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 12 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, Spanish and English to all ages -from beginner to Undergraduate level. I also have had a vast 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!

This year:

As a career tutor this academic year, I have taught around 8 hours per day, so my combined teaching hours are now well over 2500.

I brought a GCSE pupil up from the equivalent of a D/E to A* Level in mock papers. He is on track for a Level 7 (up from Level 2/3) under the new system. I am so proud of him and of the love of French (along with the work ethic) which he developed over the course of this year.

I taught French and Spanish at University Level (including help with Literature and Cultural modules) this year for 180 hours.

I was also selected to pilot a Scholarship preparation scheme (entitled 'Class Action') where I was the lead 'Supertutor' and organised and ran classes to prepare students for 7+, 8+ and 11+ exams.

I now have a further 30 hours of teaching at English A Level, 40 at IB Level and c. 100 at year 7-11 level (all three subjects). I also took on a long-term Westminster Challenge scholarship pupil. Results pending!

Recent successes:

• My home-schooled French A Level pupil gained an A* and his place at Oxford. Another home-schooled A Level retake pupil went from B to A* Level and received unconditional offers from top universities.

• My remedial IB pupil improved his grade from Level 4 to Level 6 after working intensively on his English Language and Literature with me for 4 weeks. He then, with my ongoing help, went on to secure his Level 6 and his place at University College London.

• Under my tuition, my 13-year old pupil successfully gained his place at Eton on a French scholarship. Another two pupils were awarded scholarship to St Paul's - one of whom achieved the highest marks in the school for his French exam, for which he received a personal phone call.

• My Common Entrance pupil - with whom I had been working for three years - got a Merit for French, meaning he scored 80-90%.

• All three of my EFL students gained places at the schools of their choice (Headington, Sedbergh and The Dragon School), as did both pupils

applying for Wellington College at 13+. Also, my 11+ pupil gained her place at Francis Holland.

• Last year, my GCSE French tutee, with whom I had worked for two years, gained an A*. He has gone on to take French for A Level, under my tutelage.

• Also in 2017, both my AS Level French resits, with my help, achieved their A grades and my Year 10 Spanish tutee improved her marks by 30% across the board. In addition, my remedial French A Level pupil improved her marks from a D in February to an A in April!

• I also work with university students and, last year, I consulted on and helped with the structuring of a Durham fourth-year languages student's essays on French art and film, as well as on multiple literature essays. I also provided intensive and ongoing assistance to a girl in the final year of her course at UCL. I am currently consulting on an MA Dissertation with a student at the Shakespeare Institute (University of Birmingham) for a girl discussing the exploration of Grief in Shakespeare.

Biography

I have been enabling students to achieve their full potential for 12 years now. I began teaching in 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 passion for my subjects - perhaps because I come from a family of teachers - grandparents, great-uncles and both parents. My Mum was Head of Languages and, my Dad, Head of Sciences, so 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 Hertford and, to quote my favourite book, ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘the change of scene and society’ is proving excellent for pursuing this even further.

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 first point of contact with Lowri we knew she was the perfect fit to help our daughter prepare for her Cambridge entrance. She has been very organised and efficient from the outset and a huge source of support for both our daughter and ourselves. Probably most importantly she is a superb teacher and has a very engaging manner. She gave very detailed and excellent feedback in the reports and was very happy to give us verbal feedback which was particularly helpful as our daughter was living abroad at the time. Our only regret is that we didn’t find her sooner to help with the personal statement and choice of college. Whatever the outcome of the interview/ exam we know our daughter could not have been better prepared. Overall I don’t think it would be possible to find a more excellent and lovelier tutor- thank you Lowri.

5 STARS

Lowri Amies single-handedly taught my son for A level French via Skype and in person; he had been forecast an A at best. She got him an A star. She is not just a very nice person but highly organised and pragmatic. She knows the grade is everything, and her lessons are channeled towards that goal. I would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone.

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.

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.

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.

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