Kathryn G

I have been teaching since 2001, solely in the independent sector and spanning across international schools in the Far East, Middle East and Europe, plus independent prep schools and bilingual schools in the UK. My experience totals over 20 years and stretches from early childhood to lower secondary age groups, I have been a private tutor and Governess for the last 8 of those years. I specialise in preparing students for 4+ assessments, 7+ and 11+ entrance exams as well as general primary or KS3 English and EAL support. I am knowledgeable across UK, US and international curricula, with particular expertise in inquiry and concept based learning as a result of my International Baccalaureate Organisation training, as well as early years. My education philosophy is social constructivist and therefore I love most of all to explore humanities and science topics through hands on investigation combined with the Socratic method and supported by Harvard thinking routines to provoke higher order thinking. However, for the four pillars of entrance exam preparation in English, Maths and Reasoning, I structure lessons with the necessary direct instruction followed by joint then independent application. I try to incorporate games where possible to make the learning fun and interactive, and I always start with an initial assessment to ascertain gaps in knowledge or skills before tailoring an individual plan of action to reach set goals. My masters degree specialised in language and literacy as well as child development, and my TEFL training involved a lot of grammatical learning, so I have a solid knowledge of how to grow children’s English skills. In my free time I love to play guitar and keyboard, sing and write songs. My natural flair and passion for creativity has a positive influence on my students creative writing and understanding of poetry.