Athena Loizou

Growing up, my mum worked as a babysitter and I often helped out, especially with younger children, I loved sitting and helping the children read, sound out words and discover books for the first time. This experience taught me how important patience and encouragement are, especially when building those early skills.

Once discussed what the student needs I will create lesson plans ahead of time so each student knows what we will be going through (with room and space to ask questions and discuss personalised questions) but here is an overview on what a lesson could include:

Primary Students:
- Early reading support (phonics, comprehension and spelling)
- Fun engaging sessions to make English feel exciting - phonics bingo, spelling races, word hunts, picture books/flashcards, student choosing the book to read etc.
- Mixing reading and writing tasks
- Help with creative writing and building vocabulary (writing prompts, mountain planner, develop narrative voice)
- Friendly approach like a big sister or mentor
- Help breaking down homework and SATs style questions
- Providing feedback for the student's work

Secondary Students
- Support with essay structure, analysis and revision skills
- Connecting English concepts to things they know : lyrics, social media, films or current issues
- Encouraging debate/opinion - eg. Do you agree with this character?...
- Help with Shakespeare (Macbeth and Twelfth Night), Poetry (both unseen and set) and Set Texts (For GCSE - I studied Lord of The Flies and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde but I am happy to do other texts too)
- Focused, exam-aware tutoring {from someone who just did the exams}
- Clear explanations with real examples and space to ask questions
- Showing my own love for english
- Providing feedback for the student's work