Geoff

Extremely patient and empathetic teacher with a calm demeanor, but bags of enthusiasm for Science. I love my job as a secondary Science teacher and working one-to-one with students is the most enjoyable part. I am 37, studied Marine Biology at Plymouth University before living in Australia for a year as a research scuba diver working with lobsters and sharks. I love my extreme sports - snowboarding/skiing/BMX/motocross/rally etc. and I try to bring scientific concepts to life with real world applications so students can see the relevance of what they are learning. I am willing to travel to tutoring sessions and look forward to helping any student be successful in science and feel good about themselves.

Tutoring Experience

8 year teaching experience in lots of secondary schools - mostly GCSE biology chemistry and physics, with some time teaching A-level biology. I mentored a Science trainee teacher, developing him as an educator. The vast majority of my students make good or outstanding progress with many of my GCSE students from last year beating their expected target grades and deciding to take the subject on to A-level. I have been an official examiner/marker for AQA GCSE papers so know the requirements of the AQA syllabus very well. I have also taught in British Columbia, Canada. Outside of academic teaching I have managed a busy London restaurant and, in the past, been a tennis coach and taught a lot of people to snowboard (with all the motivational issues that come with falling 30 times a day and still getting up for another go!)

Tutoring Approach

Every learner is an individual with individual needs. Those may be simply knowledge and understanding of the content of the course but it could also be concentration issues, motivation, exam technique, revision strategies or even just self-esteem needs.
My first approach is to assess these needs with a dialogue between myself, the learner and/or parents. I believe self-esteem and confidence is vital to succeed so use of praise when praise is due is essential. I have tutored a boy with severe ADHD before and we were able to come up with a number of strategies to help him concentrate for small segmented chunks of time with little rewards in between sessions. I have tutored students of all abilities and students with severe Asperger's.

Ultimately I am flexible to your needs and will prepare material to bring to sessions that is engaging and worthwhile to the ultimate objective that you set for the student.