Benjamin

I was born in the real Newcastle and grew up in Manchester, attending a local grammar school and pursuing my passion for academics and sport to Durham University.

In my teenage years, I had the privilege of representing England at Mens Lacrosse, and I was awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Sports Scholarship to continue playing this sport at university for the most successful team outside of North America, which I captained in my final year.

Following my university studies and my year abroad experiences, I stayed in the North-East with my wife and pursued a gruelling year of school-based teacher training.

This nearly broke me. But I pressed on.

To my surprise and delight, I was asked following a successful interview to commence teaching at Sherborne School as my ''first proper teaching job.''

I stayed at the school following teacher qualification, pursuing different aspects of school life - notably in pastoral care as a boarding house assistant housemaster. It was a challenging and rewarding job, one that provides opportunity to pursue the work of teaching and mentoring young people.

Since August 2023, I have begun work as an 'Artisan' at the Institut auf dem Rosenberg in Switzerland. I continue to enjoy opportunities to expand my teacher toolkit, so to speak. Teaching is my vocation and I enjoy every opportunity to help people learn and progress.

The work of a teacher to improve a student extends beyond the lesson and their influence reaches beyond the classroom. Exam preparation and success is inescapable and I help students become as confident and competent as possible.

But education also consists of something more than stressful tests under exam conditions. After all, we are jigsaw pieces that must find the place in the puzzle where we discover our deepest satisfaction and most meaningful contribution.

I not only help pupils prepare for exams, but I also guide pupils on this journey to uncover, harness, and apply unique talents and interests to their lives, families, and local communities – hopefully to become those who make a positive difference.

In different contexts and subjects, I point to the world with its many and varied problems, asking the questions: “What can you fix? What can you build?” This vision is the WHY behind my work.

My teaching philosophy is pupil-centered - I design my materials, my lessons, and my teaching delivery around the individual with whom I am working. I have lots of experience and professional interest in making language-learning both accessible and intrinsic (i.e. in the long-term memory).

I also offer expertise with study-skills (revise hard AND smart), memory and applied cognitive science, in order to best help my students to remember and practice knowledge (be it historical facts or a foreign language) in such a way that communication becomes easy and enjoyable.

As a passionate, professional, and expert tutor, I balance confidence-building, motivation, academic rigour, and high expectations to ensure a challenging but enjoyable learning journey.

Family. Reading. Weightlifting. Cooking. Language-learning. Painting. Storywriting.

When I have the headspace and margin (sometimes difficult as a father of four), I identify something difficult yet profoundly interesting on the edge of my comfort zone - say, juggling on a unicycle or a black belt in judo - and work to improve my skills in that area.