Susan

I am a 41 year old qualified Secondary Science teacher. I specialise in KS3, GCSE Biology, Chemistry, Physics and A-Level Biology and Psychology. I have a BSc (Hons) in Animal Science with Farm Livestock Production and PGCE specialising in Chemistry. From a young age, I have always been very interested in life science. However, I made a choice to pursue my career in dog training due to pressure from a family member. It wasn’t until later on in my life, I decided to study Animal Science at a degree level. Furthermore, since my previous employments, during and after studying my degree, I developed a passion for teaching the younger generation. Since working in a school class environment and being a parent of two lovely children, my desire to teach secondary school students’ has grown and I have a passion to pass my love of Science to our next generation.

Tutoring Experience

I completed my teacher training at Passmores Academy, and then moved on to Epping St. John’s to complete my NQT year. I teach all three Sciences along with A-Level Biology and Psychology.

Before I started my career in teaching, I was employed as a Co-Educator at Passmores Academy for around 3 years working with SEND. My roles included communicating with subject teachers before the lesson started to see what support was required, if not known already. I taught intervention sessions to small groups when requested, and during these sessions I questioned the students to ensure they understood what the teacher had instructed. I worked closely with students in class and supported their learning by assisting with the teaching.

I was employed as a Science Technician before that, I guided and introduced students to standard information or procedures needed during my role at Burnt Mill Academy; I once assisted in the classroom during a practical science experiment.

After studying my degree I worked at Pets at Home. Where I introduced new staff and work experience colleagues to the procedures and policies needed to complete daily tasks at Pets at Home and have demonstrated the use of equipment that is needed. I have experience of teaching and assessing work experience colleagues when working for Pets at Home and at Guide Dogs and able to give feedback on constructive criticism and accountability for quality outcomes. I am a confident speaker when educating children on the care and handling of the animals during term time holiday presentation workshops during my previous role at Pets at Home. In addition, during my voluntary role at Pets Corner Farm I dealt with queries from the public and educated children regarding animal species, care, and handling. I am confident that I have provided excellent learning opportunities in my current and previous employment roles.

I studied salmonella for my dissertation at University and gained very good laboratory skills.

Before I studied my degree I worked as a trainer at Guide Dogs.

Tutoring Approach

As a qualified Teacher, I encourage students on a day to day basis and take pride when a task has been completed or when students exceed what they think is the limit of their learning ability. This makes me feel I am making a positive difference to the future of students. Some days are challenging, however this only pushes me more to succeed and for this reason I have chosen teaching as my career path. During whole class lessons I regularly keep students focused and engaged in their work, helping them to maintain a pace that they are capable of. I encourage particular students to think out aloud and rehearse their ideas whilst I act as a talk partner to help them visualise their answers to tasks set.
On occasions I have to explain the roles, prompt and give time limits on broken down tasks. I differentiate lesson tasks to suit the ability of individual students. I question the students to ensure understanding of the topic taught and use other formative assessment during and after learning. I recognise and deal with misconceptions, difficulties and any student mistakes I feel that need to be addressed.