My name is Isabella Teresa Deeley, and I am a PGCE and CLTA qualified tutor of Italian, with over 26 years’ experience teaching Italian to adults of all backgrounds, whether learning individually or as a group. Although a British citizen of mixed nationality born in London, I am a native Italian speaker, having moved to Italy at a very young age, and I was educated in the Italian school system up to university level, where I studied other languages through the medium of Italian at the University of Naples, before completing a post-graduate Diploma at the University of Oxford. After obtaining my UK teaching qualifications at Goldsmith’s University (CLTA) and Greenwich University (PGCE in PCET), in 1996 I began teaching in Adult Education Colleges (including Westminster College, Lewisham College and Greenwich College) as well as privately in London, before moving to Kent in 2007, where in 2008 I began work as Italian tutor for Kent County Council Adult Education Services.
Over the course of my career, I have prepared and delivered both accredited (Edexcel, AQA, NOCN, LOCN) and non-accredited Italian courses from Beginners through to GCSE, AS and A2 levels, to students aged between 16 and 70. During that time, I have regularly conducted Italian GCSE and AS/A2 speaking tests, and since 2005 I have also worked as examiner of the GCSE written Italian coursework for AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance), examining written work from schools all over the UK. I have a passion for contemporary Italian cinema, which I taught as an introductory summer course in London for some years, and for modern and classical Italian literature, and Italian Renaissance music and art. I also love animals, and am associate member and chief translator and interpreter of a charitable association for rescued greyhounds in Northern Italy.