Lower Secondary
French

I spent my childhood reading books, and I have always been in love with words.

I grew up in Southern France, and being introduced to English and Spanish as foreign languages opened a whole new world for me, one where I relished learning new ways of expressing myself and connecting with others. Through studying literature and languages, I feel that I can better understand different people, cultures, and perspectives.

The rest of my studies were motivated by my passion for languages and a desire to teach them. Being a native speaker of French, I took a degree in English. This enabled me to study the complexities of the French and English languages and cultures in detail.

I moved to England in 2005 and worked as a Foreign Language assistant near Birmingham. During this period, I perfected my spoken English and began to take an interest in a career in teaching French as a foreign language. I took a PGCE course in 2007 and have, since then, worked as a French teacher in the Midlands, the Lake District, and London.

I am a caring teacher, and I love helping my students progress by providing helpful feedback and advice.

In addition to teaching French, I lead yoga classes for children, teenagers, and adults. I have found this practice to provide great tools to cope with the pressures of the modern world.

Outside of my professional role, I love spending time in nature with my family and creating art and crafts.

I look forward to meeting you and working with you on your French course!

I’ve always enjoyed learning languages, thanks to many holidays in France and Spain with my family. I began learning French and German when I started school, and I’ve never looked back. I can speak French, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese for good measure. I always tell people that I have a lot to say…

I taught in a Specialist Language College for eight years, having introduced Italian to the school, a popular language with students. But I decided to leave the teaching profession, following the arrival of my daughter, and yes, she now speaks French!

I’ve chosen to work as a Tutor part time rather than teach in school. As a result I now have many students of all ages, and I enjoy the opportunity for the one to one contact this affords. I took my BA in French at the University of Hull, but I was lucky to be able to take extra modules in Spanish, Japanese, Italian and German. I must admit that once I started learning one language, the rest became much easier, including Japanese

As part of my degree course, I spent the year working in France as an English Language Assistant in a French Lycée. I lived in Périgueux in the Dordogne, the home of truffles and foie gras, which I can highly recommend for a visit. I taught students of different ages from 16 to 24, mostly studying for the International Baccalaureate. This experience inspired me to become a teacher of Modern Languages.

I took my PGCE at the University of York and trained at schools in Scarborough and Richmond in North Yorkshire. Following this, I started working at Horbury School near Wakefield for eight years. During my time as a teacher, I ran trips abroad to France and Germany which was a wonderful experience.

As a Mum I most enjoy spending time with my husband and daughter. My daughter keeps me busy but very happy. I’m currently learning Chinese so that I can offer to teach it, in addition to the fact that I love languages. I also enjoy art, and sewing when it’s safe to do so (and I don’t have my daughter on my lap!). I like music, especially some of the French rock bands, great music for the car!

I am very happy to be a tutor for Wolsey Hall Oxford and it’s all because of those family holidays that I am here to share my passion for languages.

Hello! My name is Claire; I live in London with my husband, two children and house-bunny, Twiglet. I’m a French Tutor here at Wolsey Hall.

First let me tell you a little about me. I was born in France, near Arras, Pas-de-Calais, but have a Polish family and my grandad served in the RAF in the UK during World War 2. I grew up in France and have always loved learning languages, so I studied English at Arras University and got a Diploma in teaching French as a foreign language too. I then finished my degree at the University of Swansea on an Erasmus student exchange program. I started my career, as a Secondary French teacher in London, where I taught Years 7 to 11 and became the Head of the French department. Over the years I have marked exams for exam boards, conducted official orals and been a part of the rewriting of a French course book. After I had children, I wanted to work from home and have a flexible schedule, so I started teaching French online with the Open University, and I still do. Being part of the distance learning world for over 15 years has given me a real understanding of the joys and challenges it brings. I have also tutored children from as young as six to retirees who have relocated to France.

Some fun facts about me: I volunteered at the London Olympics at a couple of different venues to interpret for athletes and the Press. It was great fun! I love to travel because I enjoy immersing myself in new and beautiful cultures, and I play the piano. My husband is very proud that I work for Wolsey Hall because he is South African and Nelson Mandela studied with Wolsey Hall! My daughter Joy-Anna did her IGCSE’s with Wolsey Hall which means I have a good understanding of how students feel on their courses, but I can also relate well to how parents feel when their children are homeschooled. I am a real believer in home education.

I believe learning languages isn’t just about putting letters and words together; it’s about new cultures and opening your mind to new things. I want to introduce and encourage an experience for my students that is bigger than just books and rules.

I look forward to helping you enjoy the French or German languages as much as I do! My life-long love of Modern Languages began at school and then took me on to study French and German at Oxford University where I obtained an MA. The third year of my degree course saw me living and working in Köln where I taught as an English language assistant in a grammar school, business English to adults at the Cathedral language school and even at a farm machinery factory! I also spent three summers working for a travel company in Paris and the Vendée region of France.

After leaving university, I pursued a career in marketing but, over time, found that I wasn’t getting as much opportunity to use my languages as I would have liked. I began to turn my thoughts to teaching and found that I really enjoyed working with students as a private Tutor, helping them to boost their confidence and enjoyment of languages. My students and I have great fun together as they overcome any language inhibitions they have. It has been fantastic to see many of them achieve higher grades than they initially expected. Several students have gone on to study languages at university, and it has been great to see their love of languages lead them in the same direction as myself!

Once both of my young daughters were at school, I began to study for a PGCE in Modern Languages with the Open University. As a distance learning course, this gave me a great insight into the benefits (and challenges!) of home study. I know what it’s like to be studying alone at home and you can be sure that I will be ready to give you just the support you might need! I have taught both German and French to students in Primary and Secondary schools around Oxfordshire but now focus my work on tutoring. I enjoy the opportunity this gives me to work closely with many different students and love being able to tailor how I teach to suit their different needs and learning styles.

When I’m not tutoring, I love to travel with my husband and children. It’s wonderful introducing my children to other European cultures, and listening to them trying out a little of the local language! When I’m at home, I love nothing more than a great book, terrific food or a good film. Being based in the beautiful Cotswolds, I never have to go far to enjoy a great country walk and spectacular views.

I am delighted to be a languages Tutor for Wolsey Hall Oxford and very much look forward to working with you.

Bonjour! I am a strong believer in learning a foreign language as early as possible. I work with Primary and Secondary Level children starting French as a new journey from as early as Years 1-6. I find it so rewarding, fulfilling and challenging in many different ways. Learning must be fun too in order to make progress quickly.

How did I end up living in Great Britain? It is very simple. When I was 11, I had an enthusiastic and amazing English teacher in France. That was it, a true revelation! At the end of that first ever lesson, I knew I wanted English to become part of my life. At the same time, I was inspired to become a teacher. Et voila le résultat!

For my degree, I studied English and Spanish in my home-town, Besancon. Besancon is a beautiful, multicultural city of history, architecture and food. I enjoyed studying so much that I carried on with a Masters in Linguistics and French as a Foreign Language. I took the opportunity to explore and study Chinese and Russian, and I thrived on the challenges. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of learning and the theory behind language teaching. I understand the difficulties facing language learners and I believe a firm understanding of grammar is the foundation for success.

After ten years working in schools in Warwickshire and Leicestershire, I took a break to raise my family. But I still enjoyed teaching in other ways, with adult conversation classes and tutoring Primary and Secondary school children. I currently work for a local school where I teach and support our A Level students.

In my spare time I love reading a wide range of literature, history in particular. I enjoy walking and trekking, and I’m lucky enough to live in the beautiful Cotswolds where public paths are never far away. I love the challenge of wild swimming (mainly in France), and scuba diving where I explore the British coastlines, with their myriad of marine life and historical wrecks.

I am thrilled to be a part of the Wolsey Hall Oxford team and I cannot wait to join you in your learning adventure.

Allez! On commence!

I’ll tell you a secret…

I never planned to be a teacher. But, every career test and values assessment I have ever done confirm that my strengths and interests are best suited to life as an educator.

So, here I am: a curious and sociable teacher with a love of learning; and, I am happy to guide you along your learning journey.

I grew up in North Wales, where being bilingual in Welsh and English is commonplace. My first language is English but I studied Welsh alongside French and German at school. At the time, music was my first love but I decided to keep singing as a hobby and pursue my love of language-learning at university.

I chose to study French at Bangor University, where I took up Spanish ab initio. I’d always been intrigued by Hispanic culture – the music, dance, food and siestas – and the language didn’t disappoint. My year spent studying abroad was one of the best of my life and further cemented my love of languages.

Soon after graduating, I returned to university to train as a secondary school teacher whilst simultaneously working as a fitness instructor!

I spent the next 20 years working in both education, as a Modern Language teacher, and health & fitness where I continue to enjoy life as a yoga teacher.

These two careers have worked seamlessly side-by-side and have even crossed over on more than one occasion through teaching yoga in schools.

Over time, my teaching style has evolved – partly thanks to my yoga practice. Having worked alongside students with dyslexia and other learning needs for many years, my approach is extremely student-centred with an emphasis on developing the whole pupil while stretching and challenging pupils just the right amount.

I am so happy to be part of the team at Wolsey where the ethos is very much in line with mine.