I am an enthusiastic and positive tutor with a successful track record as Specialist SEN tutor and advisor to families and clients.
My skills and experience in working with people with SEN to develop trusting and meaningful relationships:
I have a successful track record (please see reviews) in boosting students’ motivation and engagement in learning. I firmly believe that each and every student has tremendous individual potential and it is my job to unlock it! In order to do this, building a safe and trusting (AND FUN!) learning environment.
I have worked with a large range of students with SEN and how I work is so individual to each client. Building that positive rapport with the individual is essential in planning how to proceed.
My clients (parents, guardians and the child/young person) want to feel seen and heard and I do my upmost to respect this and tailor my approaches accordingly.
My experience supporting young people with anxiety:
Anxiety is an incredibly common and complex part of our society and it really effects an individual in different ways, across a wide spectrum. Most of my students exhibit traits of anxiety, each and every one unique. This is why establishing a positive and solid connection is so important to me as a SEN tutor.
My skills and experience supporting students with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia & Dysgraphia:
During my Post-Graduate Diploma in Education (in which I obtained a First Class Honours), I completed a thesis specifically on Dyslexia. Here I learned about the wide-ranging Interventions and Strategies that can be implemented including the importance of a multi-sensory learning environment to find out what “clicks” for the individual. Some interventions include: providing support with additional recording mechanisms such as appropriate literacy software, charts, diagrams, dictaphones, electronic dictionaries, models, voice recognition software and word processors with spellchecker, and the use of line trackers and/or coloured overlays as appropriate.
In terms of Dyspraxia, it runs along a wide spectrum; affecting each individual in a unique way. It may be necessary to work on gross and fine motor skills during the session. Speech and Language may be affected. Again, organisation and planning skills need to embed throughout the sessions.
With regard to working with clients Dyscalculia and Dysgraphia, again I work on a highly personalised and individual basis. Maths concepts can be tricky to embed and I offer activities to appeal to the specific type of learner using a wide range of resources. It is crucial to pinpoint how best to work with my client and what they need to boost their engagement and interaction in sessions.
My experience teaching Primary Maths:
I have extensive experience delivering Maths in both classroom and 1:1 settings. When it comes to the fundamentals of these subjects I never make any assumptions as every student is so deeply unique and varied in their knowledge. I will always start with the basics; embedding confidence in the student at first.
I have taught every type of level in Maths you can imagine – from year 1 to GCSE. I use a structured approach to boost confidence and visual planners in order to break it down into chunk-sized parts. I use a range of strategies and interventions to boost confidence.
I have a successful track record of engaging students in what can be seen as quite a challenging subject with quite a vast range of subject material. I bring the subject to life using animations, simulations, videos, quizzes and many more methodologies.
My experience supporting young people with preparation for 11+:
I also have experience in preparing students for the 11+ exams for entry to a number of Grammar Schools in the UK A personalised approach ensures individualised targeted sessions across the areas of Maths, English and Verbal/Non-Verbal Reasoning.
I have a successful track record in working with students to achieve their potential in preparation for these exams and I have had a number of students gain successful entry to some of the top schools in the country. I use a variety of educational platforms and software/methodologies suitable for my clients style of learning.
My experience developing confidence and self-esteem:
I really feel that without a growth mindset and self-belief, it is very challenging to foster a love of learning. It is important to boost confidence in a particular learning area by establishing prior knowledge and building on this in a pace that is both engaging and enjoyable for the learner.
My specialist experience providing engaging sessions to inspire a love of learning:
HAVING FUN AND BUILDING POSITIVE RAPPORT IS CENTRAL TO ALL OF MY SESSIONS :) My primary focus in all sessions is for my clients to feel secure in our working relationship. I really believe that this underpins every successful lesson and you will hear lots of laughter and fun along with the serious stuff!
I have a successful track record (please see reviews) in boosting students’ motivation and engagement in learning. I firmly believe that each and every student has tremendous individual potential and it is my job to unlock it!
My skills and experience supporting young people to develop their independence
In order to boost independence it is so important to foster that self-belief and unlock potential. A growth mindset goes a long way in developing the confidence to become more independent within learning. Again, working on a highly personalised basis ensures that I truly understand what they need and what will promote independence.
19 Reviews on “Sarah”
After many years of struggling with grammar and English in general; I was finally diagnosed with dyslexia at the grand old age of 52. I decided to look for help to try and improve my complete lack of grammar skills – partly to do with being dyslexic and partly having experienced a 1970’s parochial education which did not in-fact teach grammar. Sarah has made a fundamental difference to me, not only with my lacking knowledge of grammar but also with my self confidence. I now face my mental challenges with confidence which is a serious turnaround for me. I cannot recommend her more highly – she’s an absolutely brilliant teacher who completely understood the difficulties I’ve always faced and she worked to find the best learning solutions for me. She’s also incredibly understanding and has highly professional training to support overcoming lack of confidence in one’s ability. Sarah has a fantastic sense of humour too! Just what was needed in some of our early morning lessons!
I would 100% recommend Sarah and the team at SENsational Tutors. I can’t thank you enough for genuinely improving my life. Thank you!
Sarah has been brilliant working with our son (Dyspraxia), a joy to work with, can’t recommend her highly enough.
Our son came to Sarah with pretty low self-esteem – he’s a bright kid, but had internalised that he was ‘no good at english’ and ‘couldn’t play sport’ and that somehow being unable to write was his fault… and every homework had become a painful, traumatic experience for him.
We did online sessions, once per week – Sarah was brilliant at bringing out all his joy and confidence.
The first thing she did was make the sessions FUN. He literally never complained about doing them (no small feat).
The second thing she did was give him confidence in himself, and a joy in learning – helping to build him up and then tutoring him more directly for 11+ exams. She showed him how brilliant he is at storytelling, and actually loves english, taught him all the tricks for approaching exams, worked with his quirky sense of humour, helped him grow into someone who owns and enjoys his own unique neurodiverse brain!
Massive massive thanks, Sarah, you’ve made a huge impact on our family.
Online tutoring with Sarah has been life changing for our three sons. They have very different SEN needs and she has tutored them separately for over four years now, managing to get them through the 11 plus process with flying colours and supporting them in their transition to Secondary School up to GCSE. Sarah is a wonderful teacher as she makes learning fun and engaging. She is part of the family now.
Sarah’s work online has been amazing. Before meeting Sarah I was a fan of only face to face tutorial sessions but Sarah has
successfully convinced me how online sessions can be even better for SEN kids. She has put in a lot of effort to really get to know my son and her sessions are very targeted and have a variety of content which keeps him engaged throughout – he remains engaged for 1.5 hours which is remarkable! I would highly recommend her for her brilliant online sessions.
We feel that only this one-on-one coaching – and our tutor’s specific care – could achieved these results so quickly. My son clearly enjoys the engagement too, as well as discovering the fun of learning, which was always difficult before. It’s been a joy to watch our son progress so rapidly under Sarah’s caring guidance. Highly recommended.
I cannot recommend our tutor Sarah from SENsational tutors highly enough. She is working so brilliantly with my daughter who has challenges at school as a result of having ADHD and OCD. She spent time getting to know her so she can weave her hobbies and interests into the lessons to keep her motivated. She divides the sessions up into shorter segments
as my daughter is unable to focus for long periods of time and uses great reward tools. She is patient, understanding and reassuring and I am delighted to have noticed an increase in confidence in my daughter’s approach to her schoolwork.
SENsational Tutors have been exceptional from the start! They gathered a full understanding of my son’s considerable learning needs through phone calls and meetings before matching him with suitable tutors. Following agreed targets, the tutors, Sarah and Linda, have both built wonderful rapports with my son whilst delivering varied, fun and productive lessons. Both tutors have adapted to online sessions when necessary and we have been so impressed with how they have managed to engage Ollie in these. We have seen significant progress in literacy and maths as well as in Ollie’s confidence which is wonderful! We are so happy and grateful to have found SENsational tutors.
We were struggling to find an appropriate tutor for our son who has learning difficulties but SENsational tutors went above and beyond to connect us with two wonderful, specialist tutors who completely understand his learning needs and have helped him make significant progress.
SENsational Tutors introduced me to a lovely tutor (Sarah) for my
son who has ASD and SpLD. She has worked with him to gain his
trust and increase his confidence.
My son has only had a few tutor sessions with Sarah, but so far I have been very impressed with her. She is so friendly and has managed to put my son at ease and engage with him very quickly. He really looks forward to his sessions with her and I can already see his confidence growing when taking on new concepts. I would highly recommend her and we will be continuing with sessions for the foreseeable future.
Sarah has worked with my son for a few weeks now. He hasn’t had back the results of his assessments so I don’t know the extent to which there were actual improvements, but I do know that he seemed a lot more relaxed and confident going in to them than was previously the case. She seem gifted at making work fun, which is essential for my ADHD-er to keep the focus – he actively looked forward to sessions with her even at 8am over half term, which is no mean feat! I am intending to continue working with Sarah over the summer and autumn to help my son prepare for the ISEB pre-tests.
From the start Sarah has put my son at ease, she has taken the time to get to know him so that his sessions could be tailored to him. We always get an update and Sarah has even liaised with his school math’s teacher. His confidence is growing and he is starting to enjoy math’s, not dread it! He is very protective over his hours session – I would definitely recommend.
Sarah is a fantastic tutor – she is positive, fun and full of energy! She quickly understood my son’s learning needs and adapts her lessons to fully engage him. He looks forward to her visits and enjoys all the different activities she has planned, her multi-sensory approach has worked brilliantly for him. It’s wonderful to see my son progressing and gaining confidence from Sarah’s tutoring!
It is hard to do justice to the impact Sarah has had as a tutor on our 10 year old in a few words. She combines empathy with a deep knowledge of her subject to provide a rich multi-sensory learning experience for our son, which is enabling him to master skills and fill gaps. We feel that only this one-on-one coaching – and her specific care – could have achieved these results so quickly. He clearly enjoys the engagement too, as well as discovering the fun of learning, which was always difficult before; as with the other reviewers we can only say it has been and is a joy to watch our son progress so rapidly under Sarah’s caring guidance. Highly recommended.
Sarah has done a fantastic job tutoring my year 11 daughter for her biology GCSE. The lessons have been engaging and my daughter has gained confidence in the subject. Sarah has really taken the time to get to know how my daughter best learns so the sessions have been enjoyable for her. Sarah has been flexible, helpful and lovely to work with – I recommend her without hesitation!
Sarah is a delight to work with. She has an upbeat personality and a smiley demeanour, and she has made learning fun for my daughter. Her use of multi-media learning styles, such as songs, videos, and interactive games, have helped my daughter remember her maths concepts. Very communicative with the parents as well.
Very effective, kind and motivational tutoring who adapted to my son’s needs giving him the confidence he needed to access the teaching. She established a lovely rapport with my son who made great progress in a relatively short time. Highly recommended
She really gets me! I can ask all the weird questions I want!
Brilliant SEN Tutor
Sarah has had such a positive impact on my daughter over the last couple years.
She keeps us informed on her progress after each session and is so happy to work with us on how to prepare her for her future.