Flourish Stories: Ayumi | The Final Stretch

At Flourish in English, every student’s journey is different. Flourish Stories is our opportunity to hear directly from the students we work with: what they found difficult, what changed along the way, what they are proud of and what they have learnt about themselves.

Ayumi is now a Year 12 student at Shrewsbury International School Bangkok. She worked with Flourish in English for a year and a half, receiving one-to-one English tuition with Ms Natalie as she worked towards her IGCSE examinations in Year 11.

English had not always been a subject that came easily to Ayumi. When she first joined Flourish, she found literary analysis challenging and wasn't sure how to revise effectively for English. Eighteen months later, she achieved an A* in both English Language and English Literature, alongside an incredible 11 A*/Grade 9 results overall.

Her achievements also earned her the prestigious Sir Martin Rees Scholarship at Shrewsbury International School Bangkok.

We asked Ayumi to look back on her Year 11 experience and her time with Flourish.

Meet Ayumi

Describe yourself in three words.

"Outgoing, sporty, caring."

What’s something you’re really proud of this year?

"Receiving the Sir Martin Rees Scholarship."

What’s been your biggest Year 11 achievement?

"Going from a predicted grade of A to an A*/9 in the real exam for both English Literature and English Language, along with getting 11 A*/9s overall."

What’s something you can do now that Year 7 you would be impressed by?

"Getting high grades in English. I always had an A on my report card for English, but I was able to get an A*/9 in the actual exam."

Which book, character or poem from English would you happily never see again?

"The War of the Worlds and The Enemies!"

If your Year 11 experience had a title, what would it be?

"The Final Stretch."

What’s your ultimate post-exam celebration?

"Going swimming with my dog and sleeping in!"

Learning how to approach English

One of the things we love about Ayumi’s story is that her progress wasn't simply about doing more English. It was about learning how to approach the subject in a way that worked for her.

At Flourish, our IGCSE English Language and Literature tuition develops skills including literary analysis, interpretation, essay planning and structured exam responses. But our one-to-one sessions are personalised to the individual student. For Ayumi, this meant finding ways to make a subject that initially felt less concrete than her STEM subjects, feel much more manageable.

Can you remember what English felt like for you when you first started with Flourish?

"I remember that I found it much harder to understand than other subjects and didn’t really know how I could revise effectively for English."

What did you find most difficult when you first started?

"Writing zoom-in analysis and writing in time."

What are you most proud of improving?

"My analysis skills in English Literature."

What’s something you used to find difficult that now feels much easier?

"Getting started on my essays. I used to not really know how I should start my essays or how to start each paragraph, which caused me to lose a lot of time thinking and not writing anything down. This meant that I often didn't have enough time to finish my essays.

After learning with Flourish for a while, the time I spent contemplating how to start each paragraph reduced drastically because I improved my planning skills and learnt more structures to follow."

Finding a way of learning that worked

Every student comes to Flourish with different strengths, challenges and ways of thinking. This is why our approach is based around personalised, one-to-one learning, rather than giving every student exactly the same programme of work.

Ayumi's experience with Ms Natalie is a particularly lovely example of this. As Ayumi naturally found STEM subjects easier to grasp, Natalie helped her find a more systematic way of approaching English, giving her frameworks she could use without taking away the independent thinking that strong English responses require.

What’s your favourite thing about your Flourish sessions?

"My favourite thing that really highlights Flourish sessions is how they are tailored to each and every student, focusing on what they are struggling with rather than giving every student the same worksheets and practice questions.

It helped me a lot because, for me, STEM-related subjects are easier to grasp, and Ms Natalie adjusted her teaching style accordingly by giving me something similar to a formula to follow when writing my work and showing me how I could check that I had ticked each criterion on the mark scheme."

What’s one skill you’ve learned at Flourish that you think you’ll keep using after Year 11?

"I think one skill I will keep using is, instead of spending a lot of time thinking about what to write without actually writing anything down, I learnt that I should blurt all of my thoughts down on paper and then work with what I have.

That way, I don't miss any of my thoughts and I can actually see what I want to include and what I can leave out."

Growing in confidence

For us, one of the most important parts of Ayumi's story isn't a grade at all.

Developing confidence in English Literature means becoming comfortable with the idea that there isn't always one predetermined 'correct' interpretation. Students need to be able to explore their own ideas, return to the text for evidence and explain why their interpretation is convincing.

That shift comes through clearly in the way Ayumi now talks about her own analysis.

How has your confidence changed?

"I now feel more confident when I write my analysis in English Literature. I used to worry a lot about whether the opinions I had about the extract were right or wrong.

But because there isn't one definite answer and it is up to interpretation, most of my opinions are valid as long as I am able to explain and justify them using the techniques in the text."

The final stretch

Year 11 isn't only an academic challenge. The examination period can be demanding, particularly for students balancing multiple subjects, expectations and exams within a very short space of time.

Ayumi called her Year 11 experience The Final Stretch, and it's easy to understand why.

When have you had to really persevere this year?

"I think it was definitely the few weeks right before the exams and during the exam period. It was really stressful during those times, especially when I had multiple exams in one day.

It was mentally draining because of the stress, and I felt like I barely had enough time for myself."

What’s one piece of advice from your tutor that you still hear in your head?

"Even though it’s not directly about learning English, something that really helped me through my learning journey was learning that giving myself set times to wind down and relax is really important, instead of working all day long.

Sometimes, working all day eventually leads to less information being processed or doom-scrolling, which can also make you feel unproductive. Setting myself these personal times each day actually helps me to focus more when I am studying and means I don't feel guilty when I am relaxing."

What are you most proud of yourself for?

"I am most proud of myself for studying for tests in advance and not slacking off with my studying even when there were no assessments coming up, which really paid off in the end.

Additionally, I am also proud that I was able to be disciplined throughout my study leave and actually wake up early to study and use my time wisely."

From predicted A grades to 11 A*/9s

Ayumi's hard work certainly paid off.

We are incredibly proud to have played a part in Ayumi's journey, but ,more importantly, of the perseverance, independence and confidence that sit behind those results.

Ayumi's story is also a reminder that tutoring isn't only for students who are struggling. Sometimes, personalised support is about helping a capable student understand how they learn, identify the skills holding them back, and find strategies that allow them to reach their full potential.

For families at Shrewsbury International School Bangkok, or other international schools in Thailand and beyond, you can read more about how Flourish supports Shrewsbury students with English tuition.

And for students preparing for IGCSE English, you can explore our English Language and Literature curriculum, or get in touch with Flourish in English to discuss personalised one-to-one support.