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Seven years ago, I decided to work for an innovative charity with an inspirational team to work exclusively with learners with many barriers to their learning. It is the best thing I have ever done, and I have dedicated my career since to working with those who feel less than, don’t feel seen and don’t feel heard.

As a lover of sport, I changed career in my late twenties from working in international development to training as a secondary school PE teacher. I loved the PGCE and the teaching but quickly became disillusioned with life in a PE department. It disappointed me that so many young people were switched off by sport and physical activity. Often this was down to the competitive and un-inclusive culture of PE in schools.

I decided to move into primary school teaching as a result and it was the best thing I could have done. I worked at an ‘Outstanding’ school in Buckinghamshire where they taught me how to teach maths and English to KS1 and KS2 children. Being a PE teacher, I became a primary PE specialist alongside being a primary school generalist. I progressed to becoming the primary PE adviser in Sussex for Active Sussex where I ran training days for primary school teachers. I also led the PE training sessions for trainee teachers on the SCITT courses in Oxfordshire.

Over the past seven years I have worked for a charity and dedicated my teaching career specifically to working with young people aged 14 to 25 facing significant barriers to their learning. Most of the hundreds of young people I have taught have had negative experiences of mainstream education, have felt let down by adults and/or have not had their SEND/SEMH needs met.

In this time, I have worked with young people who have one of, or a range of, the following: trauma, are Children We Care For, cerebral palsy, downs syndrome, an acquired brain injury, dyslexia, dyscalculia, attachment issues, ASD, ADHD, PDA, dyspraxia, a compulsion to self-harm, SEMH, child exploitation and anxiety.

I have had the privilege of working in an environment where the young person’s needs come before academic targets. Through a human centred approach, I have had the freedom to explore different techniques ranging from the conventional to completely unconventional.

The conventional often means working alongside a young person 1:1, learning all their different needs and walking alongside them on their journey.

The more unconventional can mean sitting outside of a locked bathroom talking to a learner for 45 minutes about their football team before beginning a session. I often think that the best training I received for this style of working was a brief spell as a taxi driver one summer in Newquay. Hours of practice striking up a quick rapport with people and being able to talk a little about every subject!

In this setting I have been the maths lead; planning and delivering GCSE and functional skills maths to the learners. To challenge and progress my teaching, I then switched to planning and delivering GCSE and functional skills English. I also planned, delivered and assessed work-based qualifications in Learning, Employability and Progression from Entry 3 to Level 2. My experience as a primary school teacher has been key to being able to comfortably move between subjects.

Being a key worker to a cohort of learners, I have contributed to EHCP reviews, progression meetings, TAF meetings, police panels for vulnerable young people, held restorative conversations between families and advised parents on likely next steps for their children.

In a lot of cases the EHCP/educational psychologist/CAMHS reports are out of date and do not reflect the young person in front of me. So, I just get to know them and find out what they need. I find it uncomfortable to define someone by their condition and I allow them the space to try and articulate to me what they feel need.

Through this work, I was asked by Activate learning to set up a part time coaching and mentoring provision for 14–19 year-olds in a garden in Banbury. All the young people were at risk of exclusion from college or school or had dropped out of their own accord. All had SEND and/or SEMH and we built up an exceptional record in helping them to overcome their barriers to reach their next steps. Often these next steps were apprenticeships, a more suitable course at college (with appropriate support agreed) or full-time work.

During this time, I expanded my coaching and mentoring experience through a project called Removing Barriers, Rebuilding Lives. This was aimed at adults from 19-65 who were long term unemployed and facing many of the same barriers as the young people I specialise in working with.