Lowri

Experience

GCSE/IGCSE French: AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR

GCSE/IGCSE Spanish: AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR

GCSE/IGCSE English: AQA, Edexcel, OCR

AS/A2/IB Level French: AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR

AS/A2/IB Level Spanish: AQA

AS/A2/IB Level English: AQA

I have been tutoring for ten years, now, having developed a taste for it when family friends asked me to help their children prepare for their GCSEs. I fell in love with seeing how a little encouragement and the right explanations can make a huge difference. I teach French to all ages -from Year 5 end-of-term exams to Undergraduate level. I also have had a number of English Literature and Language pupils - including one adult learner who was taking her GCSE English as a foreign language. My knowledge of romance languages provided an additional bonus and significantly aided her learning! I have also tutored Spanish at GCSE and AS/A Level, helping students to navigate the tricky difference between ser and estar! To name a few recent successes, last year, my Eton scholarship pupil gained his place and my AS Level French retake students got their desired A grade. This year, one of my Year 10 pupils has improved her marks by 30% across the board and an A Level French pupil, who was working at a C grade is now achieving an A in her mock papers. I also recently learned that my St Paul's scholarship pupil achieved top marks in his exams, gaining not only a place, but a personal commendation on his marks in what they called an extremely hard paper.

Biography

I am a Cambridge-educated and a highly experienced and dedicated tutor with over 600 hours’ experience in French, Spanish and English. Recent successes include the acceptance of my St Paul's scholarship pupil to the school (gaining the top marks in his year in French and receiving specific congratulations on this front!) and the improvement of my remedial French A Level pupil from a D to an A between March and May. Please see my testimonials below for more information.

I have been teaching since 2006 and, before that, on my gap year, I was an assistant in a French school. At GCSE, I gained 12 A*s and 1 A (one mark off an A* - something which, to this day, continues to be the subject of good natured teasing by friends). Nonetheless, I was awarded the Headmistress’ Prize for the Best GCSE results in the school and appeared in the local paper. I then went on to achieve 5 High As (above 90%) at AS and A Level and was given the school award for Outstanding AS Results (2003) and Outstanding A Level Results (2004), as well as both Language Prizes. Being a year young at school, I gained entrance to Cambridge University at age 16, so took a year off to take my Grade 8 Violin exam (passing with Distinction) and divided my year between France and Spain in preparation for study at Cambridge University where I took Part 1 French and Spanish at Queens’ College. Though there was a great deal of literary content to the course, I found my passion for literature in my own tongue unsated so I decided to do my Part 2 in English Literature, choosing papers in Shakespeare, Tragedy and American Literature. I feel I thus definitely made the most of my time at Cambridge and, as a result, am able to offer tuition in a range of disciplines.

Despite all this sounding as if I must live with my nose perpetually in a book, whilst at university, I was listed in the Varsity Top 100, a compilation of ‘one hundred of the most talented, influential and hard-working students at Cambridge’, where I was described as being ‘one of the friendliest faces in Cambridge’ - and I am still just as friendly now! I am an extremely approachable person and easily develop a rapport with students. However, I am not afraid to let them know when they are not working hard enough and this never comes across as anything other than because I care!

Personal Approach

My enthusiasm for language in all forms is infectious! Whether this be unlocking a Shakespeare text with a student or building the foundations of French and Spanish language from the ground up. I have a worrying obsession with grammar - not in a draconian way! - and my enthusiasm for and way of thinking about it, my students say, inspires them to knuckle down and learn it. They often become as excited by tenses and exceptions as I am, by the end. I have an equally worrying obsession with Shakespeare. In fact, it was said of my latest piece of writing (see below) that Shakespeare is 'the marrow of life itself' to me. I like to think I pass this on to my students, too!

As I say, I truly enjoy passing on my knowledge of and my passion for my subjects - perhaps because I come from a family of teachers - grandparents, great-uncles and both parents. As I say, my Mum was Head of Languages and I therefore have a wealth of resources and techniques. I am reliable, astute and professional - with the ability to relate to students easily.

In addition to tailoring my lessons to the individual students, I have stayed abreast of the continual changes to the syllabus/curriculum through my work with AIM Conferences. I was responsible for organising conferences across the subjects and for pursuing the correct academics (or high profile specialists!). I would then liaise with them in order to ensure that our conferences were tailored to the specifications of each exam board.

What I do when I am not tutoring

I love words and enjoy nothing better than finding ‘le mot juste’. If I am not tutoring, I am probably writing! My latest piece, entitled ‘Words, words, words’ has just been performed in the West End. It is an exploration of the incapacity of words, intertwining Shakespeare with personal stories in an exploration of the grieving process. Given its nature as a ‘talking heads’ piece, I am currently in talks with the Head of BBC Radio Drama about adapting it for the airwaves.

In what is left of my spare time, I play the violin and, while at Cambridge, I enjoyed performing as part of CUMS1 - the university’s flagship orchestra. I was also on the committee for MAGSOC (Queens’ College Music Society). Nowadays, I continue to play for fun, with friends and for the occasional professional engagement. In addition to being a music-lover, I am an avid reader and have just started ‘The Luminaries’ by Eleanor Catton. I am also very interested in fitness and in eating for health so I love discovering new creations in the kitchen. I have just moved to Richmond and, to quote my favourite book, ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘the change of scene and society’ is proving excellent for pursuing this even further. I hope to go for lots more runs in Richmond Park this summer!

Testimonials

From the moment we met Lowri, we knew that she would help our daughter achieve the desire of her heart. She went above and beyond to teach with passion, commitment and excellence. She brought out excitement for learning and brilliance in our daughter and she made an A grade! Lowri’s methods and passion for teaching are next to none.

'We are very grateful to Lowri for her French tuition for both A level and GCSE. She has excelled at guiding both my son and daughter with a fine balance of encouragement, support, teaching resources and techniques to improve their grades and give them the confidence to sit their exams worry-free.' - Mother of GCSE and A level French pupils.

'From the moment we met Lowri, we knew she would help our daughter achieve the desire of her heart. She went above and beyond to teach with passion, commitment and excellence. She brought out excitement for learning and brilliance within such a short time in our daughter, so much so that her teacher in school who had predicted her a low grade sent out a mail to attest to the remarkable improvement after just a few weeks of her initial assessment. She made an A grade! Lowri’s methods and passion for teaching are next to none. Thank you so much Lowri.'

Yinka Reis (Mother of A Level pupil)

'We are very grateful to Lowri for her French tuition for both A level and

GCSE. She has excelled at guiding both my son and daughter with a fine

balance of encouragement, support, teaching resources and techniques to

improve their grades and give them the confidence to sit their exams worry

free.'

Jyoti Bharwani (Mother of GCSE and A Level pupils)

'Lowri tutored our daughter Ruby and we just loved her. She was amazing with Ruby and her tutoring skills showed in Ruby's results. The lessons were interesting and Ruby looked forward to it every week. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Lowri - she is a wonderful girl and it was a pleasure to have her in our home.'

Tania Blake (Mother of AS Level pupil)

'Lowri has worked at AIM Conferences Ltd for over a year and a half. Her strengths include diligence, positivity, intelligence and a very thorough approach to work. Her writing style consistently charms our clients and associates and she has helped our business to grow and thrive in a way which it might not have done without her help. It is unusual to find someone who combines personability, intellect and an ability to stay on top of administrative detail to the extent that Lowri does. She is leaving us because she has moved house and now lives too far from our base to commute to us. We are very sad to see her go and the next company to work with her will be very lucky to have her.'

Director of AIM Conferences Ltd