Francesca

My specialist experience providing fun sessions to help students engage in learning: My number one belief is: if the child isn’t enjoying lessons and feels comfortable with me, then limited learning will occur. I will ensure that every lesson is fun, supportive and memorable. I will take the time to bond with your child and create a safe and relaxing environment, where learning is done through child-centred activities and repetition. I will link learning to your child’s interests and will take multiple routes to ensure your child understands the topics we are doing.

My specialist experience working with students with SEN to develop trusting and meaningful relationships: I will build trust with your child through understanding and patience. I never raise my voice and I will monitor your child’s behaviour to determine our next steps. If I see that your child is becoming restless, I will do an activity that involves a lot of movements to get their brain back in gear. If the child is becoming upset or angry with the learning, I will take a step back and alter the lesson to ensure they are comfortable and within their zone of learning. If your child becomes disengaged, I will set goal points and targets for them to achieve and issue rewards once they have met.

My skills and experience supporting students to develop their independence: I support students to understand their needs and how they can overcome them. I will use questioning as an alternative to giving them the answers and I will gradually reduce the amount of help I give a child while they are answering a question. I teach the students how to see what a question is asking from them and where to find it in the text. Above all, I make the child want to be in control of their learning and give them the tools to support their needs.

My specialist experience supporting children to develop their focus and concentration skills;

One to one lessons can be a challenge for most people, especially those who have difficulties concentrating. Therefore, I make activities short and to a good pace. I will not spend too long on the same topic to avoid the individual becoming overwhelmed and loosing interest. As lessons progress, I slowly increase the time spent on an activity, I turn improving their concentration and focus.

My experience working with children with autism: I have over a decade experience working with children on the spectrum.  Furthermore, I have an insider knowledge of how it feels to process information and events as an autistic person. I believe in giving your child a voice, through understanding what has worked for myself . This has given me a wealth of knowledge and tools to support children with ASD; including those with selective mutism. I will build a solid relationship with them, to target their needs and find out their interests and what makes them unique. I will design ‘challenges’ that spark interest and trigger learning, sometimes without them realising. Learning should be exciting and rewarding; I will specialise tasks to suit their needs and rewards will be given once they have achieved each activity. No activity will last too long. I will monitor the child closely and will take cues from them to understand what can be achieved before rewards are issued. I will never pressure a child to speak or do something they do not want to do: I will always find ways to get a child to meet their goals.

My specialist experience teaching students with dyscalculia: I have worked with a number of students with dyscalculia. I make sure maths relates to real-life situations, making it more memorable and easier to understand. My catch phrase for mathematics is, if in doubt draw it out. This has been known to improve a child’s confidence, recall and subject knowledge. I break maths into step by steps and gradually increase their independence in a task. I recap knowledge regularly, using games and starters. This has been shown to improve memory and ability.

My experience teaching children with ADHD: I have decades of experience working with children with ADHD and other attention disorders. I make sure to make tasks short, to the point and hands on. I understand the importance of teaching to a child’s needs and I make sure to monitor them closely to see if a topic needs to be changed at all due to a lack of interest/ focus. Lessons are designed around a child’s interest, which enables the child to focus for longer and with better recall. I incorporate movement breaks, when I see a child become restless, this could be activities which increase the heart rate including: burpees star-jumps and running. This then enables them to focus on the task at hand, once more.

My specialist experience teaching students with dyspraxia: I have taught a number of children with dyspraxia. I may sure to incorporate more movement breaks and chances to walk around; I make sure to have alternatives to the child writing, including recording what they tell me (especially in maths) and getting them to use voice detection software to record and type out what they have just dictated.

My experience supporting children with pathological demand avoidance behaviour (PDA) and other behavioural needs: I have lots of experience teaching students with demand avoidance and other behavioural needs. I have taught many students who display physical reactions, inappropriate verbal responses and a refusal to respond. With these students, I always have strategies in place through activities which calm, reduce anger and promote a safe place to express themselves.I will make tasks short and achievable, always with a reward which is special to them. Further, I make sure to give children tools that can be used outside of lesson times and into adulthood. Lessons are child-centred and are relationship-based, which enables a child to flourish and grow.I have also obtained a level 2 qualification in working this children with PDA .

My experience working with children with anxiety disorders: I have worked with several children with severe anxiety, sometimes even unable to leave a room. I will issue the utmost understanding and patience and will do things on their terms. I will be positive and praise them endlessly. I will create a safe and trusting space for them to come out of their shell and feel relaxed. Learning will come once a nurturing and supportive environment has been created and I will ensure to monitor your child closely to see what can be achieved before challenging them any further. My number one goal is to get them feeling relaxed and confident within themselves and their abilities.

My experience with working with children with memory and processing difficulties: I have worked with a number of children with memory and processing difficulties. I make sure to incorporate a lot of games, which target memory improvement and ensure lessons are repeated in a similar way to aid recall. I also make sure lessons are realistic and relate to day to day tasks. This has had very successful results. Furthermore, my multi-sensory approach to leaning has been know to support children with processing and memory difficulties. I believe that there are numerous ways for a child to understand the concept, we just need to find the right one.

My specialist experience teaching students with sensory needs: With every child, I make sure the learning environment is suited to their needs and is comfortable. I encourage the child to understand where they like to learn and gravitate to that location. I make sure that there is not too many distraction; to avoid them becoming over-stimulated. I also make sure to harness their preferred textures and use that for times where the child is overwhelmed or feeling anxious. This is has worked extremely well in the past and generally has a great out-come.

My  multi-sensory teaching approach: his engages a student with the subject area and connects them more with the topic at hand. I use a lot of visuals with my teaching and have adopted the catchphrase, ‘If in doubt, draw it out’. I will make sure everything is relatable and has a visual element to it. I will also associate terminology with an action, making learning both interactive and memorable. The more active a lesson can be, the more focused a child is. Lessons should be fun and engaging and through repetition, hands-on learning and visual scaffolds a child can gain a deeper understanding.

My experience supporting children with dyslexia and other memory and processing difficulties: I have first-hand experience with dyslexia and other memory and processing difficulties. I have worked with children with dyslexia for almost a decade. I recognise that learning may take a little more time and will need to be repeated frequently. I have had multiple students with dyslexia and other processing difficulties flourish: boosting their understanding and confidence. I believe in making learning bite-sized and accessible through rhymes, breaking down questions, songs, visual tools, interactive activities and a whole lot of fun. I have worked with several dyslexic students and my number one goal for them is to boost their confidence. Dyslexia doesn’t stop you from learning, it doesn’t mean that you are not smart, it just means learning will have to take a different route and that you will get there eventually.

My experience working with global developmental and speech and language delay: In my time being a teacher in a classroom, I have taught several students with developmental and speech delays, including those diagnosed with Down Syndrome. I understand the significance of short tasks, which build independence and understanding. I would always start an activity with an easier task, one I know they can achieve and then build upon it. This gives them the focus and confidence to build an understanding of a topic. Further to this, I understand that language and auditory cues could become an issue for these students. Therefore, every task or activity will have a visual or kinetic aspect.
How I will build your child’s independence: I support students to understand their needs and how they can overcome them. I will use questioning as an alternative to giving them the answers and I will gradually reduce the amount of help I give a child while they are answering a question. I teach the students how to see what a question is asking from them and where to find it in the text. Above all, I make the child want to be in control of their learning and give them the tools to support their needs.

My specialist experience teaching social communication skills to children: In my time teaching , I have worked with a range of children to promote better communication skills. I enjoy using games, stories and role play to enhance a child’s social skills. I understand that, for some people, social skills are hard. Therefore, these lessons should be short and discrete. Children I have taught in the past, have looked forward to my lessons and come away feeling more confident in communicating with others to express their needs and build lasting relationships.

My experience teaching early/weaker readers: I have taught a number of individuals who struggle with early reading. I am trained in using Pictophonics, to provide alternative ways to decode and blend phonemes. Children who use pictophonics have enhanced their reading ability quicker and increased their confidence. Photophonics comes with fun and alternative way of learning phonics, that makes it more accessible.

My experience planning and providing child-led sessions to fulfil children’s potential: I ensure all my lessons gravitate around the child’s interest. I find that this excels their learning and fulfils their potential. I have the ability to link any preferred topic to core subjects. For example, I teach division by relating it to feeding my own animals. This has shown great progress and has a longer-lasting recall.

Furthermore, I have worked with a number of very able children; I make sure to challenge them in a way that makes them think deeper about a topic. I enjoy encouraging the children to push themselves to a greater level, in a way which enhances their confident rather than hinders it.

SUBJECT EXPERIENCE:
Maths: I have taught mathematics to children aged 4- 16 (early years- GCSEs)both in classroom settings and through private tutoring. I have 6 years of experience in a classroom and over 7 years of 1:1 maths tuition. I use interactive games and a lot of repetition to target the gaps in their knowledge. I enjoy making maths fun and hands-on. I use songs, rhymes and a lot of visuals to make learning accessible to all. I have taught GCSE maths for over 5 year and always use material taken from exams to make the individual feel more confident in answering a range of questions. I have been able to get children their desired grade, through filling in the  gaps in their knowledge and giving them vital skills to understand how to answer a question. Confidence is key to acing the exam so I make sure to target this in my lessons.

English: I have a passion for teaching English. Growing up, English was a weaker subject of mine and I had to develop strategies to achieve high marks in school. As a result, I am competent in teaching strategies, like the ones I had to use, to children who equally struggle with their English. This has enabled me to boost students’ confidence and understanding of how to tackle comprehension questions, how to remember to use the correct punctuation and tricks to remember how to spell certain words. Overall, I have been supporting children (Early years- KS4) with their English for over 7 years.

Science: I have a very scientific background. Being from a science-based family, I have grown up with science. I have A-levels in all three sciences and have been tutoring science GCSE for 5 years. I have also been teaching science KS1-GSCE online for a year.