Vicki Harwood

I am an experienced teacher and ex head of Humanities who has worked in both the public and private sectors, teaching a range of levels and abilities from Key stage 2, SEN, GCSE, A Level and Adult Learners. I have experience of teaching History for AQA , OCR and Edexcel exam boards

Before I became a Humanities teacher I spent several years teaching in primary schools before moving to secondary education where I specialised in History and Classics. Whilst there I also taught a range of Humanities subjects, including GCSE Geography.

For ten years I was the Director of Humanities in a large academy where I mainly taught GCSE and A Level, History and Classics. To ensure that I understood the requirements of the courses we were teaching I became an examiner and still mark A Level History exams for AQA. I also moderate AQA A Level History coursework.

I am currently working as a teacher of History in an International Boarding school but in my spare time I do online tutoring, which I thoroughly enjoy.
Evidence suggests that we learn better if we feel secure and safe, therefore my aim is to make lessons enjoyable and stimulating, and a place where students, no matter their age, feel supported and encouraged to take risks with out fear.
I am passionate about most types of History, and I hope that sometimes my enthusiasm sparks an interest in others.
Most of the time teaching is a two way exchange of information and I feel I learn a lot from students as any contribution is valuable; everyone has an opinion and each persons perspective will be different.
Therefore students opinion are as valid as mine; my aim is to teach people the skills to give voice to their thoughts and to express their beliefs in a coherent and logical way.
I believe most people learn best when they are entertained, so a few years ago I combined my love of Literature and History, to write a number historical fiction books which I published under a pen