Fabien S

Alongside mentoring full time, I am an avid Man United fan who studies Mandarin and plays tennis with limited success.

Education

The University of Cambridge - Natural Sciences

Bio

I have been a professional mentor for over six years, amassing over 8,000 hours of experience across Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. I have worked both in the UK and internationally, delivering expert tuition, mentoring and academic consultancy in equal measure.

Studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge was the natural choice for me as it allowed me to pursue science and maths as a collective discipline. Alongside my degree, I found time to be elected as the access and admissions officer for my college, allowing me to improve the landscape for under-represented students including the production of a Cambridge myth-busting video which I am willing to show my best behaved students. I also was able to captain my college football team to promotion in my final year.

Outside of teaching, I am an extremely passionate (but somewhat untidy) cook and I love bringing my friends and family together to try my latest creations - so far with zero fatalities!

Approach

As a mentor, my approach has always centred around my students. I am acutely aware that every student is different, and their optimal methods for learning vary, so I like to spend time figuring out how to get the best out of his students and adapt my style accordingly. This has allowed me to work with students of varying ages and subjects for so long.

I started working for Oppidan in 2019 embracing the role of a mentor and working on the highly successful camps which were a blast and helped me to develop a professional persona outside of the classroom.

Following these camps, I was able to spend 2.5 wonderful years working in Shanghai in a new and challenging environment. This time was invaluable to my professional development as I was able to run my own summer school courses in maths and science building on what I had learnt during my time on camp. These courses helped me to strike the delicate balance between keeping lessons engaging, fun but full of content and activities.

What parents say

"Fabien worked with my son pre his IGCSE Edexcel Chemistry exams. He was a professional, always punctual, down to earth, fun but still strong enough to gain a 16 year old’s respect. He managed to break some old habits that my son had acquired in school and slowly build a much stronger knowledge of the subject. Through Fabien's enthusiasm for the Chemistry, he helped build my son’s confidence in a subject that did not come naturally to him. He was therefore calmer and more confident when it came to sitting the exams than we all expected. Fabien also did a few sessions reviewing areas of Maths, Biology and Physics just before the exams which seemed to be a great help also. I would highly recommend Fabien as a first-rate mentor." - Mother of a 16-year-old

"Fabien has mentored my daughter for 6th form maths for about 10 months, at a time when she was struggling with getting to school. He has been a terrific tutor, helping her get through a lot of content, including going through the GCSE curriculum she missed due to illness. This methodical approach has been invaluable and Fabien has also worked hard to put her at ease, even though she is very shy. His communication was always excellent. I would not hesitate to use him again and thoroughly recommend him - a real professional!" Mother of a year 13 student.

"Fabien has been working with my daughter (age 8) on and off for more than a year now. I have always found him to be very professional and work well with students whether one on one or in group classes. He has a great understanding with the students in his class and is always able to make lots of progress with them to improve both their knowledge in Science, but also their English skills via discussion and note-taking. Fabien has cultivated a great love of reading amongst the group reading class he has started, and my daughter finds his classes fun and engaging, I highly recommend him as a mentor." Mother of an 8-year-old.