Crystal Clear English Tuition

As GCSE revision is well underway, and the exams are fast approaching, it can be as stressful for the whole family as it is for the students themselves.🙈

Try some of the following to help your son/daughter prepare for their exams:

1. Stop 🛑- take a break from the books. 🚶‍♀️ 🍃 ☀️

2. Test what information has gone in rather than attempting to take in more.

E.g.

- Tell me 5 language techniques.

- Tell me 5 structural techniques (they will probably find this harder), but… narrowing focus/shift in the story/cyclical narrative are just a few.

3. Ask them what they need to do in a question… how will you do that? - this should refocus their revision.

*Revising for English Language is as much (if not more), about processes not just knowledge. They need to walk into the exam masters of it- knowing securely what the examiner wants for each question.

4. At this stage it’s a lot about confidence- build them up, tell them how far they’ve come 💪

Alternatively, if your son/daughter is so laid back they’re practically horizontal, a different approach might be needed: 🙈

A little reminder perhaps that they will need to resist English Language again if they don’t get a 4…🙈

- ❌and no, pass rates of retakes are not very high…

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11+ English Tips:

📖 Reading Comprehension is a big part of the English 11+ exam.

It requires an understanding of vocabulary, context and the ability to identify and extract information from a text.

All of those skills can be practised doing the following:

Pick up a 📖 or an article/peice of non-fiction and ask them to:

1️⃣- Summarise to you 👄 what it is about in 3 points.

2️⃣- Break this down further by asking them the 5w’s:

- WHAT- is happening/being described?
- WHO- what characters are in the text? What narrative perspective is being used?
- WHEN- is it set? Any references to time?
-WHERE- Setting/location- does this change?

🕵️‍♀️ * they can underline the parts of the text which help them to answer these questions. (Evidence)

3️⃣- find three examples of language devices that the writer is using. This could be a simile/metaphor/fact/rhetorical question.

These active reading 📖 strategies are crucial to ensuring a clear understanding before approaching comprehension questions. This will mean greater accuracy. 👍😀 📚 📝

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When students can analyse the writer’s use of structural features it is always a bit of a turning point.

⛓️Transition, cohesion, links…

I’ve spent a large portion of this week exploring how a writer structures their text for effect.

Students can initially find structural analysis challenging. However, they soon gain confidence in the fact that they are very much following the same process that they would when analysing language.

💡 Questions to ask when analysing structural features:

- why is it effective that it happens when it does?
- is there a turning point/twist? - what effect does this have?
- can you spot any similarities/differences between the opening and ending of the text? -why might the writer have made these choices?

gcse gcseenglish englishlanguage tutor englishteacher englishtutor aimhigher teacherpreneur smallbusinessuk englishteachersofinstagram eltham elthammums gcsehelp teachersofinstagram mumsofinstagram 11plusexams 11plustutor 11plusexamspreparation

Sessions at St.Mary’s Community Centre continuing until December 20th before we break for Christmas. 🎄 ✨ 🎅

📖 📝 Year 6 English Booster sessions on Saturdays.

📕 📝 11+ Entrance Exam sessions on Saturdays.

Leaving this here as it’s been updated for 2025-2026. 👍😊

Good luck to everyone on their new starts this week- parents alike! 🙈😂🎉

Turning those nerves into excitement, confidence and ambition. 💪 🔥 😄

I’m excited to welcome new students this week and see some familiar faces from last year too. 😊

Looking through the archives for a wedding picture this morning and I came through this.

☀️ One summer I decided to create my version of the London Underground Map on my classroom wall. Each line represented a different word class. 🚆

I quickly became very invested in this task and even ensured that the lines reflected the general direction that they went on the underground network.

It took me days, if not weeks. I’d gone in to tidy my classroom and before I knew it I was calculating the ratio of the size of the ‘dots’ to the distance of the ‘lines.’ 🤣🫠

I’ve always been a ‘perfectionist,’ (in my mind it’s just doing a job well).

I’d spend as much time on that wall today as I did in the summer of 2014. It was the backdrop of my lessons for nearly a decade and the talking point when new students entered. 😊

*Until it was taken down whilst I was on maternity leave because the ‘wall needed painting.’ 🙈😂

We’re growing… 🌱😀 If you are a teacher or tutor and are looking to take on some tutoring, please get in touch.

Exciting times ahead. 😊

🔊 📖 ✍️ GCSE English Literature Masterclass sessions this Easter 🐣 🪺 on the 8th & 9th April 📅.

Feel confident and ready to tackle the Literature exams. 💪 🔥

Receive expert support with your Literature texts from an experienced teacher and seasoned examiner.

Students will feel more confident with the following:

✅ How to STRUCTURE their answers.
✅ how to ANALYSE features of language and structure.
✅ what a MODEL response looks like.
✅ How to REVISE for Literature. - So that they continue to develop independently after our session.

*Open to all students- you don’t need to be a part of my English Language programme.

All lessons are conducted on Zoom, in our focused and friendly sessions.

Book your place by emailing [email protected] OR using the link in my story.

As Mock exam season continues, it can be as stressful for the whole family as it is for the students themselves.🙈

Try some of the following to help your son/daughter prepare for their exams:

1. Stop 🛑- take a break from the books. 🚶‍♀️ 🍃 ☀️

2. Test what information has gone in rather than attempting to take in more.

E.g.

- Tell me 5 language techniques.

- Tell me 5 structural techniques (they will probably find this harder), but… narrowing focus/shift in the story/cyclical narrative are just a few.

3. Ask them what they need to do in a question… how will you do that? - this should refocus their revision.

*Revising for English Language is as much (if not more), about processes not just knowledge. They need to walk into the exam masters of it- knowing securely what the examiner wants for each question.

4. At this stage it’s a lot about confidence- build them up, tell them how far they’ve come 💪

Alternatively, if your son/daughter is so laid back they’re practically horizontal, a different approach might be needed: 🙈

A little reminder perhaps that they will need to resist English Language again if they don’t get a 4…🙈

- ❌and no, pass rates of retakes are not very high…