Elaine

I am a passionate primary-trained educator with a background in psychology. I have over 10 years’ experience supporting children and young adults with various learning difficulties including autism, dyslexia, language delay and communication difficulties. I have a wide range of strategies to best support the children I work with to progress both academically and socially. I have extensive experience supporting teenagers with autism who function at primary level to develop in English and maths.

My priority as an educational practitioner: establish a meaningful relationship with the child and their family built on trust, warmth and openness. I spend time getting to know my students and showing them that I am a kind and patient practitioner. I endeavour to create positive links with each family I work with in order to provide holistic support for my students. I have worked extensively with students with special educational needs who have experienced trauma. I go to great lengths to ensure the emotional welfare of the children I work with and to support them in whatever they may be currently processing. In all of my roles I have been successful in enabling my students to feel safe and calm through my warm interpersonal approach. I use routines and timetables so they always know what to expect. I encourage my students to share their feelings and I give them the time that they need to express themselves. I incorporate mindful activities into my lessons and support my students in learning how to enjoy themselves.

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 therefore have a wide range of strategies to support students to achieve their full potential; this can be academic such as English (reading, writing, phonics, handwriting), maths or other subjects, or more holistic, for example social, comprehension and independence 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 use simple language in a clear, calm voice and give my students plenty of processing time.

Specialist strategies, tools and inventions; my experience working with  students with language and communication needs and/or with autism: I specialise in working with students with autism, language delay and communication needs. My experience has shown me that it is vital that students with language and communication challenges are supported to express their wants and needs. I have supported students in using different communication aids: PECS (picture exchange communication system); Clicker7; Communicate in Print; Makaton; etc. By enabling my students to communicate more effectively, I lay the foundations for real academic progress to take place. I provide my students with bespoke strategies to develop their receptive and expressive skills as well as practice their comprehension skills.

For many of my students, rigid-thinking forms part of their diagnosis and can be a barrier to learning. I have extensive experience in supporting my students to develop a growth mind-set, to see mistakes as part of growing academically and socially. I aim to develop their resilience as learners as this quality is key to growing both academically and socially. 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. Many of my roles have involved differentiating mainstream class work so that it is accessible for my students. I use visual aids to support learning- pictures, symbols, physical resources, graphic organisers, 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. Many of my students need repetition to consolidate new information. I find fun and creative ways to re-visit ideas whilst continuing to keep my pupils engaged. I successfully implement strategies (systematic synthetic phonics programs, reading interventions and targeted maths booster sessions) to support my students to achieve their potential.

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 and teachers:  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 (class teacher, 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 consultancy experience: As part of my service I offer educational consultancy to parents. I advise on the strategies I think are most fitting for each individual child. I work with parents and schools to set targets for the child, these targets can be academic in nature or focus on social and/or independence skills. I have experience of advising parents on all areas of a child’s life from developing executive functioning skills and organisational ability to sleep routines, developing conversational skills, etc. I draw on my experience of working with a wide-range of professionals (educational psychologists, speech and languages therapists, etc.) to provide parents with appropriate and effective strategies. I have also provided parents with bespoke actions plans to boost academic progress and have guided the child’s tutor/ 1:1 in implementing the plan.

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 may 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.

Developing life skills and transitioning to employment: I am passionate about developing the life skills of the children/young people I support. In my experience, the right intervention can have a life-changing effect on a person’s life and lead to increased independence. When working as class-teacher I devoted several classes a week to developing lifeskills (personal hygiene, housework, cooking, etc.) I work intensively with each individual to understand what skills they need to develop and implement strategies to measurably increase their abilities over time. I enable my students to develop their social skills using various games, discussing scenarios, role-play activities, social stories, etc. I have supported young people in preparing to transition into employment- providing them with opportunities to reflect on what they like/do not like using symbols, organised meetings with career advisors at council level, arranged visits to recruitment days,  mock-interviews, practiced form-filling, etc. I am passionate about enabling my students to engage with all processes as independently as possible and find it greatly rewarding when a pupil develops a new skill after much perseverance.