Jack

I studied for GCSEs and A Levels at The Grange School in Hartford, a town not too far from Manchester. I achieved 3 A* grades in A Level English Literature, Maths and Further Maths, as well as an A* in a philosophy and maths-based EPQ project on time travel.

I went on to read English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. During this time I also studied abroad for a year at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I studied film and screenwriting alongside my literary studies. In 2021, I graduated from Edinburgh with first class honours and was subsequently awarded both the James Elliott Prize and the Jo Wilson Prize: the former goes to the graduating student whose work in literature is deemed the best in the cohort by the examiners; the latter goes to the student with the best performance in a Creative Writing class.

I then moved to London, where I studied an MA Creative Writing at the Royal Holloway and graduated with Distinction. I specialised in non-fiction, although nowadays I write more poetry and fiction. I am preparing to move on to a PhD in English in a couple of years.

The best tutors are engaging, which by my definition means being capable of reading the student's thought processes and adapting to them. In the past, I've had brilliant teachers who knew how to nudge me along towards my own interests without me even realising - a nuanced style of teaching which pre-empted and guided my learning because it understood how I thought. I incorporate this style of teaching into my approach, helping students achieve desired grade targets and exam successes through, first and foremost, an open and reflexive learning environment.

This also means tailoring the curriculum to the student, finding out what they respond to. Most of the time when students feel disengaged or disenfranchised with learning, or struggle with their goals, it's because they haven't been helped to understand things in their own way. I believe that all educational and academic targets are achievable when they are approached with an open mindset - not just seeking to take in a syllabus of information but to plot a particular path through it which represents each student's bespoke, individuated way of thinking.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to develop the student's way of thinking to the point that they don't need a tutor any more, ready to incorporate whatever learning and life throw at them into a pursuit of their own developed interests.

I am always either reading or writing - mainly poetry or short stories. Several novels I encountered when I was younger revealed to me new possibilities for what writing can do - Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' and Max Porter's 'Grief is the Thing With Feathers' - and I've spent a lot of time thinking about why these works impacted me so much. More recently I've been delving into contemporary American poetry. (John Ashbery, Jorie Graham...)

Aside from literary hobbies, I'm a musician - grade 8 violin, guitar, piano, and some experience with software music production - and try to be as involved in London's vibrant music culture as possible. I do also spend a sizeable chunk of my time watching football, and I've recently taken up indoor bouldering.