Hugh

Chemistry teacher, 25 years experience including IBDP, A-level, DSE, IGCSE, IBMYP and UK National Curriculum.

I have been teaching for over 25 years, much of this in international schools following the IB, UK and Hong Kong curricula. My main subject is Chemistry, however I also have many years experience teaching IB Theory of Knowledge and General Science, and will happily tutor in these areas. I am also a very experienced IB Extended Essay supervisor, and can help with personal statements for university applications.

My home is in the Tseung Kwan O area, but I am happy to travel to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and much of the New Territories provided the session is at least 90 minutes.

Since 2007, I have been teaching in Hong Kong in schools offering the IB curriculum, both IBDP and IB MYP, some offering IGCSE too. One of my schools also ran the DSE in parallel with IBDP and I taught students on both programmes for around 14 years.

Prior to coming to Hong Kong, I taught in Italy, Costa Rica and the UK, gaining additional experience in the IBDP, A-level, IGCSE and the UK National Curriculum.

Over the years, I have attended professional development at many IB workshops. This has included training for the new Chemistry syllabus for first exams in 2025, including an in-depth look at the changes to Internal Assessment.

My knowledge of my subject is one particular strength that I have as a teacher. It comes from a deep, lifelong interest in the sciences that I continue to feed on a regular basis. This is built on a strong foundation of excellent A-level results in all three sciences as well as a first class honours degree in Pure Chemistry from the University of Leeds. I love my subject, and this comes across when I teach.

For over 20 years, I have held curriculum leadership positions in schools, some of these posts being very senior. This has put me in a great position to receive additional insight about the assessment and organisation of the subjects that I teach.

I also have an almost inexhaustible supply of patience, calmly and gently walking students through whatever it is that they need to learn. My teaching style is based on giving students problems to solve, whilst guiding them with questions that both remind them of what they already know and show them how this links to their current learning goal. With guidance, students will think their way to the answer whilst I fill in any gaps in knowledge and understanding along the way. I will provide examples, enrichment and additional depth where appropriate. When needed, the teaching of exam skills can be as much a part of this process as the teaching of curriculum content.

A consequence of my approach to teaching is the breaking up of complex, abstract tasks and concepts into a series of manageable steps. Each step can be large or small depending on where a student is right now in their learning. These build up logically into a process or big idea that can then be mastered with practice. My ability to make this approach work well for any student who is willing to engage is the result of many years of experience and experimentation.

I have not always been a teacher and have several years as a laboratory manager, scuba instructor, industrial chemist and working diver to draw upon and provide additional context and perspective in my teaching.

I hope you consider me a suitable tutor and would love to hear from you.