Faizel

Academic History

2014-2015 Headteacher at a British International School, developing the curriculum from Reception through to Year 8

2013–2014 Optima Genesis Leadership & Management Development Programme

ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management), London

2005 – PGCE: Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Ages 5 – 11)

London South Bank University

2004 –TEFOL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)

Regent College, London

2000-2001 MA: Master’s in Childhood and Youth Development

University of Natal (UND)

1999 – Honours in Criminology

University of Cape Town (UCT)

1996-1998 BSocSc: Bachelor of Social Science

University of Cape Town (UCT)

About Me

I am an experienced teacher and private tutor with over 20 years in education, including nine years at Wetherby School in Notting Hill, one of London’s leading prep schools. During my time there, I supported many boys through successful entry to highly competitive London day schools such as St Paul’s Juniors, Westminster Under, King’s Wimbledon and others.

Since leaving the classroom, I have worked privately with families on a 1:1 basis, continuing to prepare pupils for entry to top schools including St Paul’s Girls’, Harrow, Dulwich, Eton, Godolphin & Latymer, Latymer Upper and more. I am very familiar with the expectations of selective London schools and specialise in building the academic foundations, confidence and study habits children need to perform well in entrance assessments and beyond.

My specialist subjects are Mathematics, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. I also support children in developing strong study skills, focus and independent learning habits. I work in a calm, structured and encouraging way, adapting my approach to each child so that learning feels both achievable and engaging.

Alongside academic preparation, I place strong emphasis on helping children develop the mental and emotional skills that support learning – such as focus, resilience, organisation and self-belief. This means pupils are not only well prepared for assessments and school demands, but are also equipped with the inner tools they need to approach challenges calmly and perform at their best. Parents value this holistic approach because it supports both excellent results and long-term confidence.

Recent tuition

Please find below a snapshot of my tuition experience.

I have years of experience of working with children in Nursery and Reception. I have helped children of this age to improve their maths and English skills. In maths, this has involved number work such as: number recognition, counting, addition and subtraction and number formation. In English, this has involved songs and nursery rhymes to improve rhyming, memory recall and use of language. I have also helped pupils to develop their reading and comprehension skills as well as their story telling. I have done this through games and role-play as well as more formal, structured activities.

Reception, Maths and English

I worked with two children (aged 4) who were twins once a week for the past year. We worked through Phonics, Maths and other sections of English to build up their knowledge; they now both attend leading Prep schools in London.

Homeschooling (Aged 5-16)

For the last two years, I have been homeschooling a family of three children aged 5 – 16. This involved planning and delivering the curriculum and ensuring excellent academic progress. The eldest has gained a place at a prestigious arts school for the upcoming academic year. The middle child was struggling with focus and concentration as well as confidence in his academic ability. He made excellent progress and did exceptionally well in his recent school entrance tests. The youngest child was a girl and she wasn’t able to read fluently or write when I first started working with her. She is now reading confidently two years above her age range and working at this level in all subjects – she has been put in the year above her age for this academic year at school – and may be moved up another year depending on how she gets on once school starts.

Year 1 English and Maths (SEN Dyslexia)

This student was dyslexic and struggled with his confidence. After working with him, his enjoyment of school noticeably improved and his marks across English and Maths rose by at least 10%. His parents said he no longer ‘feared’ going to school and that he wanted to complete his work in order to improve.

7+ English and Maths

This student’s maths skills were very good, but he needed help with Creative Writing. In addition to some maths (going over exam style questions), I worked with him on improving his creative writing. This included improving character description and sentence starters. He successfully gained entry to St Paul’s Juniors.

7+ English and Maths

This student was stronger in English and needed some extra help with maths. We worked on concepts such as time, fractions and geometry as well as improving number work skills. Through focusing on these areas and working through exam paper questions, His maths improved markedly and he gained entry to Westminster, which was the school of his choice.

7+ English and Maths

This student was a naturally bright and inquisitive boy. Being a summer baby, we needed to work on focus and concentration during exams. By practising working under timed test conditions, he was able to improve his exam technique and this enabled him to gain entry to King’s College Wimbledon.

8+ Entrance Exam Preparation and Study Skills

I provided intensive and focused work around English and especially maths for a student to help him gain the confidence needed to be successful in his 8+ tests. I also provided interview practice help, and he successfully gained entry to St Paul’s Juniors.

8+ Entrance Exam Preparation and Study Skills

This student needed exam preparation help with Comprehension and Creative Writing – specifically with regard to structuring his writing. 1-to-1 tutoring enabled him to work on this and to improve in these area, and he was offered a place at Westminster.

Year 5 Maths

This student was averaging a ‘C’ in maths when she started working with me. Her parents mentioned that when she was younger she loved maths, but then seemed to ‘hit a wall’. I paid a great deal of attention to uncovering the gaps in her learning and reinforcing these as well as showing her how easy maths can be. Following working with me, she obtained an ‘A’ in maths and her parents (and teacher) reported a marked improvement in her attitude and approach to the subject.

11+ Entrance Exam Preparation and Homework Support

Our varied weekly and bi-weekly sessions covered all areas of the entrance test syllabus for this student. She gained a great deal of self-confidence and went on to do exceptionally well in her tests, gaining entry into Emanuel School.

11+ Entrance Exam Preparation

I worked with this 11+ student to gain successful entry to St. Paul’s Girl’s school. I helped her with English and maths along with interview preparation when she had passed the entry tests. She was strong across all subjects and benefitted from help with technique when tackling more complex questions.

11+ Entrance Exam Preparation

I helped this student gain entry to Latymer Upper School at 11+. He was a naturally gifted mathematician, however, he was not as confident in English. We worked on developing his understanding in Comprehension and focused on improving descriptive writing in order to improve his Creative Writing.

Hobbies and Interests

Sport, following trends in Education and spending time with my family.

Client Testimonials

“Faizel has formed a wonderful bond with our children. His calm style, warm demeanour and logical approach to teaching has been an instant success and we are delighted with progress. I would happily recommend Faizel to any family looking for a 7+ / 8+ tutor.”

Parent of a Year 1 boy

“Faizel is a top-rate tutor who comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge. He understands the demands of Central London schools and offers a bespoke service tailored to each individual child’s needs. Faizel is the ultimate professional and is meticulous in his planning of each session so that maximum benefit can be gained. Our son is preparing for the ISEB pre-tests and has gained a great deal from the one-to-one sessions with him.”

Parent of a Year 5 boy

“We hired Faizel as a tutor to gauge whether our son would be an appropriate candidate for the 7+ entrance exams to a number of academically selective schools in London. While his significant experience as a senior teacher (and Headteacher) was a major advantage from the outset, we were impressed with the thoroughness with which Faizel approached his role. He covered significant subject content of varying levels of difficulty, demonstrating patience and providing unending encouragement to my son, while providing detailed feedback to us about his progress. This has made a meaningful impact on our son’s confidence and his attitude to learning new concepts. Faizel was always willing to have phone conservations outside tuition hours to answer any questions we had, whether this was specific to subject content or more broader queries regarding schools in general. In what can be a stressful and intense experience for both the child and the parents, Faizel is a valuable partner in the process whom I strongly recommend.”

Parent of 7+ student

“I have been very impressed with the way you engage with my son and get him to up his level of writing in a fun and productive way. You are a very kind, patient and inspiring tutor. You came highly recommended and I am glad to say that my expectations were exceeded.”

Mother of two boys aged 7 and 10