Information About Alva - Bray tutor

Personal Description:

I am based in Shankill, Dublin 18 with nine years teaching experience. I am Head of English in a private secondary school in Dublin and truly love teaching here. Previously I've taught in Dubai for 5 years and this is my second year back at home. I coach a Debating team in my current school and I used to be a ski instructor too. After completing my English degree I went on to achieve a PGDE in English (Post Graduate Diploma in Education) and later achieved a distinction in a Masters in Education.

Tutoring Experience:

I taught English and Geography in Ireland for two years before moving to Dubai, where I taught English within the British curriculum GCSE and A-Levels. The school environments in Dubai are very intense with high pressure, this has led me to being even more organised and thorough as I was before and I've gained experience that has improved my teaching enormously. I have experience marking A-Level examinations, and I now teach English full-time, and I am also Head of the department. My students have consistently achieved strong academic results in State exams, including 2024.

Approach to Grinds:

The format of my grind lessons is created on an individual basis with each student. In our first lesson, I will always start by figuring out what area the student wants to target, what their goals are and where they believe their strengths and weaknesses lie. Then I will do some Paper 1 Language work with them to get an idea of their ability and we will go from there. I only give homework when I really think it is necessary, but I will always suggest work that I think they will benefit from practising. As a grinds teacher, my role is to support the student with what they are learning in school, and not to teach new material that may add confusion.