Gino

Academic History

MA Acting (Guildford School of Acting/University of Surrey), 2017-2018 (1st/Distinction)

BA (Hons) Marketing Communications, Bournemouth University, 2012-2016 (Upper 2:1)

Recent tuition

I prepare students for the 7+, 8+ and 11+ Entrance Exams and have successfully helped students get places at top independent schools in London. These include Latymer Upper, Godolphin and Latymer, St Paul’s (Boys), Ibstock Place and Harrodian.

8+ Entrance Exams, Knightsbridge School

I worked with this student for one year to prepare him for the 8+ entrance exams. He had severe ADHD and it took a lot of work to calm him down during lessons and keep him focussed. I did this by setting out a visual timetable of how the lesson would go and he would cross things out as we went. I also gave him regular movement breaks that were timed so he knew when he was allowed to lose focus. We did lots of practice papers initially for me to see his level and then we worked through topic by topic until he mastered them. Props and toys were helpful to him, as well as lots of visual resources. He was high-functioning and Maths came very easily to him but English was tricky because his writing was quite immature. We spent lots of time picking interesting pieces of writing as models and eventually, with the use of visual word mats and other resources, his creative writing improved greatly. We also spent time preparing for the interview.

11+ Entrance Exams, Latymer Upper School

I tutored this student for nearly two years in preparation for the 11+ exams and he successfully secured a place at his chosen school. As he struggled to focus, I wanted the lessons to be engaging so used a lot of props in the lessons, such as flashcards, words mats and timers. We spent a lot of time practising the verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests. As for writing, I found out that he loved cricket so I made the writing about cricket. Once he had learnt the techniques, we ventured away from the theme of cricket and he was able to apply what he had learnt to all avenues of writing, spelling and grammar. By the end of our sessions, he was able to write a really compelling piece of creative writing. He was more passionate about Maths but tended to rush through the questions and skip them if he didn’t know the answer. I helped him to break down questions and master his times tables.

Maths and Phonics, Year 1

I tutor this child every week on Zoom and the progress he has made has been amazing. He can get distracted easily with toys so we use the toys to inform the lesson and help him understand. I use visual representations for him and physical objects so he can count and copy. For phonics, we are working through all the sounds and reading books at his level. We are also working on making inferences from pictures before we read the page, summarising each page as we go, and recapping the book at the end.

Maths and English, Year 3

This child struggles with spelling and forming complex sentences so we have been working together on building these skills. I have lots of tricks to teach children spellings and it always works – her spelling has improved hugely. We read every lesson and talk about the book and then use that to inform our English part of the lesson. As for Maths, she is confident but struggles to spot patterns in numbers so we have been working on that.

English, Year 5

I have tutored this child for nearly a year now and his main weakness has been reading and comprehension. His reading is good but he struggles to answer questions and make inferences from pictures. We are using methods now to help him with this. His creative writing is also below where he is expected to be, so we play games like ‘Fortunately/Unfortunately’ at the start of every lesson and it helps unlock his creativity. I’m still tutoring him now and have seen huge improvements and his parents are very happy.

Maths, Year 6

I tutored this student for two years in preparation for his SATs and he made excellent progress. He achieved Greater Depth, working up from the level of Expected, which was fantastic. He was a child who didn’t feel confident doing multi-step word problems and lateral thinking and I helped him find ways to break the question down to make it easier. Using different coloured pencils really helped him see the key information he needed in the questions. I also always promised to play a game with him afterwards and that was a great incentive.

Hobbies

I have always loved reading because it’s something I can do to relax and focus on a whole world outside of work. I also love to share my knowledge of books with children and help build vocabulary and awareness of authors and genres. I go to the gym as a way to keep fit, play squash regularly and love going on long bike rides with my partner or friends. I’ve also become really interested in cooking now that I have a Thermomix and it’s a game changer! Lastly, I love travelling, exploring new countries and am getting very good at speaking French.

Testimonials