James

Experience

• (I)GCSE Maths: CIE

• (I)GCSE Physics: AQA, CIE, Edexcel

• A-level Physics: AQA, CIE, Edexcel

• IBDP Physics: SL and HL

• IBDP Maths: SL

I have been a full-time teacher of Physics for over 10 years and during this time I have taught in in the UK and in several international schools in both Spain and Dubai. I have predominately been teaching the IGCSE, A-Level and IBDP Physics courses but I am also familiar with the content of IGCSE and IBDP Mathematics. In terms of the relevant exam boards, I have experience teaching the courses from IB, CIE, AQA and Edexcel.

Prior to entering the world of education, I spent the majority of my working life in an engineering environment, in the manufacturing and oil and gas sector. My life experiences outside school have not only been an invaluable asset in establishing good relationships with people but have also provided the privileged position of being able to relate many theoretical concepts in Physics to real-world scenarios.

I still maintain contact with students that I have taught in the past and I’m thrilled that many of them went on to study either a Physics or an Engineering related subject at a top university in the UK or overseas.

Biography

I am originally from Ayrshire in Scotland but I’ve been living in Spain for most of my adult life. My wife is from Barcelona and my daughter is currently studying in Edinburgh.

I studied Engineering at Strathclyde University in Glasgow and spent many years working in the UK in the manufacturing sector. I moved to Spain in the mid-1990s to pursue a dream of learning Spanish and immersing myself in the wonderful cultural intensity of Catalunya.

Through a natural course, I moved into education and discovered an enriching and worthwhile career in teaching.

For the last 10 years, I have been a full-time secondary teacher of Physics both in the UK, and internationally. Following a successful couple of years in Scotland, I spent 5 years teaching in Barcelona, 2 years teaching in Malaga and 1 year in Dubai. I have been a Tutor throughout the course of my teaching career and, over the last 3 years, the majority of my tutoring has been carried out online.

I am now a full-time, online Tutor of Physics and Maths.

Personal Approach

I aim to carry out classes that are engaging, worthwhile and enjoyable.

I use an iPad Pro drawing tablet to communicate ideas and content. The interactive whiteboard facilitates a personal learning experience which is ultimately tailored to the learning needs of the student. I enjoy the freedom of discussing concepts with students by exploring and understanding ideas, and then relating them to parallel situations in real life.

During the course of a lesson, I often use past paper multiple choice questions to engage students, check understanding or explore topics in more depth. The questions tend to be differentiated towards a student’s level of ability and can range from a simple confirmation of comprehension to a notable level of challenge and extension.

What I do when I am not tutoring

We are very fortunate to live in an old Andalusian house with a garden but, lately, most of my time seems to be spent fixing or maintaining something! My latest project has been building an outside wooden pergola with a concrete base. We have a good diversity of plants in the garden and it’s good to see then all happy and thriving.

Testimonials

''I can’t thank you enough for all your help over the last couple of weeks with my final exams. We had a few intensive sessions to cover the material but it was well worth it! Fingers crossed, everything seemed to go well!'' (Y13 student following Edexcel Physics exams)

''Greetings from Dubai James, hope you are doing well. Some good news, we got confirmation that X is getting a B in Physics A Level. X and I want to THANK YOU for your support, guidance and tutoring. This couldn’t have been done without you!'' (Mother of Y13 student who had completed AQA course)

''Hello Sir, I just wanted to let you know that I got an A* in Physics and I´m packing my bags for Imperial! Thanks for all your help, support and good humor! We all loved your classes!'' (Student studying Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College, London)