Katie

Experience

• 2.1 Geography Masters The University of Edinburgh

• 2.1 Psychological Science Queens University Belfast

• University College London (UCL) PGCE

• 7 years teaching experience in private, state, online and face-to-face environments

• International home-school teacher for clients in Malaysia, China and UAE

• Examiner for AQA exam-board past 4 years

• Taught exam boards: AQA, OCR, CIE, Edexcel A and B, JWEC

• Extensive knowledge of both human and physical concepts in KS3, GCSE, AS and A-level

• GCSE Physical: River and Coastal landscapes, Glacial environments, Hazardous earth, UK weather and Global climates, Ecosystems and Biomes

• GCSE Human: Global and Local development, Changing cities, Population change, Squatter settlements, Urban environments, Food, Water, and energy scarcity

• A-Level Physical: Carbon and Water Cycles, Desertification, Global weather systems, Ecosystems, Coastal systems

• A-Level Human: Global governance (super powers), Changing Places, Contemporary Environments, Population and the Environment, Sustainable solutions, Resource Security and Futures

Biography

Growing up in rural Northern Ireland surrounded by the Causeway Coastline and Mourne mountains, naturally steered me towards taking geography at Edinburgh University to understand their formation. Here, not only was I privileged to have a dormant volcano on my doorstep (Arthur’s Seat) but I combined my physical interest towards human geography because of Edinburgh’s dynamic city landscape including tourism, the student-population and the Fringe festival. The amazing tutors, mentors and tutors here helped me to achieve a 2.1 in my degree which inspired me to spread my love and passion towards to subject to the younger generation.

Personal Approach

My encouraging, thorough and approachable nature means a strong tutor-tutee relationship is easily formed, allowing real-life/personal examples to be drawn upon to understand difficult geographical concepts. With my teaching and learning psychological background I have implemented the mantra that ‘practice makes permanent’. With this, every tutoring session begins with a recall quiz from the previous lesson, in which tricky ideas, facts or case studies become fluid and immediate knowledge within a matter of a couple of lessons. Not only have I seen this increase many of my student’s confidence, but their overall ability and progress increases exponentially as less time is wasted on cognitive re-call.

Every student is unique and may possess a different learning style to another. With this, I ensure to tailor each session to the student's needs to maximise their potential.

Furthermore, every lesson will include at least one examination practice to ensure the terminology and layout of exams are understood. All resources and notes made throughout the session will be shared on an online file for both myself, the student and parent/guardian to access.

What I do when I am not tutoring

When not tutoring or teaching I work part-time in a disadvantaged school in London on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. When not teaching, I love to read about psychology and human behaviour – it’s fascinating! I completed a masters degree from Queens University Belfast during the pandemic and currently learning how to run Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) workshops for children to give them the tools to deal with modern life stresses!

When not studying I am either cycling around the parks of London (Richmond to see the deer ), swimming/surfing in the cold Irish sea when visiting home or (attempting) yoga and Pilates. Equally, I love a walk with friends and a hot chocolate. As a dog lover but with limited time and space living in London I borrow an elderly neighbours Labrador who is incredibly badly behaved meaning I do a lot of unintentional, forced running throughout the week too.