A Level
English Literature online course

I came to teaching later in life, having had a career in the travel industry that allowed me to travel the world and get paid for it.

I have always had a passion for Literature and the theatre that was instilled in me through my own education. Throughout my teaching career, I have taught English Language, Literature, Drama and Media Studies. My great passion is the theatre, notably Shakespeare. I was fortunate enough to gain my MA in Shakespeare and Education from the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford upon Avon. I have been appointed to the education committee of The British Shakespeare Association.

Understanding English Language and Literature is the key to accessing so many other subjects. The analytical and presentational skills the study of English offers can set you up for any future career. Part of my first degree included History and I love the links that can be made with History and Literature.

My teaching experience ranged from senior comprehensive to large independent schools. Every Summer, I spend time in Oxford with a group of American teacher trainers discussing and lecturing on the variations in teaching English Literature in the two countries.

For most of my teaching career, I tutored from home and supported parents who were homeschooling. I firmly believe that there is a different educational route for each individual. It is our job to find a way for that person to access education. There is nothing more rewarding than that “light-bulb” moment. The best decision I made several years ago was to leave teaching in school and focus on tutoring and examining; this decision led me to Wolsey Hall Oxford, where I work with students studying English Language, Literature and History.

I am a Senior Examiner for GCSE, IGCSE and A Level. I appreciate the understanding of the student at the other end of the paper that this gives me. I am still surprised by some of the amazing interpretations I get to read of texts that I thought I knew well.

I have two grown-up children; a son who is a Biochemist but loves to read and a theatrical daughter who loves Shakespeare too. So, along with our two cats and a dog called Gatsby, we are very busy. But we always have time for Literature and theatre. I volunteer at The Globe Theatre in London and spend far too much money on theatre tickets. I am involved with local community theatre and have worked on various productions, including Phantom of the Opera, The Importance of Being Earnest, An Inspector Calls, The Great Gatsby, and several Shakespeare productions over the years.

I am really looking forward to working with you.

I have been teaching since 2003 and previously worked as a Stage Manager in various theatres across the UK. I am now able to combine my love of Drama with my love of literature by working as an English and Drama specialist.

I have taught in various educational settings, including specialist environments for children with visual impairments. I regularly directed and staged full-stage productions, some of which included The Bacchae, Guys & Dolls and Beauty & the Beast.

I have taught online for about two years, and I love that this allows me to connect with students worldwide and gives me the freedom to walk in my local countryside between lessons. I enjoy working one-on-one with students and have been delighted to be part of the UK National Tutoring Programme, which supports children who cannot be in school for a variety of reasons.

I love to be outside in nature, whether walking, growing vegetables or swimming in my local lido. I recently learned to swim and think it’s vital that we keep learning skills throughout life. I am also a writer in my spare time and contribute to Drama and Theatre magazine for teachers, textbooks and my own personal blog.

I have been teaching A level English in sixth form colleges, and privately, for over twelve years. I have also worked on various Oxford summer schools, delivering short courses in Poetry, Shakespeare and Essay Writing and have taught American undergraduates studying modules in Postmodern and Feminist Literature.

I studied English Language and Literature at Oxford University, and then for a Certificate in Further Education teaching because I wanted to specialise in A level teaching. The Oxford degree course takes students from Anglo Saxon poetry through to contemporary literature, but my special area of interest is twentieth century literature, particularly World War One poetry, Modernism, post-war literature, dystopian literature and Postmodernism. I am fascinated by the relationship between texts and the contexts in which they were written and I enjoy the study of literature because of what it tells us about the society we live in. English links to so many other disciplines and there is always something new to learn or some new angle to consider.

English Language brings yet another set of ideas and skills to the table; the connections between language and culture, and the ways in which the language we use shapes our thoughts and values are widely debated topics. Language is one of the defining characteristics of being human. Understanding how we acquire, use and even change it, both as a society and as individuals, tells us a great deal about human nature. As Wittgenstein said, ‘The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.’

I am passionate about breaking all kinds of texts down, analysing how writers (and speakers) create the effects they do. Teaching students to recognise these techniques and to write about them with confidence, is for me, the most rewarding aspect of teaching the subject and I enjoy the challenge of honing my approach to fit the needs of those with whom I am working.

I have been an A level examiner for both English Literature and English Language and Literature, a valuable experience which has helped me give my students the specific advice they need to build on their existing skills and to perform as well as possible in their examinations.

I have been filled with wanderlust from a very young age. After completing an MA in English at St Andrew’s University, followed by a PGCE and a few years of initial teaching, I departed Scotland for adventures in foreign lands. For the past 20 years, I have been teaching, coaching and mentoring in international schools in New Zealand, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Malaysia and, most recently, Bali, Indonesia.

As an English specialist and Head of Department, I have been delivering Cambridge IGCSE and A level for many years and have substantial experience teaching and tutoring students for whom English is not their first language. I have marked for CAIE at all levels. I am a warm, caring and perceptive tutor who enjoys unearthing my students’ literary interests – and also their big dreams for a wild and adventurous life!

For me, the study of literature and language allows us to understand the human experience more deeply. It provides the communication skills necessary to skilfully connect with others, whatever their cultural, economic or social background. Through reading, we get to experience ways of life that would be otherwise unknowable. With this knowledge, we can learn to have a fuller appreciation of what it means to be alive in the 21st Century.

In addition to teaching English, I am an experienced university and career guidance counsellor and life/career transition coach. It is incredibly fulfilling for me to support young people, fellow educationalists and ex-pats from all over the globe on their path to creating meaningful professional and personal lives. Currently, I also volunteer for the Matchlights Scholarship programme that supports high achieving, low-income students with free college counselling.

Outside of my professional roles, I love to go hiking in wild spaces and, after many years in tropical climates, I am currently looking forward to exploring the hills and glens of Scotland on brisk autumn days. I have been a dedicated yogi for over a decade and this year am delighted to be continuing my learning through a year-long Ashtanga teacher training programme. I also enjoy creating healthy bakes with some of the native flours I have been introduced to through my travels, knitting and reading contemporary women’s fiction and memoirs.

I can’t wait to meet you through your English courses and to be your learning companion as we work together to achieve your literary aspirations!

Words are extraordinary things. I love the way they can take you to places you’ve never been, without making you ever leave your own settee. I love the way they can seem to be telling you one thing and actually be saying something else entirely. I love the way that they sound as well as the way they look on the page, in all sorts of languages, especially when someone who really knows what they’re doing sets them to music.

Words might seem odd things to love, but they’ve been a very helpful guide when it’s come to finding interesting things to do with my life. I started off doing an English degree at Keble College, Oxford, reading and writing about the great works of English Literature with the help of some of the great literary minds of the day. When I’d finished my degree in 1988 (gaining a 2:1), I spent my time running bookshops, mainly in Oxford, guiding others towards words that they too could enjoy.

After a decade of doing that, I decided to try my hand at the other side of the book trade, publishing. I did the MA in Publishing at Oxford Brookes University, graduating in 2001 with Distinction, and started looking for jobs. But before I could find one, the university roped me in to teach their new Publishing undergraduates, and that started me on the road to education, which I’ve been travelling along ever since.

I spent four years teaching undergraduates, and then took the PGCE teaching qualification at Oxford Brookes in 2006. Since then I’ve worked exclusively in independent schools, and I’ve had especially enjoyable jobs at two top girls’ schools, South Hampstead High School and Godolphin and Latymer School.

I’ve another string to my bow which might interest you. When I was at Keble, I was part of the team which won University Challenge in 1987; in 2000 I was the winner of another broadcast quiz, Mastermind. That got me involved in setting quiz questions, and I currently write for Brain of Britain, Round Britain Quiz, and Counterpoint. Tune in to BBC Radio 4 on a Monday lunchtime, and you might very well hear my words.

What you’ll also hear or read, when I’m tutoring you, is someone who sees a student’s confidence, and his or her enjoyment of the subject, as at least as important as their knowledge or skills. You can’t acquire either of those things, or hang on to them, unless you’re completely confident in what you’re doing or until you really love it. That’s what I focus on, and that might be why parents and pupils have often called me ‘inspirational’. I hope you think so too.