"Tutors have come and gone in this house - maths, physics, etc. but none of them can hold a candle to you, Alan. I sincerely mean this, you are outstanding in your approach, your methodology and sheer determination to get the very best from your students. You give so much more than any other tutor but I don't think you realise this."
- Janice McDougall, Erskine
With over ten years of private tuition experience, a trusted reputation and an exceptional exam record, I offer a professional child-centred service that utilises modern pedagogical methods. Harnessing the enthusiasm your son or daughter has for particular interests, individually tailored materials and familiar contexts are used to engage and equip tutees with the necessary concepts and skills. Much more than a weekly revision of classwork, the tuition works in tandem with school-based learning to enable tutees to realise connections and correspondences that not only cement learning but also seek to directly demonstrate how concepts and skills transfer. Alongside weekly face-to-face sessions, I strive to provide 'wrap-around' support during term-time with tutees encouraged to seek help and advice remotely when necessary, and by copying you into all correspondence you can easily track effort and progress.
Supplementary work is provided between sessions to reinforce key teaching points and positive written feedback targets areas for improvement.
Sessions are priced at £35 and last 75 minutes.
'Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation' (RUAE) is frequently the area students find the most problematic, and a unique approach has been developed that seeks to account for the challenges today's teenagers face when confronted with a piece of extended text. Using a variety of different texts (many with subjects corresponding to your child's hobbies and interests), tutees are taught to 'scaffold' reading through annotation. By seeking to narrow the psychological gap between reading and writing, I aim to make the reading process more active and dynamic. This technique also acts to build confidence by allowing tutees to literally see their progress: they come to appreciate that even before turning to a passage's questions, they have already identified the features those questions will examine them on.
To develop critical reading, Kilmarnock English Tuition again turns to subjects related to your child's interests. Material drawn from song lyrics, films, TV shows or console games is often used. This allows tutees to learn how to deploy technical vocabulary to analyse and evaluate texts familiar to them. It also demonstrates the purpose of learning these skills, showing how understanding and enjoyment of texts they choose to encounter on a daily basis can be enhanced. Critical essay writing is taught within this framework, leading to essays on topics as diverse as the use of imagery in Taylor Swift's songwriting and character development in Grand Theft Auto V. Once the fundamentals of textual analysis and essay writing are in place, we move on to detailed analysis of class texts.
Regardless of whether tutees are studying for National 5 or Higher, the portfolio of writing is a sizeable proportion of their final grade. This course work is submitted to the SQA before May. Whilst ensuring that the tutee maintains ownership over their writing, the tuition helps structure the production process and teaches around it. For example, time is taken to consider folio pieces by previous tutees as we discuss examples of good folio pieces and the elements that contribute to their success - high quality research, solid paragraphing, an immersive introduction and expressive use of stylistic techniques.
I strongly believe that producing an independent piece of work does not mean that the skills necessary to produce that work should be considered innate.