During the first lockdown in the UK, I noticed gaps in my children’s education. Not knowing when the school would reopen and with the prospect of my son sitting 11+ exams within only a few months, I decided to reach out to online tutoring. Not sure whether online was the option or indeed if it would help – as all my children’s school remote learning was very stressful and basic.

Little did I know that I would strike gold!

From the first lesson, Lisa was in a different level of teaching, and that was my son’s opinion!

She was very knowledgeable about the whole 11+ exam process and the requirements for each school. Something that I was completely unaware of. She even suggested which school would suit him best, and this is the advice most parents would really appreciate if comes from a professional.

She guided my son through a very difficult time of Pandemic when the goalposts kept changing, and some of the schools decided at very short notice, to change their exam set up completely, with no sample papers available!

Lisa was very quick to find different resources for exam preparation, and adapt her teaching to what was required, even if it meant she had to completely abandon a subject and focus on a different one.

What I found amazing was Lisa’s dedication, and as I told her after the exams, regardless of any results I was very grateful for her hard work .

11+ process can be very stressful, especially this year when the whole world was falling apart -keeping my son motivated and happy was very hard. But Lisa could pick up on that and cheer him up.

I was always getting feedback emails from Lisa, especially when she thought my son was starting to feel stressed about the exams and could give me advice on how to help him. She cared about his well-being as much as his academics.

My son enjoyed every lesson and loved all the challenging questions Lisa threw at him to test his ability.

She was strict but fun. And managed to bring out his best. Lisa wanted the results as much as we did, and it showed that she was determined to help as much as she could for my son to achieve it.

My son was offered places in some of the most selective and prestigious schools in the country, and was even praised specifically in one of the offer letters for his impressive English essay!

For someone who didn’t like writing at the start that is an outstanding achievement!

Teaching is not Lisa’s job, it’s definitely her Passion.

Now I have my daughter to take advantage of Lisa’s expertise for 2022!

Whatever challenge it presents, with Lisa we will overcome it.

LONDON PARENT

We had Lisa for our daughter Isabella during lockdown twice a week and she was a complete revelation!!

She honestly made the learning fun; she made the kids laugh. Even when they moaned that they didn’t want to get on the call, within 5 minutes of the call coming in, I could hear laughter (from both sides!)

Lisa has a natural way with children and knows how to chat to them and make them feel like they are the most amazing child on the planet, but also she is great at focusing their minds and getting them to work! I would love to be able to bottle that skill.

She gave us loads of tips for websites to try and my daughter actually really enjoyed trying to beat the others, as Lisa made it into a fun competition!

I really cannot recommend Lisa highly enough, she made learning seem easy and always had a smile on her face.

She works all hours!! Who knows when she sleeps?

I could go and on, but choosing Lisa was the best decision we could have made. The one bonus of lockdown!

SEVENOAKS PARENT

Lisa is an exceptional class teacher and tutor who has taught my children in both capacities. One of the best I have ever come across. There’s no doubt she knows what she’s doing, she’s professional, calm and highly competent but also has wit, verve and flair. She manages to zone in on exactly what children are finding difficult and gives them the tools to unpick the problems, saving everyone time.

She’s steely when required but also kind (hugely important) and has a brilliant sense of fun and humour. My daughter adds, ‘We were never bored’ – praise indeed. The 11 plus process can be terminally dull; it’s not with Lisa…

JULIA

Lisa is extremely intuitive and knows immediately what a child needs in order to progress. She has a natural rapport with the kids, so my daughter doesn’t feel like it’s a chore to do her Maths lessons, like she did before. She moved up a Maths set quickly and her confidence and mathematical ability have grown from strength to strength. She enjoys Maths! Online learning just works for us. I am a working expat mum and the flexibility of online tuition suits our lifestyle perfectly. Lisa can teach the lesson wherever we are, whether I am there or not.

Online or in the flesh, the lessons are fast paced and exciting. I often hear laughter during the lesson – Lisa has such a lovely rapport with her students and can connect with them – even when video conferencing. If you need an inspirational tutor to inject confidence and facilitate growth – I would recommend Lisa without hesitation.

AMY

My daughter (who is 11yrs/yr 7) started with Helen at the beginning of term and I was really sceptical about the whole Skype lesson approach. I was worried about how she could conduct the lesson without being with my daughter. We have now completed the term and I have been amazed to find that all of my concerns proved to be unfounded.

We have now completed the term and I have been amazed at the results. Most importantly my daughter has seen the results in both English and other subjects where she is required to write and structure her work presenting different arguments with conclusions. She now has a robust understanding of sentence structure and is able to apply this in her work. In addition to all of this I have been very surprised at how easy the Skype lesson has been. There have been no technical difficulties and my daughter finds this medium easy to use and engaging. For me it’s really non-invasive and I don’t have to tidy the house before she comes!!!! I would thoroughly recommend Helen as an English tutor and any fears I had regarding the medium have been allayed. She is easy to communicate with and is able to maintain my daughter’s interest in the subject, which isn’t easy! Great results Helen, thank you.

SAM

It’s really easy using Skype because all you have to do is turn the computer on. It’s really interactive. She does the questions with you and you can compare the answers and it’s really fun. I’ve learnt about my descriptions and how to answer comprehension questions. It’s really fun and easy.

ELLA

I wished I had discovered Lisa and her Glowfly tutoring programs earlier. Her program for my son was individualised to help him with 13+ common entrance exams for various schools. It was the first time that my son actually looked forward to his lessons. Lisa’s lessons were skype delivered, high quality and affordable and were a huge contributing factor to my son’s success with all of his exams.

JO

Lisa was great. She explained everything to me in a way that I was able to understand. She did not do the work for me but just guided me. As well as my exam results being so good I am also so much more confident in my work now.

BEN

William needed a little confidence, a slightly different way of looking at things and someone with a bit of faith in him. Lisa gave him all of those things and we are so grateful that his whole attitude to Maths and Maths lessons has changed.

ALEXY, MUM OF WILLIAM

Lisa is an amazing teacher who takes the time to understand where her pupils are coming from and teaches them accordingly. This allows her to be able to teach the child in the way they understand, rather than the usual techniques that may not work for every child. For example my very mathematical child progressed in English when taught it in a “target” fashion”. Would highly recommend Lisa as I don’t think I’ve met a more committed teacher.

ZOE, MUM OF CHARLIE

Lisa has helped me improve my Maths and English by making sure I knew the tricks to getting marks.

CHARLIE

My 11 year old son has received learning support at school since reception, age 4. As he progressed through junior school the support was specifically for Maths as he just didn’t ‘get it’; each topic had to be taught and retaught, each concept a struggle to retain. Over time, he increasingly grew to dislike Maths and had little interest as he felt defeated and like he couldn’t do it.

When Lisa started to tutor him, her fun approach caught his attention, he enjoyed each lesson, and Lisa was able to find interesting ways to help him understand the Maths concepts. For me, it was amazing to see him enjoying Maths! Today he enjoys Maths, his teachers have seen an incredible change in his attitude as thanks to Lisa, he now believes in himself. We think Lisa rocks!

I should mention also his grades have improved and he is no longer having 1-2-1 support in school but has moved up to a group lesson.

HAYLEY

Math is an important building block for many other topics and we consider it critical that our son fully understands the syllabus. Misunderstanding one concept in maths then it can have a trickledown effect on future topics. Being part of a classroom environment has many benefits, but there is always the risk that your child falls through the cracks and issues are not identified in a timely way. This is especially important when the complexity of the topics increases and we cannot provide the necessary guidance from home. Being able to follow up the classroom with one on one tutorials, ensures that all topics are bedded down and there are no misunderstandings. Watching from a distance, we can see that Rachel has the full attention of our 12-year-old son. This is no mean feat in itself. He seems fully engaged at all times. We have also noticed an immediate impact on his midterm test scores. We highly recommend Glowfly.

BERMUDA PARENT

My Year 8 son has been working with Lisa on a weekly basis for the last 3 months. Knowing I was writing this review I asked him how he would describe Lisa, he said, “She’s really nice, she’s cool.” High praise from a 13 year old boy!

In her sessions Lisa is always incredibly positive and totally “gets” my son, as a result he is now more confident and is beginning to believe in himself. Lisa has identified many fundamental gaps in his knowledge and has carefully planned future sessions to address this. I have been extremely impressed with how Lisa has built a relationship with my son and has been systematically building up his foundation knowledge in the GCSE curriculum in order for him to then apply this for future topics.  I have already recommended her to a close friend.

I’ve also used Glowfly tutors to support my daughter with one of her A level subjects, again they have ticked all the boxes, a tutor who is engaged and focussed, excellent resources and a clear understanding of what is needed to achieve a high A-level grade.

SINGAPORE PARENT

Our 10yr old son has received an offer from a leading UK co-educational school. He is thrilled and so are we and wanted to thank Lisa her help and guidance. I know how much he learned during her sessions and her fun, engaging style – even on a Sunday morning when he wanted to be playing outside – laid the groundwork for his entrance test success. We noticed how his confidence and understanding grew over the course of only a few weeks with Lisa and have also seen a real improvement in his wider schoolwork and interest in story writing. Thank you Lisa!

D, KENT

I contacted Lisa following a friend’s recommendation and was not disappointed. Lisa was an amazing tutor who quickly got to know and understand our daughter Chloe and where her work should focus. Our request was slightly unusual in that we wanted to understand any gaps between the works Chloe was undertaking in Year 5 Australia and that required to pass an 11+ style online entrance exam. Lisa researched the schools we were considering and immediately tailored the programme, she provided structured and interactive Skype lessons with home learning and online tests to support the work covered. Lisa was very flexible with her schedule and the Australian time difference and coped well with Chloe’s reluctance to appear on screen!

We saw tremendous progress in a really short period of time. The sessions gave both Chloe and us as parents the confidence not to worry about any potential gaps between the two systems. Lisa taught Chloe to an extremely high level and it was great when she came home after sitting the online tests to say they were much easier than the tutoring sessions. Lisa’s knowledge of the UK system is excellent and this was also proven when the essay question Chloe faced was the same as a practice one she had been set. We would highly recommend Lisa to others and wish to thank her for the positive tutoring experience we had.

G, SYDNEY

Glowfly tutors have been amazing for my two children. My twin 15 year olds attend an independent boarding school in England.  Glowfly tutors had helped them tremendously with physics, maths and chemistry. The tutors have given the kids more confidence in the subjects they find challenging and have helped with their exams.  Both have improved their grades. I thoroughly recommend Glowfly tutors. They have been brilliant and so easy and flexible to use. Fits in well with a busy lifestyle

Thank you Glowfly.

M, TOKYO

We live in Dubai and I engaged the services of Lisa and her team in order to prepare my younger 2 children for independent school entry at 11+ and 13+. Lisa taught my younger daughter and my son had Helen for English and Deborah for Maths. I can honestly say that they are amongst the best educators I have come across. They certainly knew the entrance requirements for each school we were aiming at; were able to ascertain where my children were in relation to the requirements and when it came to the tests, both were very well prepared. Lisa, Helen and Deborah knew how to engage with the kids and get the best out of them. Most of all, I was confidently able to place my trust in them. They were honest about their opinion about the suitability of the schools and about the children’s abilities. My daughter needed a lot of input as she is not naturally studious- Lisa and I were able to work together in order to get the best out of her and she has come on leaps and bounds in her Maths and English. I cannot recommend Glowfly Tutors more highly

SASH, DUBAI

As an Expat family, we have moved countries several times in the past ten years and as such this has meant our boys have changed school with a regularly unknown to most. We were introduced to Lisa initially because the way the British School Curriculum is taught at International British Schools is not standardized, and as we moved around we noticed ‘gaps’ in our boys knowledge when starting new schools that needed to be rectified.

Lisa very quickly identified the ‘gaps’ and successfully brought our sons up to the level where they needed to be. This proved invaluable for their confidence , knowledge and continued learning in line with the pace set by the new school. Our weekly session with Lisa occur via her fantastic interactive skype system and is never a chore for the boys. They take pride in what they are learning and love the challenges Lisa sets and the resulting sense of achievement they feel when they ‘get it’. They always finish each session with a smile on their faces.

You can tell Lisa loves what she does, her positive, bubbly, high energy approach to teaching is evident when she is working with our boys. I love listening to her gentle nudges when they are working on topics that she knows they can do but maybe they doubt themselves. Lisa’s sessions are never ‘dictate, listen and copy’ based, they are carefully crafted to guide them through the learning so that they actually bring themselves to the ‘point of understanding’. It’s brilliant to listen to. Lisa gets to know the boys and them her. The ease and comfort in their interactions is nothing I have ever encountered before. They never feel silly if they don’t know the answers, they just ask.

Our eldest recently needed to sit an entrance test for a UK Boarding school and he worked with Lisa and her team to understand first the process, the expectations and also the learning requirements as again there were gaps in what had been taught abroad to what was expected from a UK Boarding school. Lisa also managed to calmly swap the exam learning requirements when the school changed from a written test format to an online test environment. This could have proved very stressful but after a small wobble on my son’s part, they were both off in a new direction and working hard. In less than 6 months Lisa worked with my son weekly and truly enriched his knowledge, calmed his nerves, built his confidence up so that he was ready when the time came to sit the exam. He subsequently passed and has attained a place at his preferred school and has much to look forward to in 2020. This is testament to the wonderful guidance and learning from Lisa. We have much to thank her for.

EXPAT FAMILY TOKYO

Our experience with Glowfly Tutors has been outstanding. We cannot recommend Lisa enough! Lisa has tutored both my children through their 11+ after we spent 4 years overseas out of the British System. Lisa researched the schools we were interested in and quickly identified any gaps in curriculums and their knowledge base. However what makes Lisa exceptional is that she has given them much more than just academic guidance. She has encouraged and supported them, nurtured their strengths, built their confidence in their own abilities and been wonderfully adept at identifying areas to improve and empowered them to succeed. Her sessions were engaging and informative and her bright, cheery and positive manner and enthusiasm for their learning never faltered. The ease of the interaction between Lisa and my children has been wonderful to hear. We found the learning tools and resources provided excellent and very much valued the flexibility that the Skype sessions gave us. Both my children have secured places at our preferred schools, with my daughter securing an academic scholarship.

Thank you so much Lisa!

My daughter is in the IB Middle Years program and has been tutored in maths by Rachel for ten months which has been really effective. She has an excellent personal connection with Rachel who is always well prepared, flexible, patient and encouraging. The interactive nature of the Skype lessons work very well, and the follow up notes and homework are a great way to reflect on the learning. My daughter’s anxiety around math is greatly diminished and she has become much more confident in tackling new concepts in maths. The difference is night and day. The icing on the cake is that her grades are excellent.

Lisa was recommended to us by a friend when we were looking for a coach to help our then 10yr old daughter prepare for her 11plus entrance exams in the UK.

Based in Singapore, our daughter had only six months to prepare for the examinations and Lisa was able to prioritize both the learning required, while at the same time help develop broader overall academic skills within time zone friendly hours.

We were highly impressed by how Lisa was able to capture our daughter’s attention and keep the sessions fun and focused and we saw significant progress from session to session. As we got closer to the examinations, Lisa helped our daughter develop exam techniques and coping strategies which settled her nerves and gave her confidence. Lisa also helped guide us through the examination process ensuring we were able to provide the support our daughter needed.

The outcome was excellent: our daughter received offers from both schools we applied for and for our preferred choice she achieved an academic scholarship. Lisa brings a great enthusiasm for learning, calm approach and deep experience; we can’t thank her enough.

We live outside the UK. In September 2020 I decided I would like my daughter to try attain a 16+ entry place at a top UK private boarding school. This was quite daunting for my daughter as she was unfamiliar with UK schools and needed some help to prepare her for the entrance exams. Fortunately, I knew Lisa had a business providing this service and when asked she made every effort possible to provide highly skilled teachers to help my daughter understand various types of entrance exams for Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English. My daughter received unconditional offers from Brighton College and Cheltenham Ladies College and the Glowfly team really helped her refine her skills to maximise the outcome. Lisa made sure that I knew the nature of the tuition in advance and the teachers provided excellent feedback. The tuition was of an exceptionally high quality.

Glowfly is an outstanding online tutoring platform, with the most amazingly inspirational teachers across all subjects. My two children have used Glowfly tutors for the past two years for iGCSE, A level, extended projects and personal statements for university. Their help, support and inspiration has been invaluable which has resulted in outstanding iGCSE results, unmatched A level preparation and first choice offers from top universities. Thank you Team Glowfly, you guys are the best.

When I had my first zoom call with Lisa, I had 11+ school exams coming up, and I knew that I had gaps in my knowledge when it came to maths and exam technique. My school runs a course, but even that was more of a ‘here’s a test, figure it out’ situation. Lisa’s work is extremely thorough and thanks to her I was awarded 2 academic scholarships both at good Surrey schools. I would NOT be in this situation without Lisa, so thank you SO MUCH!! As they say the proof is in the pudding so without a doubt Lisa is an amazing tutor. Above that though, and from a parents perspective, she was incredibly helpful, patient and supportive throughout the entire process. So very grateful that we had her in our camp. Team Ella! We will be back in 3 years with our son Max so look out!

Lisa at Glowfly was recommended to us after we had tried several other tutors for our (challenging), son but were left uninspired. From the outset Lisa was personable, positive, knowledgeable and gave us the confidence that she would be able to help. Initially my son was tested to assess his capabilities in both English and maths. A plan was then drawn up to identify areas that needed extra care. The tutors Lisa chose were all friendly, engaging and passionate. My son changed from having to be dragged to his lesson to being ready and actually looking forward to it. He described the lessons as fun (words I never expected to come out of his mouth to describe studying). In maths and English his grades went up at school considerably. His vocabulary improved and comprehensions at school went from being avoided to being tackled head on. Maths became something he’d enjoy, challenging himself, with the help of his tutor Debs he really flourished. Our son secured a place at a highly academic school which originally we had thought was out of his reach. Glowfly were responsible for this achievement with their lesson plans, regular reviews and belief in him which made him want to succeed. What sets Glowfly apart is Lisa and her tutors. She really knows how to develop and engage with children and her tutors have the right amount of passion and patience to get the best from your children. They really care and support you as a family to ensure goals are met. Tutors are expensive but Glowfly are worth every penny. We have been so delighted with Glowfly that our seven year old daughter has recently started lessons with them. I would have no hesitation in recommending them to everyone we know. Thank you Glowfly for all your help!

Glowfly Tutors were recommended to us by a good friend and our experience with them has been consistently excellent. They have always taken time to understand our son and get to know him. Sometimes we listen in to the tutoring sessions for a few minutes and they are always full of energy and enthusiasm, laughter and frankly our son loves them. All the tutors have been of excellent quality and the learning outcomes have surpassed our expectations. I can truly say they have made a fantastic impact on his academic achievements and without them I am sure he would not have been so successful. We are not usually review writers but we owe Glowfly Tutors so much for what they have done. Use them- you won’t regret it.

After a number of years in Asia, we decided to return to UK and begin the search for schools for our two children. Glowfly was recommended to us by a friend who had found their support, Lisa’s in particular, invaluable. We weren’t disappointed. Lisa’s knowledge of UK schools is excellent. She has helped to secure places for her students in many of the leading schools in the country. She therefore has inside information and direct contact with parents of students currently attending. This information is real and vitally relevant when choosing something as important as a school for your child. She was able to recommend a list of ‘best fit’ schools based upon our children’s profile and helped narrow the choice once offers came in. We applied for a number of schools, which resulted in a number of different examination formats. Lisa was familiar with all of them and was able to create lessons which prepared for the online CAT4 and ISEB Pretest as well as the more formal English and maths papers. Nothing phased her and she even made the process enjoyable for the children. She is an excellent teacher and was able to tailor lessons to support two very different learners! We were able to hand everything over to her and she managed the entire preparation process, keeping the children calm and enthusiastic throughout. Our children were offered places in all of their schools and we’re delighted. We cannot thank Lisa and Glowfly enough. Her knowledge is invaluable and her support of us as a family warmly appreciated. She certainly made the pain of moving more bearable. Thank you!

Alice helped my daughter with English tutoring for the 14+ exams. We didn’t have much time so they had about 5-6 sessions. Each lesson was well structured and interactive with many useful advice. Alice made my daughter feel comfortable from the first session and her knowledge and confidence increased.  She also provided detailed feedback after each lesson. We would highly recommend Alice.

If you’re feeling like finding the right tutor for your child is like looking for a needle in a haystack, then look no further – I’ve not yet met a parent that has engaged Lisa, or her wider team, and hasn’t been 110% happy with their child’s progress and achievements. Lisa tutored my sons for entry assessments to a UK private school – needless to say, they were successful in securing places. The boys enjoyed learning with Lisa and didn’t begrudge the extra time they had to spend outside of school hours – especially when they could see the benefit of it in the classroom, and eventually with the school entry assessment. What makes Glowfly stand apart from the rest of the Tutor community is Lisa; her vivacious personality, her professionalism, her experience and most importantly for parents – her results. You can trust her as a person, as a teacher and as an advisor, which is important when you’re investing in your child’s education. Teachers should be inspirational, and Lisa is that in spades, and not just academically, but also on a personal level. She understands children and can talk to them in a way that makes them listen and want to try their best, even when she’s being strict with them (always in a friendly way!). It’s clear to see in Lisa’s interactions with them that this is her passion. She cares greatly about making sure the children fulfil their potential and fills them with confidence about achieving their end goal. Lisa is 100% genuine, and the children recognise this. They thrive under that level of care. And this isn’t limited to Lisa, her wider team are equally experienced, supportive and successful. Final word goes to the boys, whose verdict was ‘Money well spent!’.