Question 1

Will you be the one teaching my child from start to finish?

Accepted Answer

Yes, always. I have no team, no associates, no stand-ins. When you contact me, I am the one who personally takes on your child, from the first assessment to the day of the exam. It is also why I deliberately limit the number of students I take each year.

Question 2

What does a session actually look like?

Accepted Answer

By video call, one hour at a time, at a fixed slot agreed together at the outset. Your child needs only a computer, a notebook and the set texts. I share my screen so we can work on texts together, and after each session they receive the documents we used.

Question 3

My child is at school abroad — how do you handle the time difference?

Accepted Answer

It is a large part of what I do, and it presents no difficulty. For families in the Gulf, sessions fall naturally in the late afternoon or early evening local time, which is the afternoon in France. The slot is fixed once at the start of the year and does not move, including during French school holidays, which do not always match those of French lycées abroad.

Question 4

When in the year should we start?

Accepted Answer

Starting early is comfortable: beginning in September or October lets us put the method in place before the first marked assignments, and work through the set texts as the syllabus goes rather than in a rush. But it is not a condition. Starting mid-year, even in the second term, works perfectly well, and lost ground can be made up: with good organisation and a steady rhythm, it is done. I have seen it many times. We simply adapt the plan to the time available, dealing first with what earns the most marks.

Question 5

Is the first conversation really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes, with nothing expected in return. It lasts about thirty minutes, by video call or telephone. You tell me about your child's situation, I explain how I work, and I tell you honestly whether I can help. If I think another kind of support would suit them better, I will say so.

Question 6

How many hours should we plan for over the year?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the starting point and the goal. A student who needs to build the method for all three papers usually works one hour a week across the school year. A student aiming at one particular paper, or wanting targeted catching-up, may need only a ten-hour block. The initial assessment exists precisely to answer this question with figures, before you commit to any volume.

Question 7

Do you also mark the work set by school?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it is what I prefer. School assignments are the most useful material there is: they show exactly what the student produces under real conditions. I read them, annotate them, and give concrete points for improvement, drawn from their own sentences.

Question 8

My child already gets good marks. Is this really worth it?

Accepted Answer

Often, yes. Many capable students plateau between 12 and 14 because a few precise habits are missing: analysing an example instead of quoting it, building a transition, opening out a conclusion, holding an interview without repeating oneself. These are exactly the details that move a paper into the band above, and they are the quickest to fix.

Question 9

One-to-one or small group: which should we choose?

Accepted Answer

Both exist, and neither is better in the abstract: it depends on your child. One-to-one, at €50 an hour, every session starts from their own papers and their current difficulties; the pace is theirs alone, and it is the most effective format for closing a specific gap or moving quickly. In a small group of at most four students, at €40 an hour, your child works alongside others preparing the same paper: they hear other readings of the same text, practise defending their own, and the group spirit helps a great deal with those whom a blank page discourages. It is also the more affordable option. During the first conversation I tell you frankly which of the two seems right.

Question 10

How is payment handled?

Accepted Answer

Payment is by bank transfer, on receipt of the invoice: session by session for single hours, or in one go when opening a ten-hour block. Hours in a block remain valid throughout the current school year. No subscription, no minimum term.

Question 11

What happens if a session has to be cancelled?

Accepted Answer

A session cancelled at least twenty-four hours in advance is rescheduled at no charge, at a slot we agree together. Things come up, particularly with expatriate families and travel: we work around it.

Question 12

Do you take students sitting the bac as private candidates?

Accepted Answer

Yes. These students have a particular need: they must assemble their own list of texts and choose the work for the interview, without the framework of a class. It is work I know well, and we begin it from the very start.

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