Having spent most of my career working in primary and prep schools in the UK, I have had the privilege of working with many students and families on their academic journey. I have taught Year 2 – Year 8 students, specialising in the 11+ process and Senior English (Years 5-8). I first joined the Dukes Education family in Learning & Development, helping our staff with their own teaching and learning. I moved into Dukes Tutoring earlier this year, which has allowed me to bring my passion of creating environments where both teachers and students to thrive in the learning, placing the students at the heart of everything we do.
I truly believe that every child can achieve academic success. Having learnt under Professor Martin Seligman at school myself in Australia, and gaining accreditation as a Positive Education teacher, I know that given the right environment, all children can flourish. I am proud that we have partnered with High Performance Learning to bring their pedagogical approach into our teaching approaches at Dukes Tutoring.
If I could give one tip to any parent is to try and engage their children with reading at any opportunity. A love of reading (and learning) is the pillar for success in my opinion. I have taught countless children who have said, “I don’t like reading!” which is such a shame. I believe that they just haven’t found the right book to get them started. Reading allows children of all ages to escape into another universe and let their imagination run wild. It allows for academic challenge and curiosity to take over. I believe it teachers discipline and patience in today’s fast paced digital world. I encourage you to pop into your local bookshop with your child and have a conversation with the sales team. Or, please do reach out to us and our team of experts are happy to provide suggestions. We are always updating our Dukes Tutoring recommended reading list, so please do reach out if your child has read a book that they simply couldn’t put down.
My favourite book as an adult is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I could spend a whole month teaching an English unit around that opening paragraph alone! As a child, I loved ‘Katie’s Art Gallery’ because of the totally unique storyline. It totally captured my imagination that we could ‘fall into’ another world. On that, another thing that I really encourage parents to do with their child is to take them to art galleries. Again, this allows your child’s imagination and creativity to take over, and intellectually challenges them in the process. Read more about that here.
At Dukes Tutoring, we deeply care about our students and their learning, we deliver excellent results and bring over 15 years of experience and expertise with us. However, what truly makes us unique is that we are powered by Dukes Education, the largest Independent schools’ group in the UK. We have access to some of the best thought leaders in the industry. By being a part of Dukes Plus, we are there for your throughout your academic journey, from your first entry point into school, to helping you navigate the next steps out of school or College.
Please do reach out if you would like to chat about how we can support your child, it would be my pleasure. You can call me on 020 3488 0754 or email info@dukestutoring.com.
