Leighton Buzzard English Tutor-Michelle Weaving

I offer English tuition at GCSE and A-Level, as well as ESOL.

I specialise in examination preparation for English Lang /Lit GCSE and A-Levels.

I am a PGCE-qualified English language, literature and ESOL teacher with ten years of teaching experience. I have a B. A. (Hons. ) degree in English Language and Literature for which I won a 2: 1. I am also a registered examiner with CIE (Cambridge International Examinations); the IB (International Baccalaureate) and am DBS cleared.

I teach all levels: primary, secondary (KS3), GCSE English Language and Literature, A-Level Language, Literature and Lang. /Lit and university.

I also teach ESOL (including Business English), and the 11 + .

All sessions (excluding A-Level): £40 per hour

A-Level: £45 per hour.


Please see my 'photos' for reviews (taken from the 'First Tutors' website).

The first session with your son or daughter is an assessment session. Based on this, I create an eight-week learning plan, comprised of learning objectives tailored to your child's needs. English skills are not something that can be mastered in one session, and for this reason, I revisit and revise skills that are lacking session to session. I also set weekly homework which is marked-with feedback-in time for the next session. If support with school /college coursework or homework is needed, we will focus on that in sessions too. I provide all learning resources apart from stationery.

Tutoring takes place in a dedicated room in my house, in which the only other people resident are my husband who is a chemistry teacher at Aylesbury High School (and, thus, DBS cleared too) and my baby daughter.

I offer sessions of duration of an hour minumum, increasing in quarterly hour increments for anything up to three hours (i. e. a session of an hour and a quarter could be catered for).

I can either be your child's primary English teacher, or serve as an adjunct to the English teaching they are currently receiving in school or college.

I have very high standards for myself and my students, whatever their current capability and achievement level might be.

I take preparation for public examinations very seriously-particularly with regards to GCSE English Language which is a core qualification. I am accustomed to supporting those students who are retaking this exam for the second or third time.

I am experienced in teaching English Language and English Literature for all boards (AQA, OCR, WJEC, Edexcel, CIE, IB), all tiers (e. g. Foundation /Higher) and most specs (i. e. Spec A or Spec B) at both GCSE and A-Level.

I am also very familiar with preparing ESOL learners for the IELTS, TOEFL and Trinity.

I have a keen sense of differentiation which means that whether it is moving students from a 'D' to a 'C' grade, or pushing a student from an 'A' to an 'A*', I can break down to the student exactly what it is they need to do in order to cross the grade boundary. An intimidating examination essay question that a student is convinced he /she has no hope of answering can be approached systematically, with guidance from myself, so that a student can always gain some marks at least.

I believe that thorough knowledge of assessment criteria is a must-both for myself and my student. Unless a student knows what is required of them to win an 'A*' or a 'C', how will they get it?

With regards to all English qualifications, I believe two key skills-often neglected-is effective planning and self-editing when writing any kind of text-be it creative (narrative /descriptive-writing) or analytical (essay-writing). I have a wealth of resources, created by myself, which assist my students in honing these vital elements of the writing process.

Another skill that students also quite often need support with is analysis, particularly when writing 'Explanation' /'Analysis' sentences in PEEL paragraphs. Improving this can lead to a significant jump in marks.

I care a lot about my students, and do my utmost to ensure sessions are not intimidating and are fun.