Background & Experience

“Thanks so much for coming to meet Michael.  It was very helpful.  You were so kind with him.  

I have been reflecting and realise how much he enjoyed having a teacher / tutor take a special interest in him.  

He has so much going on in his head and that interest is what is missing at school.”

- Clara

A little about me…

My own education was varied and included periods at a state primary, a private primary, a boys’ state grammar for GCSE, and a state sixth form college for A-Level. I studied for my degree at Christ Church, Oxford, and then for an art foundation course beyond that.

I didn’t find maths and science particularly easy at school but I was lucky enough to have parents with the expertise, time, and patience to support me. They were able to explain concepts in terms that I could understand and at a pace that suited me. Much of my exam success I owe to them. I realise how invaluable and what a privilege it was to have had that one-to-one support. It is this empathetic approach I aim to bring to my work now.

On graduating, I became interested in various forms of education and began working as a teacher for a small homeschooling collective in London.  As enjoyable and rewarding as that was, I was paid in veg boxes which didn’t translate to rent!  A friend from university who had gone on to establish a tutoring agency suggested that I took on some supplementary work through him and so began my profession. 

Whilst tutoring has since been my primary occupation, it also offers great flexibility for peripheral pursuits.  Variously, over the years these have included work as a researcher for BBC Radio 4, for a private concierge company, as a set designer, in outdoors education with London Wildlife Trust, as a teacher for a number of homeschool groups, and as an Education Officer on a residential land project in Spain.

In recent years, I’ve been focusing on developing various land projects - including a forest school - from a woodland site just outside of Stroud, and the opportunity to spend time outdoors provides a welcome contrast to the more cerebral work of tutoring.

That said, I remain dedicated to education in all its forms and whilst the academic benefits of tutoring are proven, my hope is that my approach to it acts as a catalyst for enthusiastic lifelong learning, far beyond the confines of the classroom.