Sarah

I began my teaching career in Salford where I was invited to become a Leading Maths Teacher, shortly before being invited to lead a Resourced Provision for children with a vast array of needs such as Physical and Medical needs including Cerebral Palsy, Moderate learning difficulties, ASD, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, anxiety, childhood trauma etc from Special Measures to ‘Outstanding’’ as SENCo (judged by both HMI and OFTSED inspection).

Throughout my teaching career, I have demonstrated my passion for securing the best education for all pupils on a daily basis, recognising our differences as opportunities rather than barriers and supporting individuals with diverse needs such as significant adverse childhood experiences. I have taught whole classes, groups interventions and 1:1 targeted support regularly.

I can help with:

Supporting learners with SEN to develop trusting and meaningful relationships: Excellent progress is due to relationships based upon respect and trust; precision teaching to pupils’ individual needs and interests within a culture of celebrating each and every personal ‘success’. I am very familiar with situations where individuals require greater support to form secure, positive relationships and to change the dynamic of learning, with creativity and flexibility on a daily basis to strive for success together. 

Supporting learners with complex needs: Having worked with young people with a range of complex needs including combinations of ASD, ADD, ADHD, PDA, dyslexia, dyscalculia, social, emotional, behavioural and speech and language needs, I aim to fully understand each need and how it impacts on the student’s life. Importantly, I consider how one need may affect another.

My experience teaching young people with ADHD: When teaching students with ADHD I know how important it is to plan for clear, concise instructions with visual prompts; supports to remain on track such as timers and movement breaks, and for the lesson to be relevant, engaging and exciting. I support teaching with learning aids and regular progress updates. If appropriate, I use the zones of regulation to support the student to manage their emotions.

Supporting learners with anxiety/ SEMH needs to build confidence and self-esteem: With trust and respect at the heart of my teaching, I believe it is important to build a relaxed, pressure-free, environment where pupils feel safe, supported and heard. Allowing learners to lead their learning and taking each day/lesson as it comes without prior expectations can reduce the pressure on young people. Understanding when to provide space is an essential skill to have when working with young people with SEMH needs.

My experience teaching young people with challenging behaviour: When teaching students with behaviours that may challenge I try to understand why the behaviour is happening e.g., could it be because their needs are not being met and they are trying to communicate? I support students by helping them to understand their individual triggers and strategies they can use to self-regulate. I plan my teaching to reduce triggers and I remain calm and approach behaviour from a holistic strength-based perspective.I actively engage learners in setting their own targets and give choices which allow them to lead their own learning. A behaviour management plan drawn up together allows for consistency, support and empowerment.

Supporting learners with autism: Being calm, patient and consistent, I am able to provide learners with ASD the support and space they need in order to build positive relationships. I foster a learning environment which promotes and celebrates success, whatever form that may take. Showing a genuine intrigue in a student’s interests can be a good starting point in forming those positive relationships. A consistent approach where routine is maintained and managed, and boundaries/expectations are explicit and fair, is essential when working with young people on the autistic spectrum.

Supporting learners with PDA or ODD: Whilst a  regular structure to the day, with a multisensory approach and consistent expectations and manageable tasks, can give pupils familiarity and structure; I recognise that for some pupils with Pathological Demand Avoidance or oppositional defiant Disorder usual approaches to teaching and learning may not be appropriate or effective, for example, with PDA I have found that a different approach is needed allowing a greater sense of agency with low demand and no performance pressure.

Supporting learners with Physical and Medical Needs such as Cerebral Palsy: In my experience, when working with a child who has physical and medical needs, flexibility is essential due to the varying severity of symptoms and emotional needs. Learning that is targeted, multi-sensory, fun and interactive, delivered in manageable chunks can be planned to address associated conditions alongside main areas of need. With guidance from other health specialists, adaptive equipment such as a universal cuff to support grip, or communication boards/ assistive technology which supports language skills, or the correct form of repetitive movements etc can be practised consistently in engaging ways to promote independence.

Supporting learners with Global Developmental Delay: A multifaceted specific learning difficulty, GDD presents differently in each individual, usually meaning children are not meeting several developmental milestones. Support will depend upon the developmental areas which have been identified as requiring additional help. A range of strategies such as interactive activities to keep students engaged, supporting learning with visual cues, breaking tasks down into manageable chunks, keeping language/instructions short and clear, allowing additional time for processing, repetition of incremental steps building up towards a larger goal.

Supporting learners to improve their English including writing, phonics and reading: I am trained in Reading Intervention which is multisensory and incorporates many aspects of reading including reading fluency, comprehension, word recognition, phonological awareness, context, and vocabulary. A wider focus beyond phonics, systematically building up a bank of sight words can be more effective, allowing pupils to recognise the shape of letters and words without the need to memorise all the combinations of sounds and letters of English. Re-reading of familiar books also builds confidence and fluency. Followed by a carefully graded approach to independent reading books can be very successful at building confidence, fluency and independence for learners with additional needs.

The multiple skills involved in learning how to write can make it very challenging from coming up with ideas, spelling words, choosing vocabulary, formulating sentences and then writing them down in an organised suitable manner. I have multiple strategies to support learners throughout the process from verbal practise of sentences, physical chunking of ideas for organisation to motor control of handwriting and letter formation and beyond.

I have a range of fun activities aimed to develop:

• Fine motor skills for handwriting such as threading activities or art activities

• Spelling to build a bank of known spellings and broaden vocabulary

• Talk For Writing for language fluency to enable learners to imitate and rehearse verbally before reading, analysing and writing their own work. This method reduces pressure on the learner to create original ideas. Especially useful for story telling, this method also helps children build a repertoire of popular story structures and familiarise themselves with the language of storytelling such as traditional tales, fables, etc

Supporting learners to develop their Maths Mastery: Guided by The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, I deliver a mastery model of the National Curriculum maths which aims to develop a deep understanding of mathematical concepts using concrete and pictorial aids. This can incorporate life skills such as budgeting and money management.

Supporting learners to develop their Science skills: Having a degree in Molecular Biology and a Science specialism with my PGCE, I have a particular love of teaching science, especially sparking curiosity and designing investigations with learners. The asking of quality questions, alongside the ability to find answers and evaluate ideas are important skills in all areas of life.

Supporting and mentoring learners to develop independence, study skills, focus and attention: Developing independence is a skill that is built up over time, with careful scaffolding of support which is assessed and amended on a daily basis per the needs of the student at that time. Progress is not linear as it is task specific and dependent upon cognitive ability on the day. Therefore, it should be guided by the student on the day and the desired outcome of the task to avoid cognitive overload.

Modelling how to break seemingly difficult tasks down into manageable chunks coming from the place of ‘what do I know already that can help me?’ and ‘what do I need to find out?’ can not only help children master skills but also helps to build their confidence, as they receive praise and rewards for incremental successes.

Time management techniques may help to support individuals to focus and complete achievable tasks in short bursts with built in rest breaks, age and ability specific:

In my experience, engaging teaching relies upon several key parts. These are:

• Establishing a calm learning environment with few distractions

• Setting clear and achievable, child-led goals

• Providing manageable tasks which can be broken down

• Utilising a range of learning styles such as visual, kinaesthetic and auditory approaches

• Planning regular appropriate breaks and importantly, incorporating student’s own interests in learning tasks improves motivation and enjoyment.

I aim to create bespoke ‘Quality First Teaching’, alongside careful ongoing assessment of individual pupils’ needs, to select or implement advised targeted interventions or assisted technologies to fill gaps in individual pupil’s understanding to enable their success.

Importantly, I have experience of SEN education as both a parent and a teacher. As a parent of two boys, both with varied additional needs, including anxiety, EBSA, AST, PDA, ADHD, dyslexia and ongoing CFS/ME, I can fully appreciate that school can be a challenging environment in some circumstances and that some children and young people need a different educational environment.

More recently, I have home educated my eldest son through his GCSEs. Following a CFS/ME diagnosis, my son was unable to attend High School for the whole of Year 11. He suffered from post-exertional malaise, extreme fatigue, pain, chronic digestive issues, cognition difficulties, brain fog, poor recall and retention of information. Having exceeded the school’s expectations, this experience firmly reinforced my belief that anything is possible when you understand and accommodate a person’s needs.