Sienna MR

Hi! My name is Sienna and I'm an enthusiastic medical student at Cardiff University. I tutor GCSE and A Level Biology, Chemistry and Maths across Edexcel, AQA and OCR exam boards. I am happy to help with any university or medicine application questions having gone through the process myself!

Having struggled with tackling complex topics during my studies, I completely relate to the feeling of frustration many students feel when faced with an overwhelming syllabus and difficult exam questions.

My personal experience has driven me to focus lessons around the student and their goals; I creatively break down core topics into accessible chunks so students can develop a genuine understanding of their subject, and apply this knowledge to succeed in their exams.

My Experience:

I have versatile teaching experience collaborating with students to tailor lessons to their needs.

I regularly support students across the academic spectrum, from high achieving students looking to obtain top grades in their subject (GCSE grade 9, A Level grade A*), to building student confidence within their subject so they can attain a strong passing grade (GCSE grade 4).

I learned to adapt my teaching approach from using only exam questions to going through each topic step-by-step with diagrams and real-life scenarios.

Incorporating this strategy into our lessons enables my students to visualise complex problems and actively challenge themselves when faced with application questions.

Combining this with my clear communication and compassion facilitates a welcoming teaching environment where my students feel confident, encouraged, and truly valued.

Lesson Structure:

My lessons aim to keep students engaged and more confident and curious in their subject!

I continuously adapt our lesson structure working with the student so my teaching is centred around their needs and concerns.

At the start of a lesson, I give students 10 minutes of activities on a specific topic or skills, making the session more interactive, less overwhelming and developing their interest in the subject.

Building up a good understanding of each topic is important to succeed in exams. Every session, I use diagrams and real-life scenarios to ensure students can understand what questions are really asking, the steps to getting the correct answer, and why their answer may be incorrect.

Our first lesson is discounted and includes an in-depth discussion with the student about their goals, what they expect from our sessions and an overview of their strengths and weaknesses in the subject.

Following this discussion, I design personalised, detailed lesson material based on the up-to-date exam specification and comprehensive practice questions to test student understanding and learning throughout the sessions.

Depending on the student's preference, I assemble lesson-specific homework so students can consolidate their understanding and challenge themselves in between lessons.

Outside of medicine, I am passionate about music and drama; I play the piano and violin at Grade 8 level, and achieved Grade 8 in LAMDA Acting.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!