Joe

Experience

- A level/GCSE Geography- I have tutored and homeschooled many students across different exam boards for GCSE and A level Geography. This includes AQA, Edexcel, CIE, OCR and others. I have helped them improve their exam technique, knowledge and confidence in the subject.

-A Level/GCSE Biology- I have tutored and homeschooled many students across different exam boards for GCSE and A level Biology. I have helped them improve their exam technique, knowledge and confidence in the subject. I have also helped many students bridge the gap between their GCSE and A level studies.

-KS2 and KS3 Geography: In Geography I have helped students improve their knowledge and gain access to schools such as the Harrodian School and universities such as Cambridge, Oxford and UCL. I also have experience in helping students craft their personal statements ready for these universities. I have helped younger students improve their passion for Geography, and helping them to bring it to life.

- A-Level/GCSE Biology: I have homeschooled and tutored students in this subject. I have helped students improve their skills in Biology. This has helped students improve their university applications and entrance exams.

- A Level/GCSE English: I have homeschooled and tutored many students in English. I have been able to improve their writing styles, comprehension skills and understanding of the nuances of literature. Many of my students have been able to move on with their educational life with a better understanding of English.

I have around 3000 hours of tutoring experience. This has been accrued over three years as a tutor. I mainly teach Geography, English and Biology up to A Level.

I adapt my sessions to fit the learning style of each student, whether that be visual, practical or through demonstration.

I also worked for six months at Regents High School in Camden as a learning support assistant. This opened my eyes to new teaching methods. Furthermore, this has given me experience in working with students with SEN and some with challenging behaviour.

Since then, I have been working full time as a tutor for around 3 years and i have been tutoring for 5 years total. I have been lucky enough to work with many different students who have different needs and nuances that I have had to adjust my teaching style to. This has helped me build my repertoire of experience and techniques to fit almost any student.

Biography

I am a UCL graduate with a degree in Geography. I have been working as a freelance tutor for the past 4 years.

I attended London Academy in Northwest London for my GCSE's and A levels. The environment allowed me to thrive academically. It is also where my passion for Geography, English and Science was sparked.

After receiving my A level results I moved on to do a Bachelors Degree in Geography at University College London. Once my degree finished, I found that my passion was to teach and tutor.

Personal Approach

I strive to create a warm environment, build strong personal relationships, and provide exceptional tutoring. I aim to provide sessions that are enjoyable and full of fun as well as content and exam technique. This teaching is often through a variety of verbal and visual means. This is tailored to the way the students learns best. I attempt to create a structure to the lessons which makes students feel comfortable but also positively challenged in their thinking and ideas.

In addition to this, I also try to be a mentor to students where appropriate. I can give advice on time management and work/life balance. For this I like to draw upon my experience working in schools. This is also the case when working with students on study skills and organisation. I have been able to work with students who lead busy and full lives, therefore have had to be flexible and design schedules which fit around them. I want my students to reach their academic potential whilst enjoying what life outside of school has to offer.

Further, I am very much interested in being able to help students understand the concepts of English, Humanities and the Sciences fully in a way that is palatable for them. I have been able to do this through helping to relate these concepts back to their own lives. This is usually through relating the concepts to their own life events or drawing parallels to their hobbies. This is extremely rewarding for both the student and myself, as they find the lessons more enjoyable and feel more of a personal connection to the work.

What I do when I am not tutoring

In my spare time I love to take part in physical activity such as rock climbing and running. I am also learning Spanish at the moment, which is both fun and challenging. I am also currently studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This is an extremely interesting and eye opening martial art.

Testimonials

Joe Bocking tutored my Y9 son Geography for the second half of this year whilst being in-between schools. Joe completely brought Geography to life for my son and was able to find the space to address every curiosity that arose and create a deep sense of Geography in the context of the wider world, not just simply teaching the facts. We were lucky to be having lunch straight after his Geography lesson and my son repeatedly kept us enthralled with the latest curiosity he’d learnt. My son undoubtedly looked forward to Joe’s lessons and I think valued having him in his life during this latest period of lockdown. Joe is calm, engaging and full of passion for his subject, but above all, my son felt Joe treated him with respect and believed in him from the start. Inevitably he flourished in that energy and his self-confidence and enthusiasm for Geography has increased ten-fold, now deliberately choosing Geography for a GCSE subject. Joe has a gift for tutoring and I would recommend him wholeheartedly. Any parent or child would be lucky to have him.

Our daughter really enjoyed her lessons with Joe, he is clear, patient and inspiring. His tutoring not only helped her pass her GCSE Biology with a high grade but also nurtured a real interest and love of the subject.

Joe is a brilliant tutor, he brought me up from a grade 6 to a 9 in my progress tests and I went on to achieve a grade 9 at GCSE. He explains things thoroughly and clearly and is able to adjust the pace of his teaching to fit the level of understanding. Joe also helped me a lot with my geography coursework. Joe is able to quickly see gaps in knowledge or understanding without the tutee having to say it and will make sure to cover every aspect of the specification. Joe helped me get ahead of my class so when it came to learning at school I was able to focus on memorization rather than my understanding as we had already covered much of the course together in our lessons. I would highly recommend Joe as a tutor, it is difficult to find anyone as accommodating and helpful as him.

Joe has taught our son GCSE geography for over a year. Joe is a reliable, patient and kind teacher who has taken a genuine interest in our son's education.  Joe has a relaxed yet professional demeanour and from the outset took care to build a good rapport with our son and make lessons interesting. We are very pleased with the overall progress our son has made, as well as the more mature attitude he now has to learning. This is a credit to Joe's teaching methods and ability to share his enthusiasm for geography which have enabled our son to engage with the subject.  We would not hesitate to recommend Joe as a geography teacher.