French Studies at the University of Birmingham. During my year abroad, I lived and studied in Montréal, where I took classes in French, Italian and Spanish at McGill University and also fell in love with the Spanish language and culture.

I am passionate languages and helping learners build their confidence and reach their language learning goals, whether it be for school, exam preparation, work or pleasure, and I aim to do so in a purposeful and structured yet fun way.

I firmly believe that anyone can learn a language and make progress, whatever their starting point might be.

Teaching Experience:
I have over ten years` cumulative experience of teaching in secondary schools and I have taught French, Spanish, English Language and English Literature. As well as my work in schools, I have been working as a private tutor since 2012,

Over the past 20 years, I have also taught on many English as a foreign language courses to young learners in summer schools and also to adults for general and business purposes in Wiltshire and in North London. I delivered a course in English for business purposes at an Italian legal firm in central London.

Tutoring Approach:
I believe a positive working relationship between tutor and student is the cornerstone of a successful learning experience. I aim to make my students feel at ease and safe to take risks in order to build their confidence and experience success. I tailor lessons to each individual's learning needs and preferences so that the student is always at the centre of the learning process. I use a range of materials in my teaching including online resources, worksheets, games, speaking activities, and past exam papers where appropriate.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I am a French national who has lived in England for more than30 years. I am passionate about languages, how we learn them and the impact this learning has on our ability to study/think better. So many transferable skills!

My other interests are unsurprisingly travelling and reading. My second love is teaching Yoga, relaxation and meditation.

Learning is definitely a life long experience.

Teaching Experience:
PGCE qualified to teach French/TEFL-TESL with 25 years teaching experience mainly in Secondary Schools: KS3, KS4 and KS5 and one-to-one tutoring in French and Spanish.

Experienced in Adult Education tutoring both in Spanish and French and I have mentored new tutors for the Adult Education system.I have taught all ages from primary school children to older adults. It is never too late to enjoy practicing a foreign languange.!
I have also run my own primary school groups teaching French and worked as primary school liaison for teaching languages in primary schools.

Finally, I am an experienced EFL/ESL teacher, having taught "presessional" at the University of Chichester (Summer 2017) - Fully qualified.

Tutoring Approach:
Relaxed but organized and effective. Learning is fun especially when successful. Progress brings success. We all have different ways of learning, different "intelligence" once met there is no real limit to what we can achieve.

As a tutor, I will create and teach a program that is effective for you and your preferred learning style(s) and your requirement(s) whether learning for pleasure, business, exams etc or a mixture of all of these and more.

Subjects

Personal Description:
Hi, I am a qualified, patient English/ Polish teacher and I have been working as a private tutor for over 10 years. I offer individualised approach and adjusted learning materials to every student. I have many interesting and up-to-date teaching materials (coursebooks, videos, articles, Internet resources). I have also worked as a English/ Polish translator/ interpreter.

Teaching Experience:
My experience includes:
-teaching Polish to British learners (online and face-to-face classes)
-Conversations (focus on listening and speaking)
-Academic English (Dissertation and exam preparations, proofreading)
-Business English (professional vocabulary: Finance, HR, Marketing, Logistics, presentations, negotiations)
-English for seniors (socialising, travelling purposes)
-English for kids
-translating and interpreting

I have many satisfied clients and I can provide references upon request.

Tutoring Approach:
I listen to learner' s needs in order to prepare engaging and goal-oriented lessons. I ask for student's feedback after every class to make sure that my tuturials meet his/ her expectations.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I am native Turkish. I am living in London now and teaching / translating Turkish.

**DBS CHECKED (ENHANCED)**

Teaching Experience:
I have been teaching languages for over 20 years. I am native Turkish and studied English Teaching in University in Turkey. I provide either online lessons via Zoom and Skype or other online platforms, or face to face lessons at student's premises.

Tutoring Approach:
In tutoring, what works is the one-to-one relationship between the student and tutor. With only one person to focus on, tutors can try a variety of teaching techniques in order to work out the most effective way of helping the student understand a topic.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I am from south Spain and I have lived in the UK for 16 years. I am passionate about languages and culture and I like my lessons to be interactive and practical. I am patient, understanding, caring and sociable.

Teaching Experience:
I have been teaching Spanish in UK secondary schools for 9 years after my PGCE in MFL. I also have experience with the new GCSE and A Level specifications, having got very good results from my students.

Tutoring Approach:
I believe that all students can learn, and each one of them learn differently so I like to adapt my techniques according to my student needs. I try to incorporate all learning styles in my lessons and make the activities as engaging as I can. My students practise all skills after they have understood the core language needed for it.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I have been teaching art for nearly 20 years. I teach drawing, painting and sculpture. I also teach papier-mâché technique to make masks and puppets.

I am a professional Theatre Stage and Costume Designer (M.F.A. graduated in 2004), and I have worked in many theatre productions in UK and abroad, as a stage, set and costume designer as well as a puppet maker. My latest theatre design works (in 2018) are with Xameleon Theatre Productions in London: "The Little Prince" (after Saint-Exupéry`s tale), "Heart of a Dog" (Mikhail Bulgakov) - in both productions I made stage, props and costume design.

For the last eight years I have also worked as a sculptor. I work in clay and my sculptors have been displayed in several exhibitions in London: in Royal Society of British Artists, in The Society Women Artists, in Cork Street Open Exhibition, in Mall Galleries and others.

I divide my time between teaching art , my theatre design projects and my sculptures.

Teaching Experience:
I have about 20 years experience teaching painting, drawing, sculpture and crafts making to individuals and groups.
My teaching experiences are:
- group art lessons for children from 4-12 years old
- Individual art lessons to any age, including GCSE, A-level and University.

I have an experience in supporting pupils in GCSCE and A-level art projects, aiding with composing sketchbook, and coming up with ideas for exam final pieces.

My previous pupils have achieved no lower than A* or A in art alevel and GCSE. In addition, I have an experience in preparing portfolios for application to art scholarships, as well as preparing the students for scholarship interview questions.

Furthermore, I help compose portfolio for university and art school applications, with my students passing interviews and gaining offers for art/design based subjects, at universities such as Sheffield, Edinburgh, Oxford Brookes and the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL).

In 2017 my pupil, who studied with me for 5 years and to whom I helped to create portfolio, was accepted to the Bartlett School of Architecture in UCL in London.

Tutoring Approach:
I have an individual approach to pupils. Art is first of all based on creativity and inspiration. Each one has his or her own abilities, talents and skills, and what is important is that in the process of learning, the desire to create will not be destroyed, but on the contrary: will grow. It is essential that the learning process will not wreck inspiration and will not turn art into a boring thing. Even when studying anew and perhaps complex technique, the art must remain inspirational. So my approach is to extend and improve existing abilities of the pupil and with time to introduce new techniques which he or she is prone to investigate.

Based on your desire, I can tutor you in a range of media, including
- painting: watercolour, ink, acrylic, oil
- drawing
- mixed media and collage
- puppet making: paper-mache, foam puppets,
- ceramics/ sculpture
- model making: stage model making, model making to scale, architectural model making

Subjects

Personal Description:
I'm currently studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester. Have a huge passion for Mathematics and Physics. In my GCSEs I achieved 4A*'s in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, as well as an A in A-level Mathematics.

Teaching Experience:
Did a huge amount of voluntary work helping teach secondary school students during my A-level years and I am currently tutoring students Maths and Physics.

Tutoring Approach:
I use a more fundamental approach wherein a student can come to me with any questions or topics that they found hard during class. Lessons are then tailored to each student depending on what needs work.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I have a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge and I've taught students all the way from university to primary school in a number of subject areas. I also have an MPhil in Philosophy from Cambridge and a BA (Philosophy) /BSc (Biology) from the University of Auckland.

At the moment, my main areas of expertise are philosophy/critical thinking and sociology but I've previously privately tutored students in biology, maths, psychology and english for many years.

I was born in Sri Lanka but I grew up in Australia and New Zealand. I moved to the UK, to do postgraduate study and can't seem to leave :)

Teaching Experience:
University Teaching:
Lectures: Introductory Lecture on Buddhist Account of Personal Identity (Oct 2018), Environmental Ethics and Future
Generations (Lent Term 2021)

Supervisions (2018 - Current), Cambridge University supervisions, both group and individual, for papers in the faculties
of Philosophy (Formal Methods, Set Texts, Political Philosophy), History and Philosophy of Science (General Philosophy
of Science, Philosophy of Psychiatry), Medicine (Social and Ethical Context of Health and Illness) and Sociology (Health,
Medicine and Society).

Kings College London (Sep 2019 - Dec 2019): Introduction to Ethics.

Auckland University (2012-2013): Critical Thinking, Introduction to Metaphysics, Theories of Human Nature and Introduction to Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Logic.

I've also been a tutor from 2009 -- 2018, both privately and working for Tutoring Australasia. During this period I taught, philosophy, english, maths and psychology.

Tutoring Approach:
I specialise in teaching students to do just that little bit better in exams and in fundamental skills that will be useful to them throughout their education, such as writing clearly and engagingly.

Learning should also be fun and tailored to the student; ideas don't really come alive unless they feel relevant. So even my university teaching uses sources that are accessible and interesting to the student, like podcasts and youtube videos.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I have over 20 years of teaching experience and have achieved a fellowship from the Victoria College of music in London for classical guitar playing and is a graduate Open university with a BA(Hons) first in humanities with music and history. Lessons are very supportive, friendly and interactive, using teaching files and mp3 examples to hear and perform the music. I aim to extend my lifelong passion and enthusiasm for music to everyone I teach. My instruments include guitar, ukulele, mandolin, banjo and bass guitar

Teaching Experience:
∙ Diploma in Classical Guitar Playing (AVCM) - Victoria College of Music
∙ BA (Hons) Humanities with Music - Open University
∙ Grades 5-8 (distinction) in classical guitar - Victoria College of Music
∙ Grade 3 (merit) grade 4-5 (distinction) - music theory Victoria College of Music
∙ Over 15 years of teaching experience on a wide range of instruments

Tutoring Approach:
My approach is to provide a fun, friendly and relaxed environment for teaching that will both support and motivate the student in their musical journey. To achieve this utilise a wide range of teaching materials and multimedia outlets, such as apps, CDs, books, etc to maximise the learning potential of the student. This also includes MP3's provided after the lesson to aid practice and reinforce timing, rhythm and phrasing. I have a 100% pass rate for pupils taking practical and music theory exams.

Subjects