Emma Garner - Professional Teacher in Valencia, Spain

Having graduated with first class honours, including distinction in the French oral examination, from Magdalen College, Oxford, I went on to complete my PGCE in Secondary teaching at the London Institute of Education. I also hold various certificated studies in Psychotherapy, Counselling Skills and Psychology (PGCert, Derby). In my first teaching post at St Paul's Boys' School, London, I taught French, Spanish, Italian and Drama, in addition to providing Oxbridge entrance preparation. At the same time I began working with Cambridge International Examinations, first as Principal Examiner for the Pre U Italian examination (a post which I continue to hold to this day), then for a few years on the Italian IGCSE team before moving to French A level, and, now, also Spanish IGCSE Literature. Following another language teaching post at a further London boys day school, I decided to move abroad and am now based in Valencia, Spain. I work freelance as a private tutor - both via Skype and intensive visits in person - and translator (published).

My Education & Qualifications

• University of Derby, 2014 – 2015
  Psychology (PGCert): Pass
• Institute of Education, 2006 – 2007
  PGCE (French and Spanish) (PGCE): Pass
• University of Oxford, 2001 – 2005
  Modern Languages (French and Italian) (MA (Oxon)): 1st

My Tutoring & Teaching Experience

My background in working for, and studying at, some of the most prestigious institutions in the UK and beyond demonstrates my academic, intellectual and didactic credentials. I have worked with extremely bright and inquisitive pupils, along with those who have found languages more of a struggle, but have always sought to enable all of them to pursue interests in an interdisciplinary, ‘out-of-the-box’ way, weaving together strands of experience to build a confident knowledge base.

I have tutored for as long as I have worked in teaching, working with all age groups from primary to adult learners. Without exception, all those among my clients who were preparing public examinations went on to achieve higher grades than those that had been predicted by their educational setting - notably, my most recent client, who was predicted a C grade in her A-level Spanish exam and proceeded to get an A, going on to read Latin American Studies at a premier league London university.

My Approach to Tutoring

My teaching style is focused and responsive, warm but with consistently high expectations. Successful language learning comprises the development of a range of different skills, and I enjoy identifying each pupil’s particular strengths and using these to inform teaching in weaker areas where appropriate. More than ten years of experience as an examiner mean that I can confidently and credibly claim to understand the assessment process and enable me to demystify it for those of my pupils who are working towards a final exam.

I am rigorous in applying my standards and always aim to work in a very structured, logical, organised way. I take pride in finding ways to ‘think alongside’ my pupils, to understand their personal hurdles and to create personalised approaches that resonate with each individual: for example, working with a highly systematic series of mind- or thinking-maps, in order to trigger memory pathways in the preparation of an oral presentation assessment with a small group of year 11s.

I have conducted Oxbridge preparation for language, linguistics and psychology throughout my career, again with a strong focus on training pupils to demonstrate not only how much they know, but how they think.

Fun Facts About Me

I enjoy dancing and have always sought out opportunities to learn new types of dance. I danced competitively whilst at Oxford, took tango classes whilst based in Buenos Aires and have attended the Baile de Salón course at the Popular University in Valencia.

Travel is another enthusiasm of mine. I consider myself fortunate to have travelled extensively from a young age, including trips to India, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Tunisia, Croatia, Greece, Argentina and Cuba. I have lived and worked in Milan, Naples, Paris and Buenos Aires, each for about five months, and am now firmly based in Valencia, Spain (since August 2016).

I directed two plays whilst at Oxford and played violin, flute and piano throughout my school years, during which time I was also a member of the Chamber Orchestra and Chapel Choir. I now enjoy both drama and music as an informed spectator.

• Italian A-level
  "Such a wonderful result!! I am so grateful to you for doing such good work with Mateo! We just wanted to let you know that he was accepted to Edinburgh and Durham and Southampton…"
• Spanish A-level
  "I just wanted to let you know that I got an offer today for Spanish and Hispanic studies at UCL – we are all so happy and excited! I made the changes you suggested to my statement and it just sounded so much smoother..."
• GCSE and A-level preparation
  "Emma is a first-rate academic… ‘luminously intelligent’… Her mastery in the classroom is undisputed… She is deeply compassionate… Her willingness and desire to try and understand people resonates deeply in everything that she does… Emma is a wonderful colleague and a true team player. She knows how to get on other people’s wavelengths which makes her extremely flexible"