Steph’s Study Stars Tutoring

The A-Team ⭐

One of the highlights of this week was working with what I’ve affectionately started calling The A-Team – a group of 11+ students who all happen to have names beginning with A!

Two members of the A-Team have been working with me for several months now, and it’s been fantastic to see their progress. More and more, they’re showing their thinking clearly through their working out, tackling challenging questions with greater independence, and growing in confidence when encountering unfamiliar vocabulary.

This week also saw the newest member of the A-Team join us. To help build confidence and establish a starting point, we explored comprehension activities linked to one of his favourite interests. Using topics students genuinely enjoy is a great way to make learning engaging whilst helping me identify strengths and areas for development.

Every student starts from a different place, but seeing confidence grow week by week is one of the most rewarding parts of tutoring.

I can’t wait to see what the next few months bring for this brilliant group. ⭐

And just like that… History exam season 2026 is over. 💜

Every year I say the same thing, but I genuinely feel so proud of the students I work with. I’ve watched them turn uncertainty into confidence, develop their exam technique, and achieve things they didn’t think were possible a few months ago.

From Tudors to Cold War, Civil Rights to Russia, we’ve covered a lot of history together this year!

Now comes the waiting game, but for today I’m choosing to celebrate the effort, resilience and determination my students have shown throughout the year.

Thank you for letting me be part of your journey. Results don’t define you, but you should be incredibly proud of how hard you’ve worked.

Now go and enjoy your summer. You’ve earned it. ☀️📚✨

📚 A little reminder that I don’t just teach History…

This week has included:

✨ Angles and geometry
✨ Word problems
✨ Comprehension
✨ Vocabulary building
✨ Grammar and punctuation
✨ Plenty of whiteboard maths!

The best part? Watching confidence grow when something suddenly clicks.💡

Whether your child is preparing for the 11+, needs a confidence boost, or wants to stretch themselves further, sessions are always tailored to the individual learner.

⭐ Steph’s Study Stars
📍 Torbay & Online
📚 11+ | KS2 | KS3 | GCSE | A Level History

Small steps. Big progress. Growing confidence every week. 💜

This is what my A Level History tutoring sessions actually look like. 📚✍️

Yes, in-person sessions are brilliant - but online tutoring can be just as impactful when it’s structured properly. Through screen sharing, live modelling, instant feedback, retrieval practice, essay planning, and examiner-focused guidance, students make HUGE progress from the comfort of home. 💻⭐

Every session is tailored to the student:
⭐ Building secure knowledge
⭐ Strengthening exam technique
⭐ Developing confidence with essays & sources
⭐ Breaking down mark schemes and examiner expectations
⭐ Live feedback that students can apply immediately

As exam season starts to wind down, I’ll soon have limited spaces opening for the new academic year for GCSE & A Level History students.

If you’re looking for consistent support across the year - not just last-minute panic revision - now is the best time to get in touch to secure a space. 🤍

📍Online or Torquay-based in person
📩 DM to enquire or ask any questions

Today’s sessions were very much focused on turning “I have no idea what this question is asking” into organised essay plans and confident arguments ✨

Today’s A Level sessions focused on:
⭐ building stronger essay structure
⭐ improving analytical judgement
⭐ linking evidence properly
⭐ slowing thinking down instead of panic-writing

Also had a GCSE session squeezed in too but completely forgot to take a photo because we got too into the lesson 😅

Current tutoring essentials:
☕ tea
💜 whiteboards everywhere
📝 approximately 700 essay plans

They’re absolutely smashing it at the moment and it’s so lovely watching confidence grow in real time ✨

If your child is currently stuck in the “I know the content but can’t turn it into marks” stage before exams, I still have limited spaces for last-minute GCSE & A Level support.

Feel free to pop me a message for more information 🤍

Some tutoring sessions are about confidence.
Some are about technique.
And some are about watching a student realise they can do something they were convinced they couldn’t. ✨

Today was one of those sessions.

Alf has absolutely smashed algebra, decimals and percentages this week - but the biggest win wasn’t just getting the answers right. It was slowing down, talking me through his thinking, writing out his workings properly and trusting his own process instead of rushing ahead.

I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever met someone so enthusiastic to learn algebra 😭📚

Watching things click into place in real time is honestly one of the best parts of tutoring. So proud of how hard he worked in our session!

A week in the life, but make it realistic 🤍

Between whiteboards, exam questions, and explaining things three different ways … I also took a few days off for my birthday.

Because here’s the reality -this job isn’t just about turning up and teaching.
It’s about showing up well.

And sometimes that means:
✨ stepping away
✨ slowing down
✨ actually resting

The rest of the week?

Back to helping students:
• untangle the stuff they’ve been stuck on for weeks
• turn messy thinking into clear structure
• build the kind of confidence that actually shows up in exams

Not every week is perfectly productive.
Not every session is instantly “easy”.

But progress is still happening - quietly, consistently, in the background.

And honestly? That’s where the real difference is made.

SATs, GCSE & A-Level exams are getting close now -
this is the stage where small tweaks make a big difference.

📩 Message me if your child needs that final boost ✨

Not every lesson looks the same … and that’s kind of the point.

From A-Level exam technique to KS2 foundations, this week has been a mix of building confidence, fixing misconceptions, and those moments where things finally click.

There’s a lot that happens behind the scenes too -
planning, marking, adapting, re-explaining things in different ways until it lands.

It’s a busy season (and yes… slightly tired 😅),
but those “I get it now” moments? Worth it every time 💫

* featuring one very unexpected tutoring location this week 😂

Steph’s Study Stars ⭐️ | Building confidence, one session at a time

What tutoring actually looks like… 👀

🧠 whiteboards covered in working out
📚 GCSE + A Level content made manageable
✏️ 11+ skills building week by week
🌍 students learning from the UK → New York
🎯 exam technique, always

Real progress isn’t flashy.
It’s small moments, adding up.

Most students don’t lose marks because they don’t know things - they lose them because they don’t know how to use what they know.

That’s what we fix.

Still a few slots available heading into exam season 🤍