Bonding with my student is at the core of all my teaching practice, using my ample compassion and empathy to listen, understand and accept the person for who they perceive themselves to be, and then working from this point to make a journey for positive progress. I tailor learning and activities around their sensory processing profile and interests and invest in celebrating who they are.
Having run a Resourced Provision Centre for High School Students with Autism, run a Department in a Primary Specialist school for students with Autism and taught and cared for Students with autism pre- and post diagnosis as an SEN teacher and SENDCo, I have a wealth of experience to share with our Neurodiverse community. Having participated in some Pilot schemes with CAMHS and the charity, Autism Understood, I work with an affirmative approach, identifying and celebrating our neurodiverse traits and empowering each person with knowledge and understanding of themselves. I also use the Autism Education Trust Progression Framework to help identify our unique profile and areas to develop. I provide structure, predictability and routine and communicate through visuals including comic strips and social stories.
Having worked with students with Mental Health needs in Special schools and with High School students in Resourced Provision, I have a lot of experience assisting students with a PDA profile and those needing a trauma-informed approach. Working closely with CAMHS and Manchester Hospital School, I have helped distinguish between PDA and Emotional Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA), and adapted our support accordingly (each profile needing very different approaches to meet need), resulting in positive change and re-engagement.
I currently work as an Associate Head in a specialist school for young people with high Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs including a variety of complex anxiety difficulties. Often combined with a combination of all or one of sensory processing difficulties, the challenges of the onset of puberty, the minefield of social media and the digital world, managing the experience of neurodiversity in a neurotypical world and the relentless demands of the British Curricula, it is no wonder that many of our young people struggle with anxiety and related mental health difficulties. I use my experience to provide genuine understanding, empathy and solutions (for those open to them). As anxiety and PDA require very different approaches, I work out which profile we are working with before offering a tailored approach.
I have a wealth of experience teaching students with substantial sensory processing difficulties and thread it through my multi-sensory teaching approach. I undergo a sensory mapping audit to identify the student’s hypersensitivities and hypo-sensitivities and tailor my teaching to cater accordingly. I also work explicitly on sensitivity management, identifying techniques to help manage unavoidable exposure to unfavourable sensory situations, as well as gently expand sensory exposure eg food tasting sessions.
As a recently promoted Associate Head at an SEMH school, helping students with significant mental health difficulties is very much my speciality. I work on building my relationship with each student and find young people quickly accept my non-judgmental characteristics that put them at ease. I perceive behaviours simply as forms of communication and work gently and patiently with consistent standards to build bonds and guide students towards learning.
When bonded and focussed on a hands on activity, I will explore at the student’s pace, matters that are troubling them and gently offer empathy, alternative perspectives and suggested actions or solutions (if my student is ready for this stage).
I currently work as an Associate Headteacher, part time, in a special needs school for pupils with Social Emotional and Mental Health difficulties. The students have either been excluded or were at high risk of exclusion before coming to school and present with very challenging behaviours. I am Level 2 Team Teach trained and guide my team to support the students with a patient, compassionate trauma-informed approach. Behaviour is a form of communication and I encourage everyone to understand the source of the communication need and work on meeting needs to help regulate each individual. When regulated, each pupil undergoes a reflective dialogue with their keyworker to understand the cause and effect of the behaviours on themselves and others, helping the pupil take responsibility and ownership for their actions and resolutions. I work on the same principles in my tutoring work.
I loved teaching my students with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) as head of department in a special school for significant cognitive difficulties. Every student in my class had a significant medical need and we were well practised in managing medications, mobility and communication needs and working as a vigilant team to follow good practice to ensure optimum health and safety.
I have experience in teaching students with a vast variety of complex needs from combinations of ASD, ADHD and PDA to rare genetic conditions or a combination of all.
Having worked on the well researched pilot project HAVEN (by CAMHS), where we helped young people develop friendship skills in a child-led and safe environment, I am adept at enabling neurodiverse people find their social confidence through common interests. on a more explicit level, I have used many strategies and approaches to teach social interaction skills to those interested in the subject using Lego Therapy and other such strategies to help navigate the social maze constructed by neurotypical people to make it more accessible for our neurodiverse community.
I have taught English and Maths to every year group in Primary from aged to to 11 both in mainstream and in special schools. I have been a primary school subject leader for Maths, modelling teaching and honing tailored teaching with positive whole-school impact on raising attainment. I have also taught Maths in High School including Maths Functional Skills for Key Stage 3 and 4. I use multi-sensory methods, hands-on learning, models and images, real life examples and a variety of different methods that my student can relate to, before applying their new-found skill to different contexts.
For English, I have been the teaching lead in assessment for learning techniques and an advocate for the inspiring Talk for Writing methods. I have written and developed English Curricula at two special schools over the last 3 years and taught teachers how to teach Phonics, Reading and Writing. Introducing engaging topics and texts, I bring the subject alive through talk, art, Drama and IT where appropriate. We work together on different skills and aim to bring them all together for independent writing to celebrate and showcase all the new skills learnt.
I have taught English and Maths in Key Stage 3 and 4 to students with autism in my Autism Centre including Functional Skills Maths. I am currently an Associate Head teacher for an all-through SEMH school and am spearheading the curricula improvement plan, with particular focus on the core subjects.
Having two Science A Levels myself, I enjoy and do teach all the Sciences up to Key Stage 4. Adopting hands on illustrations of new concepts is a challenge I embrace and try and incorporate fun and experimentation safely and effectively in my practice.
Having run an International department of 226 pupils from around the world, I am adept at creating a language-rich environment, identifying receptive and expressive language difficulties and providing appropriate early intervention. I run a series of tailored programs to assist working memory, understanding, vocabulary development and expressive language.
Having worked with CAMHS to pilot their new initiative for the development of Social Communication and Interaction (the HAVEN project), and run social clubs in schools for many years, I use my bond and developed trusted environment to help my students feel safe and experiment with their interactions, providing light touch guidance when needed and explicit technique teaching when requested. I utilise social communication programmes such as TalkAbout for Teenagers and Language for Emotions and Behaviour to assist pupil’s understanding of social scenarios and how to perceive and respond.
I love to nurture each person in a safe environment. Having run a specialist setting for social, emotional and mental health difficulties and worked with pupils with low esteem in many different contexts, I am adept at understanding pupil’s behaviours as simply a form of communication, which very often stems from low confidence. Building a sense of safety and trust, I help my students reflect on their development and track their own positive progress, celebrating each small step, in ways they can identify with and accept. Through specific-labelled praise and affirmation, I nurture a sense of self respect and value. I focus on effort, as well as outcome where appropriate, to develop resilience to challenge and self-motivation to aspire.
To develop independence, I provide different self-help tools that my student can use with growing independence, to achieve outcomes. To feel empowered with self determination and control within safe parameters, I provide choice and voice in what we do and learn, all contributing to independent life skills, so our young people can safely and confidently become more a part of our wider community.
Inspiring a love of learning is my speciality and is intrinsically linked with understanding my student, finding sources of motivation and interest, and linking to capacity for fun. I use all sorts of alternative methods and resources, engaging in hands-on, active and multi sensory activities and games tailored to the sensory needs of my student. With this established, we then link fun activities with what may be seen as demand, challenge and negative pressure – learning. Accepting these negative experiences and moving forward in a new way, patiently and empathetically, can be the fresh start needed to nurture curiosity, exploration and acceptance of support.
As part of my highly tailored approach, I enable choices and a pupil-led journey, within safe and consistent parameters, and encourage independence. Through praise and support in a trusted environment, I gently coax my student with affirmation and consistency to an achievable outcome while learning to accept mistakes and failures as simply a part of life and learning. With curiosity, exploration and self-determination positively channelled, a lifetime of discovery awaits!
For my more able and neurodiverse students, I work on a life skills curriculum and the AET Progression Framework for Independent living to plan together and achieve tasks and activities in preparation for adulthood and community living. I feel the empowerment of self determination, responsibility and independence are key skills that are an underlying fabric in all my teaching, nurturing confidence and self-value through the realisation of their capabilities.
