Leah Dougal- English Tutoring

Today is my final day of lessons with my Year 11 students and as always, I'm feeling incredibly emotional!

Saying goodbye is never easy after so many hours working together, celebrating successes, overcoming challenges and building great relationships along the way. I deeply care about every single one of my students and have lived and breathed these exams right alongside them. More than anything, I want them to achieve the results they've worked so hard for.

To all the parents, thank you for choosing me as your tutor. Thank you for putting your faith in me and trusting me to support your sons and daughters through this important stage of their education. It has been a privilege to be part of their journey.

Please do let me know their results on 20th August! I may be in the first week of motherhood, I may be in labour or I may be 41 weeks pregnant (and desperately hoping for an eviction notice for this baby) but in any case, I will be eagerly waiting to hear how they got on and I’ll be celebrating their successes from afar.

Of course, if you ever need tutoring support in the future (whether for younger siblings or A-Level) I would be absolutely delighted to help.

Good luck, Year 11! Go and smash the final week of exams and then enjoy your well deserved summer break!

It’s final exam week! 🎉

Below are some ideas of revision tasks that students can undertake this week, to best prepare them for Friday!

We’ve nearly made it to the end of another week of exams… phew! 🎉

Two exams in one week has been exhausting for everyone involved but I couldn’t be prouder of my tutees! Since Monday, they’ve kept me very busy with 30 hours of 1:1 lessons and 3 hours of exam-eve group sessions. Despite how shattered everyone is, they’ve shown so much resilience, determination and positivity.

A huge good luck with Language Paper 1 tomorrow! You’re so close now. After this, there’s a two-week break from English exams and then just one more to go (after a very well-deserved and sunny half-term ‘break’🌞).

Good luck year 11!
By lunchtime, you’ll be done with Literature forever! 🎉

1 English exam done, 3 to go!

Lots of students said how helpful they found the Gizmo quizzes for their paper 1 quotations, so I’ve also made these for paper 2: An Inspector Calls and Power and Conflict poetry.

Hopefully students are already in a good place with memorising quotations (with there only being 2 days to go) but these will help them to develop their analysis and secure their knowledge.

Scan the QR codes or click the links below!

ttps://gizmo.ai/deck/74806077?p=NsMo56-1i9A&t=1&featureId=2&deckName=An%20Inspector%20Calls%20Quotations&deckColour=f472b6&senderName=Leah%20%20Dougal&numDeckCards=98&senderUserId=15233798


https://gizmo.ai/deck/74842735?p=tHaruqHL4IE&t=1&featureId=2&deckName=Power%20and%20Conflict%20Quotations&deckColour=c084fc&senderName=Leah%20%20Dougal&numDeckCards=195&senderUserId=15233798

It’s finally exam eve! Good luck year 11! 🤞

❗️1 week to go until Literature Paper 1❗️

If I was a student sitting my exam next week, here’s what I’d make sure I was doing over the next 6 days:

1) Learning key quotations! (See my previous post for Gizmo quizzes on these)

2) Planning responses to as many example questions as possible (characters and themes)

3) Completing a past paper and getting it marked

4) Looking at model responses and using them to help me improve my own responses

⭐️ below is a link to a PDF that contains grade 9 model responses for two different Macbeth questions- print them off, highlight them, read them over and over again, look at them whilst writing a Macbeth response for a different question. They’re a great tool for higher ability students to understand what is expected of them, at the top of the mark scheme! ⭐️

1drv.ms

Revision Task 1 : AQA English Literature Paper 1

To help students revise at home, I’ve created some online revision cards and quizzes, focusing on key quotations from each of the following texts:

🩸 Macbeth
🎄 A Christmas Carol
🧪 Jekyll and Hyde

These help students to memorise important quotations, key points of analysis and all important contextual factors.

• Read through the revision cards
• Complete the tests
• Quiz independently or with friends

🧠 Repeat, repeat, repeat! Remember, memorising takes dedication and time!

______

Scan the QR codes on the posters or use the links below:

🥼 Jekyll and Hyde
https://gizmo.ai/deck/74783633?p=6kOr6L3Jyn8&t=1&featureId=2&deckName=Jekyll%20and%20Hyde%20Quotations%20&deckColour=fb923c&senderName=Leah%20%20Dougal&numDeckCards=35&senderUserId=15233798

👻 A Christmas Carol
https://gizmo.ai/deck/74625357?p=UbaTHoQWeHE&t=1&featureId=2&deckName=A%20Christmas%20Carol%20Quotations%20&deckColour=a3e635&senderName=Leah%20%20Dougal&numDeckCards=50&senderUserId=15233798

👑 Macbeth
https://gizmo.ai/deck/74669938?p=vvzsnIvuc5E&t=1&featureId=2&deckName=Macbeth%20Quotations&deckColour=f472b6&senderName=Leah%20%20Dougal&numDeckCards=50&senderUserId=15233798

The holidays are over and what a busy couple of weeks it’s been!

👩🏻‍🏫 95 hours of 1–1 lessons taught (a personal record!)
✍️ 20 practice papers marked
💻 5 “night before” group sessions planned and fully booked!
🗓️ 3 new students enrolled to start lessons in June

When Easter ends, it always feels like exam season is beginning! With just 4 weeks until the first exam, it’s fundamental that students are now committed to their studies and are revising for an hour or two every day, to avoid any last minute cramming or panic induced burn-out!

On the topic of revision… Every year, students say ‘but English is impossible to revise’ or ‘I don’t know where to start’. To combat this, over the next six weeks I’ll be sharing ready made revision tasks, exam tips and practical revision strategies. I’m here to help take the guess work out of independent study, making sure it’s purposeful, focused and effective!