Becoming a better writer happens through conversation, far more than through a checklist of mistakes on a feedback sheet. That’s why our online Year 9 English tutoring is built around doing the work together, live.
Shakespeare needs a different kind of session. Before your child can analyse a play, they need to understand it and feel it, and that’s where we start.
Why Shakespeare needs a different approach
In class, plays are usually read slowly, scene by scene, over many weeks. If a film is shown, it’s often split across several periods. Many students end up working through dense lines without ever feeling the story’s full dramatic weight, which is completely normal.
A one-on-one session can do what a busy classroom can’t: put the whole story in view first, then slow down on the lines that matter most.
How a Shakespeare session works
Sessions run on Google Meet, and for English the main tool is a shared Google Doc that your child and the tutor work in together.
- Check-in. How they’re feeling, and what’s due in class.
- The whole story first. A brief synopsis and the plot arc, act by act, so every scene has a place.
- The people behind the play. The tutor talks through the play’s context in human terms, because the people of Shakespeare’s time were people like us.
- Line by line. Key lines go into the shared doc with a plain-English version and what each one shows, built together.
- Write and review. Your child writes a short paragraph, then they and the tutor review it together, talking through the turns of phrase that work well and the things that could be stronger.
- Next steps. What to read, rewatch or write before next session goes at the bottom of the doc.
At home, watching a full performance or film of the play in one sitting gives your child the emotional sweep that broken-up class viewings miss.
A quote bank, built as you go
Key lines from each session can go into one table in the shared doc, ready for revision.
| Quote | Act and scene | Speaker | Technique | What it shows | Human context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| “A plague o’ both your houses!” | 3.1 | Mercutio | Curse, repeated across the scene | The feud destroys bystanders | Young people paying for their elders’ grudges |
How we check it’s landing
Understanding comes before analysis, so that’s what we check first. If your child can retell the plot arc and put a key line into their own words, they’re ready to write about it.
Signs it’s working
- They can retell the story act by act without notes.
- They can explain a famous line in plain English.
- They talk about characters as people with real reasons for what they do.
- Their paragraphs refer to “the audience” and give act and scene references.
Google Docs keeps every version of your child’s writing, so you can see how their paragraphs change across the unit.