23/12/2022
Below is information I hope you will find useful:
ABOUT IBIS GCSE ENGLISH
Ibis is a tutoring business – recently established by me, Colleen Webber – an English teacher with 18 years of teaching experience.
Ibis focuses on improving skills in both English Language and Literature. The business name has GCSE as its focal point because, from experience, it is students in the crucial exam years who require the most support in preparing for GCSE exams. Currently, existing tutees are, primarily, in their final GCSE year, but tuition is offered to secondary-school students in all year groups (from Years 7 – 11) and to English re-take students. Regardless of the tutee’s age and year group, the goal will be to create and deliver lessons that will help close the learning gap, to boost confidence in the subject and help develop the skills necessary for independent learning.
Lessons will be tailored to the individual needs of the tutee and to their school’s exam board. Depending on the preference of the tutees, lessons can be on a one-one basis or delivered to small groups. Lessons are held in my home in Thurnham. Thurnham is situated near the North Downs. Parents can go for a walk in our pretty countryside or visit our wonderfully cosy local pub, The Black Horse pub.
ABOUT ME
In my 18 years of teaching secondary English, I have taken on many roles such as: mentor to trainee teachers, literacy co-ordinator, second (deputy)-in-department and head of faculty. In my most recent permanent school role, I was Head of English Faculty for five years. It was a role that I was utterly dedicated to and one that I loved.
As a Head of Faculty, it was my responsibility to create the department’s long-term plans, from Years 7 – 11. To produce this progression map, I needed to work backwards and begin with GCSE skills in mind. This dictated the skills that needed to be introduced and slowly enhanced from Year 7, onwards – hence, again, the attention on GCSE English. Ultimately regardless of the year group, all secondary school students (and re-take students) are on a learning journey culminating in GCSE exams in Language and Literature.
Although I enjoyed teaching in a school setting, I longed to be … simply put … ‘my own boss.’
To me, being self-employed means more flexibility in my work hours, more autonomy in my career, certainly more creativity in how I teach and, most importantly, gives me the opportunity to use my knowledge and skills, as an educator, to focus on the needs of the learner – and not the needs of the school. Over the years, students have remarked how seriously I have taken not my role as ‘a’ teacher, but, rather, my role as ‘their’ teacher. I firmly believe that a successful teacher is one who adapts to the needs of their students and places them first. To be able to focus fully on teaching and learning, leaving behind the school setting seemed a logical step to take.
ABOUT THE NAME
Through the ages, the ibis bird has been deemed deeply symbolic by various cultures. From mythology to modern times, it is closely connected to wisdom and transformation. It is also perceived as a representation of teamwork. What better symbol to sum up learning? Learning, itself, is change through knowledge and is best achieved in a supportive environment – one that allows the learner’s individuality and strengths to shine.
FEES
• One-one lessons: £30 an hour
• If your child would rather learn in pairs or a small group and they have friends that they would like to team up with, the fee will be £25 an hour per student (with a maximum of 5 students in a group).
• Please note that cash cannot be accepted and lessons will be block-booked four weeks in advance. This means that when booking and paying for lessons, you will be booking and paying for four lessons in advance.
An invoice will be provided upon the receipt of each block booking.
CANCELLATION
Whilst we would love to have 100% attendance to the pre-booked lessons, I appreciate that unplanned circumstances, such as illness, sometimes will make attendance difficult. As a small business, a refund cannot be offered, but you will be credited the following month.
In the unlikely event that you or your child are unhappy and would like to cancel tuition, I will require four weeks in advance.
ACCETANCE OF TERMS
I look forward to supporting your child and truly hope that they will find their lessons, with me, rewarding. Please feel free to email me if you have any queries. I will be happy to provide you with my mobile so that we can discuss the needs of your child prior to their first lesson (and first block of four lessons). If you would rather visit so that we can have an initial meeting and discuss their learning needs in person, I will be more than happy to arrange a time for you, and your child, to visit. I completely appreciate how important it is to see the tutor and to speak to them, in person, and to see where the learning will take place.
Once you are happy for your child to be tutored by me, there will be no Terms and Conditions form to sign but, by sending your child to their first lesson, you are accepting the terms, above.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
When contacting me for the first time, it will be very helpful if you could provide me with the following information:
- number of students requiring tuition
- Year group
- School’s exam board
- Topics learnt in school, at that particular point in time.
- A summary of their strengths and areas for development. It might be useful to ask their English teacher to provide you with these.
- Topics and skills to be covered in the remaining terms of the particular academic year. Again, this is information that their teacher will be able to provide.
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