Paola Hagen-Zanker Hagen-Zanker

I have lots of experience in tutoring and mentoring. Before starting university, I was responsible for helping other students with English Literature, English Language and French GCSE. I helped develop an analytical framework to understand set texts, and broke down exam schemes and model answers with them. This helped students understand how to approach the exam with more confidence.

Beyond academic studies, I have also offered music tuition in guitar and piano to younger students, as part of a free music outreach scheme. It was a very rewarding job, watching the kids who had never played an instrument at the start of the term proudly performing their pieces on their new instruments in front of classmates and teachers.

I have also taught English to KS2 students, working on reading aloud and reading comprehension. I had to closely listen to the students, and keep the lessons engaging and interactive. Some of the younger students initially lacked confidence to read aloud, but they made a lot of progress with me.

My lessons focus on gaining an understanding in content and how to apply this to an exam setting. I focus on positive reinforcement, identifying where the students strengths lie and how to apply them to their subject. There are lots of opportunities for the students to tailor the lessons to their needs, and what they believe needs the most focus, with lots of opportunities for them to ask questions at any point. Beyond tutoring, I have also run workshop style discussions with younger students studying for their A Levels, doing Q&As about my experiences applying to Oxbridge.