Sarah

Experience

- GCSE/IGCSE Mathematics: AQA, Edexcel, OCR

- GCSE/IGCSE Physics: AQA, Edexcel, OCR

- 13+ English & Maths: ISEB and public school entrance exams

- 11+ English and Maths: ISEB and public school exams, including pre-tests

- Oxford/Cambridge Music Applications

I have been a tutor with Keystone since September 2019. At this time, I was trained in 11+ English and Maths content and since then, I have completed over 1,500 hours of Maths tuition with Keystone at 11+, 13+ and GCSE level. In particular, I have had experience in working with pupils who are aiming for schools up to the London Consortium and Latymer Upper level at 11+ and multiple GCSE syllabi. I have been a regular home-schooler for Year 9 and Year 10 pupils, and so am very familiar with the curriculum requirements around this age group.

I have worked in a variety of industries. Most recently, this was as a Digital Marketer at Brainlabs, an award-winning digital marketing agency. During my time at Brainlabs, I was a mentor to a new graduate, which involved supporting and guiding them through their first 6 months in terms of knowledge and understanding, but also work expectations. I was also involved in training new graduates in diverse topics from workload management to Google and Facebook advertising basics.

Previously, I have had experience working around children between the ages of 7 - 13. During my second year of university, I spent my summer at Pierce Camp Birchmont (New Hampshire, USA), where I was responsible for a cabin of 11 - 12-year-old girls and was also a teacher of performing arts. Before this, I worked at the Pilgrims' School, Winchester for a year from 2012 - 2013. Being a double-choir school for both Winchester College Chapel and Winchester Cathedral, my responsibilities while there included piano tutoring, music theory tutoring and practice supervision for boarders and choristers.

Biography

I was born in Buckingham, and studied at Headington School, Oxford between 2007 - 2012. During this time, I achieved 12 A*s at GCSE and 4A*s at A-Level in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, Music. In addition to this, I took AS Level Psychology (Grade A), FSMQ and achieved Silver/Gold in the UK Intermediate/Senior Maths Challenge.

After completing a year at the Pilgrims' School, I studied Music at Clare College, Cambridge, where I achieved as 2:i. My final year specialisms included Music & Science, Beethoven's Late String Quartets, Advanced Performance, Latin American Music Studies, Musical Analysis, Music and Psychology and the Modern Music Industry.

My blog posts

18/11/2022: Guide to 11 Plus (11+) Non Verbal Reasoning Exam

Personal Approach

In my sessions, I like to combine structure with spontaneity: structure ensures progress and that we meet goals which are set for each session, while spontaneity and enthusiasm keeps pupils interested, and motivates them to learn about the subject.

Structuring our lessons will take the form of setting clear objectives at the beginning of each lesson. Although there will be preparation and resources for each session, where a potential learning opportunity arises I am happy to explore this avenue as long as it achieves the lesson goal.

I also believe that encouraging deep questioning on topics where there may be misunderstanding or a lack of enthusiasm is an excellent learning mechanism. This can also come from questions I ask to my pupils: for example, I might break down problems into lots of mini manageable questions to help achieve clarity in more complex problems.

What I do when I am not tutoring

When I'm not tutoring, I enjoy playing the piano and listening to new music. My favourite composers are Chopin and Beethoven, and in the summer months you will probably find me queuing for the arena at the BBC Proms!

I also love theatre, and regularly act in theatre productions with the Tower Theatre and Questors Theatre. The last production I did was The Thrill of Love by Amanda Whittington, which explores the life of Ruth Ellis.

On top of this, I like to play sports such as Badminton and Table Tennis and I am teaching myself Arabic and Spanish, to varying degrees of success...

Testimonials

''My daughter really enjoys her sessions with Sarah and we believe they have been a helpful boost for her confidence.'' - Parents of 11+ Maths Pupil

''My son loves Sarah! His confidence and understanding have already improved.'' - Parent of Year 9 Maths Pupil

''My daughter enjoyed working with Sarah and she has improved remarkably in the subject.'' - Parent of 11+ Maths Pupil

''My daughter is happy and says it's like she knew her from before. Sarah is a good fit as she lets her interact with her workings and makes the lesson a two way conversation not just the tutor speaking most of the time.'' - Parent of GCSE Maths pupil

''The lesson went super well. My daughter was very happy!'' - Parent of GCSE Maths pupil

''The lessons have been absolutely brilliant! He has loved each and every one, and is very keen to keep them going! So, a great success - and given all the uncertainly a hugely welcome constant.'' - Parent of 13+ Pupil

''We are impressed by Sarah and I can see that she is working effectively and efficiently with my daughter, and really helping her to learn.'' - Parent of 11+ Pupil

''I am so thrilled how my daughter is enjoying her sessions with Sarah! After a long and tiring day on her screen all day with home school, she is still happy to have an hour with Sarah and this is because she keeps it fresh and light. We will definitely keep Sarah as we prepare for GCSE and thank you for finding her for us.'' - Parent of GCSE Pupil

''I have really enjoyed having my lessons with Sarah. I enjoy our lessons so much. I hope we can have more lessons in the future when I'm preparing for my mock exams.'' - 13+ Pupil

''You make learning Maths fun.'' - GCSE Pupil