I am a classroom teacher and middle leader with many years of experience teaching across the primary key stages; a proven record of helping children progress, setting suitable challenges, and closing the gap in attainment for targeted groups. I am passionate about providing positive learning experiences and making learning relevant, creative, and cross-curricular.
Widely experienced with pupils with special needs, I have extensive knowledge and understanding of how to personalise learning to provide opportunities for all learners to achieve their potential. I can break the learning down for students as well as develop individual skills, study skills, personalising strategies and preparing for exams.
Help focuses on the individual skills your child needs to develop, development, revision techniques, school subject catch-ups or interventions. I teach across all the Primary stages from the early years to KS2. I have subject leadership experience in Maths and English and Philosophy for Children. I have advanced training in language and literacy, in supporting students with dyslexia, working with different learning needs including ADHD and autism, providing strategies to support students with SEN and speech and language delay, support and fast-track learners so that they can develop skills or acquire knowledge easily to achieve their learning goals or qualifications. This includes supporting learners with identified or unidentified learning needs and advising on exam access arrangements.
How I work: I break sessions into sections and vary the tasks to address the skills needing development. This ensures a productive session each time and helps maintain focus and attention. Sessions may cover quite a lot, depending on the student's needs and ability, and if several subjects are covered. Small homework tasks are given for practice if requested, parents advised, and any new observations and strategies are taught. I can also liaise with schools or produce a list of ways teachers can implement strategies or support within day-to-day teaching and school life. I am very experienced in planning programmes of learning based on the needs of the young person, adapting and modifying as required. This can be for one or more subjects (Maths, English, and/or Science) and subjects can be integrated, especially in developing language or literacy skills across most subjects. Sessions usually cover identifying new and better ways of working, developing the young person's skills and personalising strategies to empower the young person to work confidently and independently. Maths and English are the most common priorities, generally, or working on particular sub-skills such as organising ideas, writing things down, improving presentation, expression or communication skills and teaching ways to be able to work better and more easily. I can also liaise with schools and produce a list of personalised strategies to help teachers and the school, work more successfully with your child, so that their needs are better understood and they feel supported.
My experience teaching students with working memory needs: I can assess the demands that different tasks place on your child's working memory and will recognise when they are experiencing memory overload. I establish clear links to previous learning and modify and adapt the teaching in accordance with their specific area of difficulty, deploying whatever structures may be necessary. This may include visual prompts or mind-maps. The focus is on the big picture but I break the learning into manageable chunks. I provide learning resources for whichever subject is being taught. In maths this might be guided, number lines or calculators. In writing this might be sentence starters or visual prompts for sequencing. I deploy task plans, visual timetables, mind maps, and mnemonics. Working with a range of strategies enables us to evaluate the ones that work best so that they can be used independently and become part of your child's learning process.
My experience boosting confidence and self-esteem: I am empathetic to the needs of learners. I am very observant and work both with the child and parents. Students feel understood and cooperate well with me. From the outset, they receive positive feedback, suggestions, and new strategies to make learning and completing tasks easier. Initial screening will not be formal tests, but observing how a student works – and I will help them as required! Out of this, new strategies and better ways of working are identified and shared with the young person, who then realises they can do tasks. Further practice is given, short homework tasks and reminders, and very quickly their levels of confidence and self-esteem rise.
Homework, study-skills and exam-technique sessions: I help students to understand potential barriers to their learning, and how they can overcome them to answer questions more effectively and precisely - to become better learners with better grades and outcomes. Sometimes students find it challenging to know how to interpret and answer questions. I help them to break questions down to make them more manageable and then to answer questions accurately using the marking scheme. I present students with strategies to help them access exam papers, and become more organised, and prepared; fostering independence so that they have ownership over their learning.
My experience scaffolding and developing skills: To help students progress and achieve higher levels, tasks sometimes need to be broken down and built up by scaffolding learning. That is, learning needs to be structured to build on existing skills whilst acquiring new skills, that need to be practiced. Further practice is achieved through setting homework tasks, giving strategies or goals for the child to implement during the week, in tasks, school work, in school, as well as checking or testing, revisiting and adding to in subsequent sessions.
My experience preparing students for the 11+: I am experienced in preparing young learners for the 11+, including children who are behind in the curriculum, or have additional learning needs that have been hindering their progress. I can develop the core skills your child needs to compete effectively in 11+ entry assessments in all skills: Maths, English, Verbal and Non-verbal Reasoning.
My experience teaching students with Dyscalculia: I can work with your child using multi-sensory techniques to develop their maths skills. I can cover all national curriculum levels. Teaching will include scaffolding and personalising strategies to learn, practice and remember techniques and carry out operations. I am happy to work closely with parents and liaise with the school on learning priorities as well as advise on techniques and strategies.
My experience working with students with SEN to develop trusting and meaningful relationships: Children with SEND may face barriers that make forming friendships difficult. I would work with your child to get a sense of where they feel they are in relationship to their peers. Offering encouragement to focus on what interests others and supporting them to find common ground. We can also work on communicating what we want effectively by considering what other people want from us. I work with stories and imagination to support a deeper understanding of friendship and the importance of trust in forming relationships. My specialist skills and experience teaching Maths: I have been teaching Maths skills to students across the primary age range, preparation for 11+, for many years. I am adept at breaking down concepts, making Maths visual or kinaesthetic and linked to a young persons' day-to day life. I can teach your child the Maths needed, plug knowledge gaps, and reteach concepts so your child learns how to do the Maths tasks, read Maths questions and problem solve as well as prepare for exams. Reading Maths questions can be very difficult for many students, so teaching students to read the question carefully, identify the figures, establish the task type and what operations are needed, are all skills I cover in all Maths sessions, in addition practising steps, showing workings and making final answers clear.
Screening and assessing for Maths or English: In my initial session or two, I will do brief screening tasks that reflect the educational needs of the young person and the support needs identified by parents, the school, or professionals. All observations are discussed with parents and the child, identifying useful strategies that will help and be incorporated into a plan for learning negotiated with you. Even from session one, strategies, tasks, and homework tasks will be given for your child to start practicing working in new ways. Sometimes I may recommend a referral to an optician or a specialist. I am very experienced in teaching English and Maths to diverse learners from the most basic level. I am trained in teaching language, communications, and literacy to higher levels, as well as in supporting dyslexia and dyscalculia. Please see other sections for particular support needs, or ask!
My specialist experience providing engaging sessions to inspire a love of learning: I have taught right the way across the primary keys stages and am passionate about helping children to achieve their potential by meeting them where they are. This involves an in-depth assessment of a child's needs and strengths and deploying individually tailored lessons to support any gaps identified; I constantly strive to present a learner with choices: learning should be multi-sensory and broken down into manageable steps. The intention is to kindle enthusiasm and a passion for the subject being taught, through depth, rigour, and context. I believe that for learning to be effective it has to be relevant to the individual and it should be a joy!
I have extensive experience supporting students with additional learning needs: ADD/ ADHD, processing and working memory needs, dyslexia, dyspraxia ADHD, EAL/ ESL, language delay, challenging behaviour, speech and communication difficulties, autism (including high functioning), visual or hearing impairments, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, numerous other SEN/ SEND, SEMH, SEBD, PDA; devising and advising schools and professionals of individual learning needs, strategies, equipment and exam access; working in close liaison with school teachers, SENCo, heads of department, school head, specialist professionals and parents.
My experience teaching young people with anxiety: Anxiety can present a significant barrier to learning and needs to be prioritised and approached with sensitivity and care. Addressing a student's needs as an individual will encourage them to thrive and develop a newfound confidence allowing space to focus on improving learning outcomes. I endeavour to build a detailed and holistic picture of their learning needs to establish what the triggers are and how to respond to them. Resources might include feeling descriptors to allow them to assess and connect to their feelings and visual aids to frame and document what effects the anxiety is having on them. Paying close attention to a child's interests, can also be particularly powerful as a way to personalise this process.
My experience working with students with Speech and Language Needs: I can also work with speech and language needs, using different phonologies for reading, speaking, developing clearer speech, developing confidence when speaking and interacting with others, and using alternative methods of communication – such as visual cues, or images to use with your family, friends, at school, in the classroom, with teachers, general communication and feelings. I can work with the Speech and Language Therapist, following their guidance to do exercises with your child. I am very experienced in teaching English, speaking, developing fluency, word and sound formation, and building a young person's confidence and skills to communicate effectively in different situations. I can also advise schools on ways to communicate and include your child without putting them on the spot or embarrassing them.
My skills and experience developing students' independence: all my work is about developing a student's independent learning and coping skills - be it developing personalised strategies for school, the classroom, making progress, doing better work, socially - at school, at break and lunchtimes, or for life in general, according to the individual's needs and parents' wishes.
My experience working with students with ADD/ADHD and/or ASD: I am extremely empathetic and sensitive to the needs of learners. I am friendly, personable, patient and approachable and all students feel comfortable with me. I have worked with a number of students with ADD/ ADHD, those on the autistic spectrum and students with Asperger's syndrome. I can work with the individual needs of young people, their particular behaviours and communication needs, working with you to support them to cope better in school and in day-to-day life. I can work with your child on catch-up for various subjects or specific subjects, organisational skills and strategies, support for homework or focus on topics or skills they are behind or struggling with. I also can provide support for revision, preparation for exams or for preparation for 11+. I strive to ensure activities and resources are engaging and break activities down into manageable chunks which helps maintain focus, and help students realise their potential, as well as positive reinforcement and praise that build their confidence and self-esteem.
My experience teaching students with processing difficulties: I am sensitive to the additional time your child may need to complete tasks and ensure that instructions are given clearly and repeated as often as necessary, tailoring the approach adapted to the learning style which proves to be the most effective. This may include repeating instructions out loud, using diagrams or showing completed examples of work. I am mindful of the possibility of cognitive overload and know how to keep tasks simple with opportunities to add detail in manageable steps.
My experience developing speech and interactive social communication skills: I have taught students in different educational settings to develop their communication skills for day to day, social and school/college / work settings - using effective listening strategies, appropriate language, to consider formality or informality of situations. Also, how to build and develop friendships at school, how to listen and show respect to others, show empathy and understanding, to gauge mood, give appropriate responses, and deal with conflict. Sessions will develop your child's confidence to interact with others, build relationships and independence.
My skills and experience developing social skills including conflict resolution skills: I have worked with students both in and outside school settings to develop their confidence in communicating with others, dealing with conflict, trying to regulate their emotional response and make sense of a situation, so that they handle situations better without so much upset.
My experience preparing for the ‘Back-to-school': Most students will feel anxious about returning to school or starting a new school or about returning after any period of prolonged absence. I can work with your child to prepare them, mentally and physically, for returning to school, interacting with others, adapting to new schedules, being prepared to have new teachers, and feeling more confident in class – with classmates, teachers or support staff, doing tasks. I can also work with your child to develop their communication, interaction, organisation, English and Maths or other skills that would help them feel more ready to return to school and going into the next school year, as well as catch up in the skills or subjects you require.
My experience teaching students with Dyspraxia: I consider where the difficulties are arising and use a range of approaches to counter issues with hand-eye coordination, muscular challenges, attention and concentration difficulties; I can create resources to support children with conceptualisation or personal organisation and I am very experienced in working with those who find flexible thinking difficult or need support to develop social skills.
My specialist skills and experience working with students with Dyslexia: I have been trained to support students with dyslexia, and been using these skills in my teaching for many years. I can develop personalised strategies with your child to help them cope and develop their skills in all subjects and classroom, according to the form of dyslexia or learning needs of your child - this could include in reading, writing, listening or speaking challenges they may experience due to having dyslexia (whether diagnosed or not). I can work with different phonologies to address sound / spelling challenges, writing, organisation, presentation, reading skills. To develop better spelling I can plan a spelling programme using the vocabulary your child needs to learn. To work on organisation and presentation, I will use your child's work as well as bring models, structures and frameworks to use to help improve their writing skills (from ideas planning, structuring work, writing, self-correcting, proofreading. Also, verbalising ideas can be helpful, talking through ideas and while writing.
My English tutoring sessions including reading, writing, phonics and spelling: I am very experienced in teaching English from beginner levels, primary Key stages 1-2, preparation for 11+, and preparing students to feel confident in completing all the tasks. I have worked with students of all levels and abilities and am quick to identify as well as support any additional language, literacy, dyslexia or other issues that affect a student's progress and writing skills. My specialist skills and experience teaching creative writing to students, I do this using Talk for Writing in which I also lead teacher training. I have worked with students and teachers across the primary age range, encouraging learners to develop their creative writing skills and ideas using: stimulus resources and pictures; introduce new vocabulary (particularly learning new adjectives, developing the use of synonyms and antonyms, and the use of prefixes and suffixes); plan writing, to use different writing techniques for effect, including considering who is writing, the genre and purpose of the writing, time, tense, use of descriptive language, and language and literary devices such as the use of metaphors, similes, personification, rhetorical questions; and learn strategies to remember what to include. Genres may include poems, narrations, descriptive pieces, stories or speeches. My specialist skills and experience helping students to start, plan and write stories include developing ideas from a word or a theme, doing simple mind maps to develop ideas and vocabulary, add in useful words. In writing we will look at effective planning, different ways to start a story, how to develop a story, how to add details, make interesting and varied sentences, add drama for effect, consider the perspective of writing (as an observer or actually there), time, thoughts, speech, conversations between people. My specialist skills and experience teaching inferring skills to students, reading skills such as skimming, scanning, reading for gist and understanding, locating information, understanding facts or opinions and inferred meanings are essential to succeed at KS2 and beyond. I have worked with all ages of students to help develop reading skills inference skills in order to better understand the writer's meaning and intended effect on the reader.
Collaborative Working: I work closely with young people and their families. I help develop personalised strategies, building on their strengths as well as building up their weaker skills. This could be to help with motivation, focus, organisation, memory, retention, processing, planning, writing skills, spelling, exam or study skills, as well as help with their learning tasks, homework, to catch up quickly in subjects they find hard or are behind in. I work independently and can devise individual learning programmes, strategies, and resources for specific needs, as well as follow the guidance of professionals: your child's school teachers or specialists such as Speech and Language Therapists, Mental Health professionals, Educational Psychologists, and Social Workers for looked after children. I can also liaise with schools or other professionals on your behalf. I am experienced with managing different learning needs and behaviours, and have worked with all ages, in primary intervention.
