A bit about Sophia

I specialise in playwriting and dramaturgy (that's what I did my Master's on) and am a total Shakespeare nerd. Previously, I have taught Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing. Other GCSE texts I have taught include, 'An Inspector Calls', 'A Christmas Carol', 'Animal Farm'. I have also taught an A Level Unseen poetry module. I have just completed my PGCE training in secondary English and am excited to put what I've learnt over that past 10 months into tutoring! I have a background in theatre and writing for the stage which means that I love trying to teach things in new ways and love indulging in discussions surrounding texts. This is my first online tutoring adventure and am thrilled to be taking the leap with Sherpa. During my PGCE, I have been on placement in two comprehensive schools teaching years 7-12. I have learnt much about adaptive teaching, challenging high achieving students and explored strategies to support SEND students. I usually plan my lessons backwards; I identify the end goal of the student and or class, see how many lessons we have together and build a bespoke sequence on lessons. These lessons will build the skills and knowledge necessary to achieve the end goal. I love how discussing a texts in English can prompt students and teachers to answer questions they've never had to think about before; the big questions about life, love, morality. The things that make us human! And the next best thing? Every discussion is entirely unique to each class. My teaching style is personable, full of positivity and very student focused. So far I have taught AQA GCSE and AS/ A Level. I enjoy going to the theatre, writing, reading and long walks on the beach with my dog pals Bertie and Gus. Working as a drama teacher at Stagecoach was what inspired me to take the leap and start training as a teacher professionally. I realised that I had a natural way with the students and loved seeing them thrive. I have a PGCE in Secondary English (University of the West of England), TEFL Certificate, MA Dramaturgy and Writing for Performance (Goldsmiths University of London), BA Drama and Performance (London South Bank University). My favourite thing is seeing the 'ah-ha!' moment appear on a student's face. My philosophy is patience, perseverance, polish... and repeat! Teaching is a job where you have to constantly evaluate and re-evaluate strategy and implementation. In this way, being open to change is important to my practice, and so is dedicating time to fine tune. Students love how animated I can be in the classroom and how I listen authentically to their thoughts and ideas. Learning, for me, is collaborative and I think that's something my students respond to. My greatest summative success during my first placement was improving the grades of my year 10 class over a term (over 50% of students achieved one grade higher) and my formative success has been developing a culture of purposeful discussion with my year 8 group during my second placement.