I am a highly experienced and knowledgeable teacher, who combines strong academic standards - I hold a doctorate - with a friendly manner and a genuine enthusiasm both for my subject and the progress of my students. Whether knowledge or skills, exam practice or revision, I believe I can offer valuable help.

My experience as a teacher stretches back twenty years, beginning with my time as a doctoral student, when I tutored both undergraduates and overseas students in modern Irish history. After that I trained as a teacher at Southend High School for Boys, where I taught History and English (KS3-5) for twelve years. Since leaving a full-time position in 2016, I have continued to teach, undertaking long-term, temporary positions in non-selective secondary schools, both as a History teacher and a departmental leader. Thus, I have a wide range of experience, having worked over time with a wide variety of students, whether in terms of age, ability or gender (the grammar school at which I worked admitted girls to the Sixth Form). My time as a university tutor has also enabled me to be just as comfortable with small group or one-to-one teaching as I am with a more formal classroom setting.

As well as helping students prepare for examinations, I seek to develop their thinking and writing skills, so that they can acquire a critical, independent mind, as well as the ability to express themselves fluently and coherently. Education is a lifelong process and I always aim to encourage in students not only a love for History as a subject but also a lasting appreciation of the value of learning, both in terms of knowledge and skills. Based on student feedback, it is my belief that the vast majority of those whom I have taught have responded positively, finding in my teaching a successful balance between ease of understanding on the one hand and academic challenge on the other.

In terms of subject expertise, my areas of strength are British, European and American history - political, cultural and religious - from 1500 to 2000, though I have also studied and taught medieval history. In my career as a History teacher, I have taught a variety of subjects, either at GCSE or A Level. These include Germany (1918-39), Russia (1919-39), Britain (1931-51), the Inter-War years (1919-39), the USA in Asia (1945-75), the Cold War (1944-91), China (1949-76) and British political reform (1832-1928). I also taught English for many years (I hold an undergraduate degree in English Literature and History) and I am willing to offer tutoring in this area too, though only at KS4 and below.

I am available to teach Sundays -Thursday (11am to 7pm each day).