Sonal

Ashmita (Parent) My son was a Year 11 student studying English Language GCSE. Before starting with Sonal, he was predicted a lower grade. Sonal taught him for approximately 9 weeks, and in such a short period of time, he improved his results by 2 grades. Sonal understood my son as an individual student and was able to identify his strengths as well as areas he needed improvement. She helped him address the learning gaps and taught him how to answer questions to a high standard. She also provided him with extra resources to support his learning. Whatever Sonal taught my son not only helped him achieve better grades but also benefited his overall personal development. My son became more confident in his ability to approach English questions and was able to express and develop his ideas more effectively. Sonal encouraged him to set high standards for himself and helped him become a more confident and capable learner. Sonal is committed, patient, supportive and genuinely invests in her students’ progress. She sets high standards while making her lessons enjoyable and engaging. She also maintained excellent communication with me throughout the tutoring. After each lesson, she would email me to update me on my son’s progress and provide constructive feedback. This made me feel very much involved in the whole learning process. I would highly recommend Sonal as a tutor and coach because of her dedication, her individualised approach and her ability to support both the academic and personal development of her students. Ashmita's son (Student) Sonal in 3 words: Committed, patient and empowering I achieved a high-level grade, 2 grades above my predicted grade. I was overjoyed! One of the biggest improvements was in my creative writing. Sonal taught me how to use English Language techniques such as similes, metaphors, personification and onomatopoeia. She also taught me how to write with detailed description and imagery by using more sophisticated and wide-ranging vocabulary for verbs, adjectives and adverbs, as well as interesting sentence starters. For comprehension, she taught me that I could only sharpen my interpretation of a text after understanding the question first. She showed me how to skim and scan for information, retrieve relevant evidence and use quotations to support my own insightful and unique analysis. Sonal helped me become more confident in my own abilities and encouraged me to believe that I could achieve a higher level than I initially thought possible. She was committed and patient, but also set high standards for me and encouraged me to elevate my English. Her lessons were fun and engaging, which made learning much more enjoyable. Most importantly, she empowered me to improve through hard work and showed me that with the right guidance, commitment and effort, I could achieve my goals. Finally, a wish came true through hard work from both of us!

Sonal prepared my son Yash for his 11+ English Exams at various private schools: Habs (Haberdashers' Aske's Boys'), Merchant Taylors and St Albans Boys. She's a very warm person and my son took an instant liking to her. She would not only teach the subject in hand but also bring in relevant aspects of the broader Key Stage 2 syllabus to consolidate the learning. My son always came away learning new facts or idioms, analogies, similes. He enjoyed these aspects of the lessons the most. I would not hesitate to recommend Sonal and she has been an asset in my son being offered a place at all three schools mentioned above.

Sonal started working with our son (7 years old in Year 3) during a COVID isolation period in Autumn term. It was due to just be a short term tutoring arrangement. We were so impressed with Sonal’s style of teaching and how it brought Arthur on board to enjoy his learning, that the relationship continued throughout the school year. Sonal’s experience, dedication, passion for teaching and caring attitude shone through. We loved Sonal’s holistic approach to teaching, not just teaching specific points, but also focusing on techniques for how to learn. Our son has since had a diagnosis of ADHD, and Sonal’s techniques for learning through playfulness, curiousity and positive reinforcement really helped our son throughout the sessions. Sonal’s lessons were varied and kept Arthur engaged and enthused, and he made great progress throughout the year in English and Maths with the 1-2-1 support from Sonal. As parents, we also appreciated the detailed and observant reports Sonal sent. We’d have no hesitation recommending Sonal as a tutor. Here are some words from my son Arthur too I really liked Sonal because she helped me with my work and made me feel confident. She taught me how to enjoy learning and keep on trying. I liked writing my story, ‘Hawaiian Island Adventure’ with Sonal - it was great fun!

Alex came downstairs after doing a piece of creative writing, was very happy to show it to me and shared how he finds it much easier to do creative writing, whereas before, he was dreading it. I was so happy to hear that! And it's all thanks to YOU Sonal! So much work and so much attention and dedication you put into lessons and it has paid off! I cannot express how grateful I am for that. Such a relief to see Alex feeling happy and confident about his creative writing now!

Sonal  tutored  our  twins  for  the  11+  entrance  exams  for  several  months,  with  great  success.  They  obtained  places at  every  school  they  sat  for ( Immanuel College , Mill Hill School, Channing School, Northbridge House). Sonal's  patience,  competence,  and  guidance  helped  the  twins  make  remarkable  progress  in  sharpening  their verbal/non-verbal  reasoning  skills.  She  is  very  thorough  and  took  careful  measures  in  helping  the  children  grasp concepts  they  found  tricky. The  children  particularly  liked  her  warm,  friendly  and  encouraging  approach  to  teaching.  Sonal's  genuine  care  and love  of  teaching  came  through  in  every  lesson.  She  is  a  highly  dedicated,  knowledgeable  and  skilled  educator. 

Sonal is a very reliable and conscientious tutor. She tutored my daughter Roisin when she was in Year 4 (8 years old) She approaches tutoring in a very holistic way, taking time to explain subjects in a helpful and supportive way. She also helped to challenge, which stretched my daughter and gave her confidence and belief in herself and her abilities.

My daughter was tutored by Sonal quite late into her 11plus journey. Sonal made her feel at ease and helped her to get a full grasp of non verbal reasoning. There was a stage my daughter had a mental block and got very anxious, Sonal helped her through this tough time. Sonal is very organised when planning the lessons, she also gives detailed feedback and sets homework to help retention of key areas. We appreciated the feedback as not all tutors do this and you can feel a bit blind about what progress they are making. We saw a noticeable difference in her non verbal work. It just 'clicked' at a certain point and she was much more confident in answering questions. My daughter also covered some creative writing lessons with Sonal. Again my daughter gained confidence in doing these sessions. We received detailed feedback and she marked the exact areas for improvement. Sonal was great throughout the whole tutoring process. We couldn't recommend her enough. Here are some words from my daughter as well: Thank you for being a wonderful teacher - not just for Non-Verbal Reasoning and English but also for keeping calm and believing in myself. I could not have done any of my exams without you helping me keep my spirits high. There has not been anything I haven't enjoyed whilst being tutored with you. I am very sad that we have to stop our tutoring lessons but I will never forget how much you helped me.