Sophie

Sophie has 19 years experience teaching English and Latin at leading preparatory and public schools in the south of England. She has extensive knowledge of the transfer process at 13+, having held the role of prep school Director of Studies which involved liaising with senior schools and helping children prepare for interviews as well as overseeing their preparation for Common Entrance and Scholarship examinations in all subjects as well as teaching her own. Sophie has prepared scholarship candidates for Eton; Harrow; Winchester; Marlborough; Wellington; Charterhouse; St. Mary’s, Ascot; Cheltenham Ladies’ College and many other public schools. She also has extensive experience of teaching children with learning support needs and was Head of Learning Support at a prep school for five years.

Sophie is in high demand as a tutor. Her students have enjoyed significant successes in their exams this year and this looks set to continue. Parents have been known to return to Prep School Tutor to seek Sophie’s support for their children once they have moved on to senior school, such is the rapport she is able to build with her tutees and the benefit they gain from her tuition. Sophie specialises in unknotting the difficulties that can so easily occur when Latin is taught in larger classes, and then moving forward through the syllabus at a pace that suits the individual. As an English teacher, her methods for helping children to generate ideas and structure longer pieces of writing are, she has been told, used by her students even once they have moved on to university! She also specialises in teaching reading techniques that allow exam candidates to maintain the focus they need to perform well in comprehension papers, even when under the pressure of an exam situation.

Sophie has a proven track record of obtaining excellent results for pupils in both her specialist subjects. She does this by breaking down the curriculum into manageable sections, smoothing out any problem areas and reminding pupils frequently of the progress that they have made to boost their confidence.

Sophie has been extensively involved in the preparation of candidates for interviews and selection days at academically demanding public schools, including most of the London day schools; she excels at preparing even the most anxious for interview. She has undertaken considerable research into the different approaches to selection taken by different schools and the sorts of questions they ask. Sophie’s method is to equip candidates with the strategies they need to be able to think calmly under pressure so they can answer taxing questions without becoming flustered. She also works hard to ensure that candidates feel they have plenty to talk about by drawing out their interests and enthusiasms in her encouraging preparatory sessions.

Sophie’s aim as a tutor is to prepare her pupils so well that they approach examinations or interviews fearlessly and embrace both as an opportunity to demonstrate who they are and what they know. She aims to give her tutees a love of learning – and even rigorous assessment – that will last for the rest of their lives.

When not teaching, Sophie enjoys spending time, preferably outdoors, with her husband, young son and their Border terrier, Rosie. She loves food and growing and cooking her own vegetables. A good weekend away would include a city break (she lives very rurally) with a visit to a great restaurant and a trip to the theatre.

Qualifications

PGCE Teacher Training, Oxford University

Experience

Farleigh School, Hampshire; Sherborne Preparatory School, Dorset; Canford School, Dorset; Alleyn’s School, Dulwich College; extensive private tuition.