Charlotte

Experience

I began the Teach First Leadership Development Programme at the Holgate Academy in Hucknall. The Holgate Academy qualifies as a Teach First school because many of its students come from challenging socio-economic backgrounds. I began teaching in 2015 and obtained QTS in July 2017. I completed my PGCE in Secondary English whilst working full time and received a Merit with Outstanding in my teaching practice.

In 2017, 77% of my GCSE students obtained levels 4-9 in English Language, where the school average was 61%. In English Literature, 85% of my students obtained a level 4-9 against the school average of 64%.

I enjoyed my time in teaching and miss the rewarding classroom interactions with students. I also miss the creativity in lesson planning and the challenge to my teaching practice in finding new or alternative ways to explain concepts that my students found difficult.

I enjoy encouraging young people, whether they are seeking support to obtain a pass grade or are looking to be challenged at the top levels. The sense of satisfaction I felt when my year 11 students received their GCSE results was tantamount to my own academic achievements.

Biography

I am First class honours graduate in Law from the Russell Group University of Liverpool. Since graduating in 2015, I completed the Teach First Leadership Development Programme in Nottinghamshire before moving to London in 2017 to pursue a career in law.

I am mentoring two A level students through Teach First’s Futures programme: I help prepare my mentees for university applications by proof reading their UCAS applications, guiding mentees and their families through the student finance application process and encouraging and motivating the students. I offer subject specific input (in a tutor-like capacity) to one of my mentees who studies English at A level.

In my spare time I enjoy running and going to the gym. I will be completing my fourth half marathon in May. At weekends, I like eating my way around London with friends - I am on a personal mission to find the best coffee in London! On a recent holiday to Rhodes, I completed my PADI Open Water scuba diving course and am qualified to dive to 18m.

Personal Approach

I think it is of paramount importance to build a rapport with students to create a positive environment and encourage the student to feel confident in their learning. I am enthusiastic and aim to teach creatively so that students may explore their curiosity about English and enjoy the subject.

I take time to understand the students that I tutor: to know what they feel confident with and what they feel they need practice on informs the direction of tutoring. Further, I appreciate that we all learn in different ways and so the positive relationships I create with my students allows me to identify how best to promotes the student’s progress early in our tutoring.

My approach is informed by my teaching experience of examinations and assessments: I find that clear, question specific tips help students to feel prepared for their exams and enables them to meet their targets against the assessment objectives.

What I do when I am not tutoring

I left teaching to pursue a legal career in London. I am employed as a contracts manager at a third-party litigation funder in the City. This involves drafting NDAs and funding agreements with our clients who are usually global financial institutions. I secured a training contract with a City law firm and begin the path to qualifying as a solicitor in August 2020. I am studying the Legal Practice Course (LPC), a yearlong course (completing in June 2020) that is a requirement for a training contract.

Testimonials

''The sessions with Charlotte were very good and provided Christiana with constructive feedback and advice which she found very useful. What was also good was that Charlotte provided her with some written feedback and good rapport was established.'' (Mother of 18 year old Cambridge applicant)