I can help you achieve your best, bring out your potential, and illuminate your learning.
I focus on each individual’s needs, interests, ability and ambitions to enable you to succeed and flourish, whatever your starting point and goal.
Tuition for beginners, GCSE, A-Level, entrance exams and interviews, pre-U and University.
For home educators, for school and university students, for adult learners; for the sheer joy of Classics.
Latin
Ancient History
Classical Civilisation
About Me
I teach the individual first and foremost, ensuring that each tutorial is tailored to your learning style, aims and goals.
I read Classics at Oxford, specialising for Greats in Latin and Greek Literature and Ancient History. Studying the subjects I am passionate about, and being taught by world-class subject experts, was the greatest educational experience I could ask for.
I have an MA in Character Education (based the Nicomachean Ethics of the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, it foregrounds the role of education in wellbeing and human flourishing; no surprise that this also benefits academic performance enormously!).
I have also studied English Literature and different areas of Philosophy at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
After a time at different companies including BBC Worldwide and the Times Literary Supplement my love of Classics and my lifelong love of learning brought me to tutoring, which I have now been doing for almost a decade.
Besides one-to-one tutoring I run Classics Clubs, small discussion groups based around Ancient History themes, both in person and online. I also write for educational publishers and run seminars for students and education professionals.
Perhaps most importantly, my love of Classics and my joy of sharing it and passing it on to future generations of students makes my tutorials and groups rewarding, engaging and very effective!
You can read about the name Torchbearer here.
What I Offer
Tuition
Personalised, bespoke tuition: to bring out the best in each individual student, whatever your aims and ambitions.
Online or by correspondence course.
You can read more below.
Classics Clubs
Small discussion groups for students in person or online.
Develop and improve transferable skills including academic, social, critical thinking and self-motivation skills.
You can read more below.
Education Consultant and Writer
Writing and consulting for schools, education charities and educational publishers.
Including curriculum development and creation, teacher and classroom materials, newsletters, magazines, blogs and more.
Seminars for students and education professionals, in person or online.
I offer one-to-one online tuition in Latin, Ancient History and Classical Civilisation, whatever your goal.
This includes beginners, GCSE, A-Level, pre-U and University, Adult learners or returners, entrance exams and interviews, and more.
Tutorials start at £30 for a half-hour session, please contact me for further information and to discuss the kind of tuition you are looking for.
I also offer bespoke correspondence courses tailored to your needs.
Tutorials can improve understanding and confidence, sharpen exam technique, and help students get to grips with prescribed texts or unseen translations.
I tutor school and home educated students, and as a home-educating parent myself I have first-hand experience of the different possible approaches to education.
You can read some testimonials here.
I run small discussion groups in Classics subjects, bringing together students with a passion for Classics.
We discuss topics on a theme each week, with students engaging in learning more, asking questions, discussing the topic and brining their own insights.
This is a fantastic way of developing key academic skills which transfer across many subjects (and real world issues) such as cause and consequence, change and continuity; critical, evidence-based thinking; creating a strong and coherent argument; challenging and being challenged on your views in a safe, encouraging environment.
Students build confidence and friendships along with their improved knowledge and understanding of the ancient world!
I can set up in person or online Classics Clubs, please contact me to discuss opportunities.
I am currently running online Ancient History groups for 13-18 year-olds for Thinkers Meet Up.
Join me for Ancient Greece: Revolution and Society; Great Discoveries from the Ancient World; or How to be a Successful Roman.
My courses include Letters from Ancient Rome; Life and Literature in the Roman Republic; Greece and Persia; Athenian Super-Achievers; Alexander the Great; the Hellenistic World; Myth and Religion; Herodotus; Cicero; Suetonius; Heroes; Ancient Dinner Parties; Classics Debates, and many more!
Some Words from Parents and Students
"Jo has responded superbly to my daughter’s determination to learn A-level Latin, choosing vivid passages to translate that have made her laugh and delighted her heart, but also consistently and kindly ensuring she improved her grammar.
It has been just what we needed: a tutor who understands sympathetically the need to marry the fervent aspiration of a home educated student with the demands of the language and the curriculum."
RW - Parent of A-Level Latin Student