My specialist experience working with young people with SEN to develop trusting and meaningful relationships:
I have a decade of experience and a strong track record of supporting students both inside and outside school, on a 1-2-1 and small group setting, and of bringing students out of school back into the school environment. The approach I take is gentle and completely student-centred. Developing good relationships with students also involves developing good relationships with parents and teachers. Often this also involves working collaboratively with other professionals including Educational Psychologists, SALTs, Psychiatrists, and Counsellors. This is where I excel.
Inside school I have supported many students for many years, some even throughout their whole school career. During this time, I have developed strong, trusting and meaningful relationships both with the students and with their parents. Outside school, I have also tutored students for many years, and in multiple subjects (Maths and English), showing that the relationships I develop with my students are not only strong, but long-lasting too.
My students and colleagues describe me as honest, approachable, caring, fun, kind and fair. I am also firm when I need to be and believe that it is important for both student and teacher to have clear boundaries and that expectations are clear and communicated from the start.
My experience working with young people with anxiety:
Having had a variety of roles including Form Tutor, Subject teacher, Academic Support Teacher, Specialist teacher, Assessor and Tutor, I have worked with a whole range of students with different needs and difficulties (Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, DCD, ASD, ADHD, OCD, ADD, ABI, Tics, Tourette’s etc), many of whom have struggled with anxiety. My approach to supporting students is always to be kind and accepting. Where necessary I have also followed safeguarding procedures, highlighting concerns to the relevant DSL or involving other professionals like counsellors. Anxiety can have many different forms and can present in many different ways, so it is always important to be empathetic and above all, kind. As an assessor, many students are nervous and anxious before an assessment, so my approach is always to be gentle and empathetic and to put them at ease before any assessments take place.
My experience working with young people with dyslexia:
I am a dyslexia assessor and a specialist teacher of dyslexia with a PG Cert in Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties. I specialist in supporting students from Year 7 to Year 13. I have worked in various settings for the last ten years supporting students with dyslexia, both designing and implementing bespoke schemes of work and interventions. This support has included everything from supporting students with organisation (of both themselves, and their ideas); assistive technology and planning tools; revision skills and techniques; handwriting skills; Dyslexia-specific and English/Maths-specific skills. I also have many years of experience of supporting students with Maths difficulties and Dyscalculia. I also provide whole-school training to teachers and senior management to raise awareness of dyslexia and how to support students with dyslexia, both inside and outside the classroom. Finally, I support students at an Oxford-based dyslexia charity on a Saturday morning and have just been asked to be a Governor of the charity.
From a personal perspective, I have two children and a husband with dyslexia, so I am very aware of the difficulties of living with dyslexia on a daily basis.
My experience working with young people with ADHD:
As above, I have worked with students with ADHD for many years, providing academic support for specific subjects, as well as general study skills support. In addition, I support teachers in school by explaining and demonstrating the best methods for supporting students with ADHD in their classrooms.
From a personal perspective, I have three children with ADHD, all of whom present in very different ways, so I am aware of how ADHD can affect all parts of everyday life.
My experience in teaching GCSE subjects:
I am a qualified teacher of English (Language and Literature), Maths and English as a Foreign Language (EAL). I have been both teaching and supporting students in school for GCSE English and Maths for over ten years. I also tutor extensively outside school for all the different boards for both the Higher and Foundation papers (AQA, OCR, Edexcel, CIE). I have also supported students taking exams in Functional Maths and English.
My experience developing confidence and self-esteem:
Having chosen ten years ago to focus on students who need extra support, I am extremely aware that you need to support the whole child. In order to learn, students need to feel comfortable and safe, so my approach is gentle and humorous, supportive and fun, whilst still being firm and respectful. Many students with learning difficulties have difficulties with self-esteem, so building confidence and making learning enjoyable is at the core of everything I do.
My specialist experience providing engaging sessions to inspire a love of learning:
Everyone learns better when learning is fun and engaging, so I pepper my lessons with games and activities that help students learn, often not even realising they are learning. In addition, it is imperative that students with learning difficulties are taught using a multi-sensory approach, so I ensure that activities are kept short, that movement breaks are incorporated, and that different activities are used to address different senses to aid the understanding and retention of topics. I also incorporate a wide range on online and printed resources as well as tactile games and teaching resources.
My skills and experience supporting young people to develop their independence:
Enabling and supporting students to become independent is key to being a teacher. This can range from helping a Year 7 student to write a list of things to help them pack their bag every day, through scaffolding tasks so that GCSE students can answer PEEL questions on their own, to supporting ASD/ABI students to develop skills for adulthood. Developing independence, both mental and physical, is key to growing and maturing. In addition, developing resilience to help support students to move out of their comfort zone, is key to developing independence. Enabling students to feel safe and secure enough to take intellectual risks is key to developing independence and to growing.
In addition, I support/teach students from Year 7 up to Year 13 with study and revision skills. I deliver training in a variety of formats, from single lessons helping students create revision timetables, to a full suite of lessons for Year 12 and 13 students around motivation, resilience and revision skills.
Technology, specifically assistive technology, plays a large part in enabling student to become independent so I also teach students how to use the latest technologies to help their learning.
Finally, as an assessor part of my role is to identify learning difficulties so that relevant access arrangements and accommodations can be put in place to enable students to become independent.
