Elaine

I am a passionate and fun qualified primary teacher (PGCE) with over 10 years’ experience working with people with various learning difficulties including autism (including high-functioning), ADHD, dyslexia, global delay. Many of my students have additional needs- visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech and language difficulties- I have a wide range of strategies to best support the people I work with. I specialise in working with children in KS1 and KS2, and those preparing for their 11+ entrance examinations.

My approach; develop a personalised and bespoke action-plan for 1:1 support in school or at home:

In my targeted sessions, I assess the student's current knowledge, identify any existing gaps and formulate a bespoke action plan. I understand that building the student's confidence and developing a 'can do' mentality is key and I therefore have a wide range of strategies to support students to achieve their full potential; this can be academic (e.g. English or Maths) or more holistic for example social skills, social awareness and organisation skills.  I have developed activities to enhance student engagement using children's specific interests to motivate them. I build on my students' concentration skills by providing multi-sensory activities in a fun yet structured environment. I love utilising a hands-on and multi-sensory approach, and I love planning fun and creative activities that can take place indoors or outdoors as based on the student's needs; these can include space for movement breaks as necessary.

Specialist strategies, tools and inventions; my experience working with  students with autism, behavioural needs and focus and concentration challenges:

I specialise in working with students with autism, behavioural needs and focus and concentration challenges. I support my students to fulfil their potential by scaffolding activities and teaching strategies to help them access the curriculum. I break down concepts into small, manageable tasks whilst addressing any misconceptions in a pupil’s understanding that need to be addressed. I find fun and creative ways to re-visit ideas until a concept has been fully consolidated. I use visual aids to support learning- pictures, symbols, physical gestures, highlighting keywords in text etc. I have a wide range of strategies and interventions to support students to engage with their work in a meaningful way that makes the lesson more memorable. I also have lots of tools and games to develop auditory memory.

I am passionate about supporting students to communicate with others and often use alternative methods of communication such as Makaton, Clicker 7 and  touch typing. My sessions are creative; I use art, drama, music and dance to engage students. Moreover, I use physical resources to support learning such as Numicon and various counters for maths and have a range of activities I use to develop fine and gross motor skills. I often use visual aids to support learning: pictures, symbols, physical gestures, highlighting keywords in texts and visual timetables so my students know what to expect from our session; I find that this can have a calming effect on my students and helps them to focus. There is no better reward than seeing a child's face light up when they have been successful and accomplished a certain task!

My experience collaborating with other specialists:

I have worked alongside various professionals from different disciplines (speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, occupational therapists, psychotherapists) and have a wide range of strategies to support pupils in their learning. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with my students’ schools and the professionals that support them (SENCO, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, etc).  I have spent considerable time working alongside speech and language therapists and have gained a lot of experience in implementing various programs to support students with language delay and have adapted key strategies to promote learning. I use clear language and repeat key information throughout a lesson. I find that it is important to regularly check in with the pupil to see if they have understood. Building a good rapport with the child is key- it's important that I am patient at all times and allow them the time they need to process information.

My 11+ preparation experience:

I take a systematic approach when preparing a student for the 11+  exams. I work with the pupil on sample papers to familiarise them with the format and time restraints. From there I develop the plan to address gaps in knowledge whilst also practising skills that will be needed for the exams e.g. comprehension, creative writing etc. I guide the pupil through sample papers, familiarising them with the layout and expectations and addressing any issues that arise. I cover the different types of questions that may be asked (rotations and symmetry, mirror images and reflections, working out net cubes and how shapes will look when folded, etc.) and help the student to recognise what each task is asking of them. Over time I support the student to think logically and recognise patterns. Working through sample diagrammatic questions helps develop the student's visual logic and from this their confidence grows. I use a similar method when helping a student prepare for the 11+ verbal reasoning exams. I make sure that we have covered the standard types of questions that appear on the tests-I use various games and challenges to keep students engaged. When particular concepts prove tricky for a pupil I use visuals to support learning. Through practising sample questions, I support pupils to think logically and recognise patterns as well as also developing their problem-solving skills. I also support my students in developing time management skills with regards examinations.