Florence

Experience

-Primary English

-7+ English & Maths: public school entrance exams

-8+ English and Maths: public school entrance exams

-9+ English and Maths: public school entrance exams

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

-13+ English: ISEB and public school entrance exams

-13+ French (All exam boards)

-13+ Spanish (all exam boards)

-GCSE/IGCSE English (All exam boards, esp. Edexcel)

-GCSE/IGCSE Spanish (all exam boards, esp. AQA, Edexcel)

-school entrance interviews, especially 11+, 13+ and 16+

-A-level English (All exam boards, esp. Edexcel)

-A-level Spanish (All exam boards)

-IB English

-IB Spanish

-IELTS, esp. IELTS Academic

-University Entrance, esp. Oxbridge

I have experience helping students with school entrance to: Eton, Westminster, Wellington, Harrow, Marlborough, Sevenoaks, St Paul's, Brighton College, Cheltenham Ladies, Cheltenham College, King's College Wimbledon, King's Canterbury, Stowe, City of London, The Stephen Perse, Wycombe Abbey, Downe House, Wymondham, Abingdon, and Magdalen College School (Oxford), among others.

I specialise in the four areas of prep for Oxbridge entrance: tests, guided reading and specialist knowledge, writing personal statements and interviews. A former award-winning University of Oxford teacher and researcher, I have four years of experience interviewing students for undergraduate places at Oxford University.

As a former academic, I am used to working with international students.

I have completed Keystone training including: students with special educational needs, English 11+ and Maths 11+, school entrance interviewing (especially 11+, 13+ and 16+), GCSE/IGCSE English Language, GCSE/IGCSE English Literature, and A-Level English Literature. I have also completed Keystone’s online tutoring training programme and have a wealth of resources at my fingertips to enrich the online tutoring experience.

For six years I taught literature and language at Oxford across the year groups and for several colleges, responsible for ongoing study as well as exam preparation, and pastoral care in some instances.

I have worked with the British Council, teaching English as a foreign language to adolescents and adults.

Over 2020 and 2021, I completed an introductory qualification in child and adolescent counselling and psychotherapy with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in London.

I am very pleased to bring my extensive experience in the Higher Education sector, along with my training in mental health and wellbeing, to work as a tutor.

Biography

I grew up in the South West and attended grammar school, where I was fortunate enough to be encouraged to apply to Oxbridge by my English teacher. I gained four As at A-Level and took up a place at Oxford University to study for the BA Hons in English and Spanish, a degree that included a year abroad teaching English for the British Council.

After my BA, I worked as a private tutor. I then moved to the commercial art world, while studying History of Art at Birkbeck, University of London. With this experience under my belt, I decided to go back to Oxford to research early European literature and manuscripts.

I ended up winning a series of awards at Oxford, including a full Arts and Humanities Research Council doctoral studentship, and stayed to complete a DPhil and work in several teaching and lecturing roles. I also worked as a co-interviewer in undergraduate admissions for two Oxford colleges over four years. After completing the DPhil, I took up the post of Laming Research Fellow at the Queen's College. This role was international and I was lucky enough to live in Spain for some time while conducting research at local libraries.

During my post at the Queen's College, I started a family and was blessed with twins. Having the boys further fired my interest in the development of children and young people, and I completed introductory training as a child and adolescent psychotherapist with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust over 2020/2021. I am continuing study in this area in my spare time while pursuing my new career as a Professional Tutor with Keystone.

Personal Approach

I focus on building a rapport with my students in order to tailor content as much as possible to their needs. As a former academic with an interest in memory and cognition, I specialise in study skills, motivation and solving problems around matters such as study anxiety and stress. I have trained in the field of child and adolescent mental health and am sensitive to the many issues that can arise for children in relation to their education.

I am open to a wide range of teaching approaches depending on the individual child, although my overall goal is to promote self-motivated learning and student autonomy.

What I do when I am not tutoring

I am usually looking after my twins. When time allows, I pursue my interest in child and adolescent psychotherapy. I also love to write, cook, sing, listen to music, and practice yoga. I am very keen on cats.

Testimonials

''Florence was excellent at improving our son’s English skills. She used material that he personally found engaging such as fantasy and Harry Potter and this provided a springboard for him. Not many teachers take the time to look at each child’s interests, but she did, and it paid dividends. Her manner was always positive and constructive and although our son hates extracurricular work, he never minded studying with Florence. We highly recommend her. We achieved our school entrance goal with Florence’s help.'' (Mother of Year 4 boy)

''While I have only had lessons with Florence for a few months, she has helped me with many aspects of the English language. The lessons have not only improved my general English skills: Florence has encouraged me to find joy in writing and reading. Florence provided me with many exercises that ultimately helped me improve my descriptive writing and expand my vocabulary. She did not overwhelm me with homework, but instead helped me change my mindset: to treat English work as something fun and interesting, rather than a burden. With this mindset, further improving in various aspects of the study has become much less demanding.'' (International student in Year 8)

''We are grateful to have had Florence to guide us on how to best prepare our boys for UK school entrance. My two sons seek places in years 9 and 10, respectively. Florence is professional and works with much attention to detail. She made extra efforts to understand my boys’ characters and differing levels of English, as well as the distinct exam formats for various schools. She adjusted her method of teaching and the topics to be covered accordingly, for each tutorial. She provided timely feedback on my sons’ progress and worked hand-in-hand with me to rapidly prepare my boys for several entrance exams and interviews. Florence is a very encouraging teacher, who has instilled a sense of confidence in my boys. With her help, my boys received positive news from the schools we chose.'' (Mother of Year 8 and Year 9 boys)

''I am REALLY THANKFUL that I have been a student of yours. Thank you for helping me to achieve this brilliant goal and for encouraging and motivating me. I will try my best at Abingdon. Thank you!'' (International student in Year 9)

''Thank you very much for the lessons, my daughter feels much more confident. Going further into her GCSEs, I am sure your classes and instruction in exam technique will help her a lot, not only in Spanish, but also more generally.'' (Mother of Year 10 girl)

"Florence is an exceptional English teacher whose dedication and passion for teaching is evident in the improvement she has brought about in my son's grades. Her teaching methods are tailor-made, engaging and effective, and my son has shown a remarkable improvement in his English skills since he started taking classes with her. Florence's personalized approach ensures that each student receives the attention and support they need to succeed." (Mother of Year 10 international student)

“We finally had news from the school that our son has been offered a place for Sixth Form. His offer letter stated that they were really impressed with him and that he had a very strong run of interviews. He is very pleased and couldn’t have done it without your help. His confidence was much improved. Thank you for the sessions and for your detailed feedback. He said that you made him feel at ease and the more formal lesson helped him to appreciate what would be expected when faced with the most demanding interview questions.” (Mother of Year 11 boy)

''Just wanted to let you know that my daughter has received an offer of a place at Marlborough college and is on the waiting list for Wellington College. Considering there were circa 500 applicants for each and only 35/45 places respectively, she did very well. Your input with the interview prep was very helpful and put her in the right frame of mind. We will definitely be back in touch for University interviews if not before that!'' (Mother of Year 11 girl)

''Florence has ignited my interest in a subject that I had previously never really liked. Classes with her have truly helped me a lot to prepare for my English exams. I feel like I have made much progress in literary analysis, exam technique and overall language level. Florence is a great and very kind tutor and our lessons are always a pleasure. The interviewing classes we have recently done have boosted my confidence and improved my interviewing skills and answers.'' (Year 11 International student for 16+ entrance)

''Yesterday our daughter read out some of her recent work and we were amazed by how much she has improved. You have helped her develop her style without losing her own voice. Thank you!'' (Mother of Year 11 International student)

''During the six months I took Florence’s class, I felt the growth of my English ability a lot, in particular my writing skills. She found my weaknesses and gave solutions to overcome them. Thanks to this, I achieved my goal (university entrance). Moreover, she taught me English not only for IELTS but also for my master’s course. Therefore, what she taught me is still useful. Unlike classes which I’ve done so far, she provided interesting classes and motivated me, so I enjoyed them and was able to accomplish IELTS in the end. I’m really grateful to her.'' (International student and university candidate for IELTS examinations)

''Florence conducted a mock Oxbridge interview with my daughter. She then gave her feedback and suggestions on how to improve. Her comments were extremely helpful and she could not have been more professional, objective, or done a better job. It was excellent.'' (Mother of Oxbridge candidate for an undergraduate place)