English Tutor

Some students are heading back to school this week after the Easter holidays.
The summer term is always very busy. Whether it’s full of sports days and extra curricular activities, there’s lots of fun things going on this term.
Inevitably, it’s also the term where students have exams. GCSEs and A levels are just around the corner, but those in lower year groups can use this time to refine their revision techniques.
For more information about revision and English tuition for September, get in touch.

This week was my third week back in the classroom having had open heart surgery in January.
Being back in school has been totally amazing. It’s been great seeing all the kids and seeing the change in them from the autumn term.
But I have noticed that more and more of the GCSE students are starting to get anxious about their upcoming exams.

Exam stress is completely normal, especially this year.
Some worry is part of the process, but if it gets too much then it’s important to talk to people about it. Parents and teachers are there to support you through your exams. Talk to them.

Exam Anxiety GCSE and A level exams are creeping around the corner and many students are feeling the pressure. Whether we like it or not, exam anxiety is building and we need to be mindful of that. What can teachers and parents do to support people taking exams? For further information, support or guidance, contact Jennifer. Getting back to normal…...

Exam Anxiety Exam Anxiety - How to support students through exams. JMTutoring offers expert online English tuition for 11+, GCSE and 'A' level students.

I always find it amazing how a person's expectations of themselves often differs to the expectations that they hold of other people.
One person might well advocate work/life or study/life balance one minute, but that evening not stop working until late.
Or a person's self-talk and reflection might be more negative than if they were talking to someone else.

Things like this need to change. It's all well and good people advocating for and , but people still come under criticism when they practise self-care.

This is not cool.

In a post-pandemic world (I'm optimistic for the future - we are not there yet), workplaces and schools need to prioritise this. Being kind to yourself should be an everyday occurrence, not the last resort.

I've been almost non-existent on social media for a few weeks (months!) and I'm starting to feel a little bit guilty about that.

Unfortunately, as a really small business, there are going to be moments when I'm not going to be able to do everything. Unlike national organisations, when I need some personal time there's nobody there to pick up any of the slack.

For me, the social media aspect is one of the first things to drop when things are becoming a bit too much. I focus on the day to day - replying to students' and parents' emails and teaching. This has meant that I've been quiet while things in my personal life start to even out again.

Over the course of this week I'm hoping to get back on top of all of the SM accounts again, so it would be great for some inspiration and suggestions of what you would like to see here. I'm finally looking at updating the website too, so there will be some sneak peeks of that over the coming days too!

Thank you for your patience!
Jen

This last half term has been so busy with exams and new students, I’ve ended up letting social media posts slip a bit.
Even so, it’s been lovely to get messages like this from parents. The first sessions are always a bit nerve-wracking for students, but by the end it’s smiles all round. 😆

Since reading David Attenborough's 'A Life on Our Planet', I've made some minor changes to the way that I shop and eat in order to try and reduce my carbon footprint. Things cannot go on the way they are doing.

Easter is such an important time of year for me. It's an opportunity to meet up with everyone and, for me at least, it's more important than any other holiday.
2020 kept us all apart, but now I'm looking forward to spending an Easter with my VIPs.

Here's a little reminder about what an essay actually is.
The English word 'essay' comes from the French 'essai' which literally means 'to try'. When a teacher sets you an essay, they're simply asking you to try and explain some ideas.

Last of the Merchant of Venice quotations this week.
I'm tutoring Merchant to just a couple of people this year - Macbeth seems to be a far more popular choice with teachers! But it's interesting as a tutor to be able to work with so many texts!

Revising Merchant of Venice for GCSE this year? Here's some more quotations to help you along the way!

Merchant of Venice revision