Danielle

Experience

- 11+ English and Maths: ISEB and public school exams

- GCSE/IGCSE English (all exam boards)

- A Level Psychology

In the past I have specialised in English tutoring. However, last year I also taught functional skills maths, Psychology (Year 12) and revision technique. I am also familiar with 11+ tests taken by the South-West Herts Consortium. Furthermore, I have experience of working with children with a variety of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and those who have had prolonged absences due to illness.

In addition to my tutoring experience, I also have two years of experience in secondary schools delivering personal, social and health education lessons as a volunteer. These lessons were focused on mental health topics and I received training from MIND which covered safeguarding and dealing with vulnerable students in crisis. This experience taught me how to form relationships with a wide variety of students. During my final year of University I took on the role of project leader.

Biography

Having achieved A*, A* A in my A-levels, I graduated from The University of Bristol with a 2:1 in Experimental Psychology.

I studied Psychology partially due to fascination with ‘how people learn’. Additionally, whilst at university, I took an open unit in Social Policy called ‘Education, Schooling and Diversity’; my high mark in this unit reflected my enjoyment. This unit aimed to explore the relationship between discourses of education and formal schooling. Thus, this greatly enhanced my perspective of different learners’ needs.

I currently work as a private tutor specialising in English. I find it rewarding to watch my students’ confidence grow and see them achieve their goals (often exceeding their original aspirations).

Personal Approach

My approach is to listen to an individual learner's needs and to increase their subject confidence.

I aim to foster the approach of ‘working smart’ with my students. This means teaching students to learn to utilise their semantic memory so that they can obtain fantastic results in a fraction of the time taken using traditional ‘rote learning’. This focus has come about because of my Psychology experience and personal background.

What I do when I am not tutoring

I have been involved in theatre from childhood. This has aided me in developing empathy and verbal and non-verbal communication skills, as well as flexible thinking as I needed to respond quickly to change.

Other interests include health and nutrition, and I regularly practice Pilates. I also believe that it is important to keep learning. I read broadly; anything from scientific journals to fashion magazines.

Testimonials

'Miss Dani taught me English Literature for A Level for which I received an A grade. She was very knowledgeable and prepared well before each lesson in order to help me with any difficulties I was facing in the subject. I'm extremely pleased with her help and would definitely recommend her for other students in need of help. (Former student)

'We had tried several other tutors before Dani was recommended to me. She managed to engage my daughter in the subject and I was impressed with her polite and patient manner.' (Mother of seventeen-year-old student)'

'Thank you for all your help over the past year. I have jumped up two grades from my previous assessment to this one after a term of tutoring. I am confident that I'll now achieve my desired grades for GCSE English/English Literature' (Current Year 10 student)