Giving AQA GCSE English Students a Forensic Understanding of the Course

A recent message from a happy parent: ‘Hi Claire, I just wanted to let you know that J got a grade 9 in her mock! She is over-the-moon. Thank you so much for all your support so far.’

‘I wasn’t an amazingly academic student. Frequently, I was the class clown and the one to make a cheeky comment. This was of course all bravado and in reality, a cover up for a 16 year old with little confidence and belief in herself. I had a passion for English and occasionally some good ideas which were reflected in my work. Claire, Mrs Davidson saw through to the real me and coaxed me to put some effort in and see how I did. Eventually I softened my stubbornness and did what she advised. She was there every step of the way, constantly marking my work, to give me an idea on how I was getting on. She was on hand for everything and no idea was bad in her eyes. She truly believes in her students and does everything she can, professionally and personally to get results, but also provides fantastic support in the process, making you believe in yourself. I was terrified to do my speaking and listening exam and was sure I was going to fail. Claire listened to my endless moans and whinging (give the woman a medal- patience of a saint!!) and she just urged me to give it my all and to believe in what I was saying. You best believe it, I nearly fell off of my chair when she delivered the news that little old me had the highest speaking and listening grade out of our top set class! I went from an E Grade in my mocks, to getting 2 As in English Language & English Literature. If you are looking for anyone to help you with your English, Claire is the lady for you.’

“I would thoroughly recommend Claire as a tutor. My daughter had Claire tutor her for her GCSE English after she had had to change schools in year 10. At the time she was really struggling with her English but Claire enthused, encouraged, supported and gave her confidence. My daughter went from a grade 1 in English lit and a grade 2 in English lang, in her mock exams in March, to passing both exams, of which the results came out yesterday. My daughter would come home after the exams and tell me how she had applied the strategies Claire had taught her. I am getting emotional thinking about it. This passionate teacher has enabled my daughter to achieve the results needed in her English to start as an engineering apprentice in Sept and I am completely certain she would not have achieved these marks without Claire’s terrific tutoring. Thank you Claire. You are a wonderful human being and have given her the confidence with her English that will help so much with her future career and helped her achieve far more than just the exam results xx”

Claire has been absolutely wonderful tutoring our daughter and helping her understand what is required for her GCSE English exams. K always looked forward to her lessons with Claire as she was so approachable, and she was always on a high after her lesson as she just understood it so much better than in the classroom environment at school. K particularly liked her lessons at home and not having to leave the house to go for tutoring. Furthermore, Claire always marked her work and gave feedback straight away. She also kept in touch with us on our daughter’s progress and also let us know when she was getting a bit lazy!! We highly recommend Claire, and we are so grateful she was recommended to us. K went from disliking English to enjoying it, which is all down to Claire. Thank you Claire.

“Having had the honour of being taught by Claire and to have then later known her as a colleague I can absolutely vouch for her dedication to excellence and passion for the success of students in her care.”

“Claire was without a doubt the best teacher I had throughout my secondary schooling. Her lessons were creative, engaging and thought provoking, instilling in me a passion for literature and creative writing which remains to this day. Claire also mentored me throughout the university application process, going above and beyond to help me write a personal statement which captured my personality as well as my academic profile. It was through this guidance that I was accepted into my first choice university, for which I will be forever grateful. We all have that one teacher at school that we remember for broadening our horizons and supporting us to be the best we can be. For me, Claire was that teacher. She’s nothing short of a total rock star!”

“I couldn’t recommend Claire Davidson enough. Claire taught me for my GCSEs back in 2000 & 2001. With Claire’s enthusiasm and great teaching style, I went from getting Cs & Bs at the beginning to finally ending up with an A/A* for English language & English literature. Claire made English lessons become interesting, rather than a boring compulsory subject that I thought of it as before entering her class. Claire taught me so many skills for essay writing and analysis that prepared me for not just the rest of my education up to post-graduate Masters level, but life in general. With the company “World Challenge”, Claire took my brother in a team of students to Morocco for a week and a few years later, Claire & I went to Malawi & Zambia for a month with another team. She encouraged and helped motivate us into such life skills and experiences that we would never have achieved through school alone. These skills helped with university and job applications and life in general. I will never forget the time and effort Claire put into us as children and the opportunities she gave us. Claire is the perfect candidate, if you are considering her tutoring services of your child.”