Olivia S.

Hello! I am originally from Italy and have lived in London for the past 7 years. I have a passion for both languages and Maths and I’ve been teaching Maths for 3 years. My students describe me as a really patient person who explains things very clearly in a way that makes sense. I focus on building confidence and nailing exam technique. I attended a language secondary school in Italy, where I studied English, German and French as foreign languages. I then got my BA in Sociology and Politics at Goldsmiths University of London. After that, I trained to be a teacher through Teach First, achieved my QTS and went on to get my PGDE. I have been teaching at a school in Bromley for the past 3 years, and since last year I also took on the role of KS3 Lead within the Maths department, which has allowed me to develop my leadership skills.

I’m someone who is curious, motivated, and always eager to learn. I’m currently studying an undergraduate degree in Cybersecurity at university, and I really enjoy the challenge of exploring new ideas and developing practical skills that I can use in the real world. I like learning from constructive feedback because it keeps me motivated and helps me improve, both personally and academically. Outside of my studies, I have a range of interests that I’m passionate about. I enjoy reading, as it gives me a chance to explore new perspectives and ideas. I also like staying up to date with technology—I find it fascinating how quickly things change and how innovation affects our daily lives. I’m also someone who values keeping active, so I make time to go to the gym regularly. It helps me stay focused, disciplined, and energised. I like challenges and enjoy pushing myself out of my comfort zone. For example, in Sixth Form, I chose to study Business and Law without any prior experience. It was tough at first, but fully committing to it taught me resilience, adaptability, and the importance of perseverance. I’ve found that these qualities carry over into all areas of my life, whether it’s learning something new, staying disciplined, or taking on responsibilities. Overall, I’m a person who enjoys learning, growing, and taking on challenges. I like activities that stretch me mentally and physically, and I’m motivated by opportunities that allow me to develop myself and make the most of my potential. I successfully completed my GCSEs, as well as Level 3 BTECs in Business, Law, and IT, achieving two Distinction* grades and one Distinction. In addition, I was awarded an IT certificate in Year 13, which helped deepen my knowledge and practical skills in technology. I am currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Cybersecurity at University, where I am continuing to build my expertise in IT and develop my understanding of digital security. My education has provided a strong foundation in both academic knowledge and practical skills, preparing me for further challenges and professional growth.

I have over 20 years teaching experience. I have a Cambridge DELTA teaching certificate. I have taught EFL in several countries, including Chile, Brazil, and Italy. My students range from primary school children to adults, from A1 level to university pre-sessional courses. I have prepared university students for General English and Master's preparation courses in Business English, HRM, and STEM courses. I do not teach English Literature at GCSE level. I also have a Master's degree in Spanish and Italian. I have tutored these languages since graduating in 2010. I lived 10 years in Chile and around 5 years in Italy, which deepened my knowledge of the languages. Lower Level: English, Spanish, Italian GCSE: Spanish, Italian A-Level: Spanish, Italian Higher Level: Business English, EFL, English for Academic Purposes Exam Experience: AQA GCSE, IELTS, BULATS, TOEFL and Cambridge English exams of all levels. Languages: English - native Spanish - MA Advanced Italian - MA Advanced Portuguese - Intermediate Preferred age group: Spanish Young learners up to GCSE and adult learners. Italian Young learners up to GCSE and adult learners. English language - Young learners. English EFL - all ages and levels. In my free time, I love to go to language exchanges to maintain my foreign language skills. I enjoy dancing salsa and bachata. I also do stand up and improv comedy for fun. 2024 ITI Training Institute. DELTA (Pass with Merit) - Level 7 Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages. 2017 Instituto Cervantes. - ELE Spanish teacher training course. 2010 The University of Leeds. MA Audiovisual Translation. - Master's degree in translation and subtitling from Spanish and Italian to English. 2008 UP Language Consultants. CELTA - Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages. 2006 The University of Hull. BA Joint Honours in Spanish and Italian.

--- About Me! --- I'm Danny, a 4th year physicist at the University of Edinburgh, currently undergoing a research year abroad working on a thesis at GSI/FAIR, a facility for high energy physics. My work involves a lot of programming, knowledge of physics, and application of engineering and design principles. I love inspiring others and talking about my subject, so any student who comes my way will hopefully leave feeling confident, ready for common exam questions, and most importantly, wanting to learn more beyond their curriculum. I play the violin to a diploma standard, love trying out new cooking recipes (sometimes with disastrous consequences), and really enjoy mountain sports, like climbing and hiking. --- My Education --- As mentioned above, I am a physicist at the University of Edinburgh on a year in industry at GSI. I am working on the upcoming DIRC particle detectors for the PANDA project and the EIC at Brookhaven (google these things, in my opinion they are very cool). This research of course involves knowing a bunch about programming, mathematics and physics! I achieved 4 A* grades at A-Level, in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Music, with the WJEC exam board. For these grades, I abused my poor printer, drilling past paper questions endlessly, so I am very familiar with this specific curriculum. However, mathematics and physics are very similar across all exam boards. There are common questions in every exam, and your child will become familiar and confident with these questions with me, ideally able to reproduce 'stock answers' with a high level of understanding and speed. This saves time in exams and guarantees easy marks; this is a major step in reducing exam anxiety, and one of the main strategies I used to achieve my marks. I taught a STEM program at a US summer camp. It was much more of a 'for fun' thing, so we focused on making classes lightweight and enjoyable, rather than drilling worksheets and past paper questions. As such, I won't exclusively bore tutees to death with math problems! I pride myself on being able to break down concepts into simple to understand analogies. I am also a huge advocate for using past questions as revision material. However, I recognise the importance for students to balance time spent on questions with going over textbook concepts.