Joanna

Tutoring Experience

My teaching career spans a decade and over this time I have worked my way up through various roles including Chemistry teacher, Head of Science, Assistant Principal for Curriculum and I am currently the Director of Sixth Form and Assistant Headteacher in a leading Independent School in the North of England.

I am accountable for performance in terms of examination results, successful university applications and preparing students to embark on their personal and professional lives beyond school. I have extensive experience in editing and drafting UCAS personal statements and UCAS references and supporting preparation for university entrance tests with our candidates gaining places for medicine, dentistry, veterinary surgery, Oxford and Cambridge as well as other highly competitive courses. Over 80% of our students gain a place at their first-choice university and our examination performance places us in the Times Top 10 schools in the North of England.

As part of the Senior Leadership Team, I contribute to strategic decisions affecting 1800 students from ages 3 to 19. But I continue to enjoy spending time in the classroom where I teach the full A level chemistry course (AQA) and use the well provisioned school laboratories to continue my own research designing novel and thought-provoking experiments to engage students. Many of these have been published during my tenure as the regular science writer for Teach Secondary magazine (DC Thompson). My writing for the teachers has also been featured on the BBC News channel and I publish a wide range of science resources for GCSE and A level on TES as Professor Bunsen. As a Team Leader Examiner for OCR I have marked and supervised the marking of others in A level Chemistry (including Salter’s) and A level Law.

During my teaching career, I have been designated a Specialist Leader in Education and hold numerous professional memberships including Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Assembly member of the Association for Science Education, Member of the Chartered College of Teaching, and member of the Society of Authors. Prior to teaching I was a qualified Solicitor and practiced in Magic Circle Law firm Slaughter and May and I still hold a current Solicitor’s Practising Certificate.

Tutoring Approach

As a teacher I consider myself to be kind and patient. I adapt readily to different learning styles, including students with disability or neurodivergence, and try to approach the subject with you in the way that will get the best results for you. I am aspirational for all my students. I recognise that students who are seeking additional support and encouragement want to do well and to be the best that they can be. I have an extensive bank of resources that I have produced and written myself and honed over the years from which I can draw to share and support your learning and to ensure that you have something from our sessions that you can refer to and revise from later.

Pre – U, A Level Chemistry, and GCSE Chemistry
A session with me will follow a structure you may be familiar with, similar to a lesson but where all the attention is on you. The following is an example but can be adapted to suit what works for you, or what you are trying to get out of the session.

• Warm up activity which may recap, repeat, or provide feedback on work from an earlier session.
• A teaching component where I will explain a concept or a section of syllabus or work through problems stepwise to show you how they are done.
• Practice activity where you can test your own new knowledge under guidance.
• Cool down activity which may involve setting further practice or reading ready for the next session.

BMAT/UCAS personal statement/Oxbridge

If you are looking for support towards an application for admission to a highly competitive university such as Oxford or Cambridge or a course such as medicine, I can support with:

BMAT preparation including coaching and marking your essays and supporting you with the knowledge for section 2 that you may not be studying to A level. Coaching for stronger essay includes oral debate and skills in planning and how to build a cogent and coherent argument. English language support can be offered for essay writing where English is not a first language.

Writing personal statements – I have supported students with many hundreds of UCAS personal statements, and I can help you to construct a unique representation of your finest characteristics, skills and attributes in 4000 characters! A personal statement writing session would include an extensive discussion about you based on a wide range of questions I have put together from which we can then start to build your personal statement. We can identify potential ‘holes’ in your application and devise ways that you can go away and plug these for example using wider reading or gaining further experience. English language support can be offered for personal statements where English is not a first language.

Interview practice – In my main academic area of expertise – Chemistry – I can provide interview practice which, based on my own academic experience, can be particularly tailored to the University of Oxford.