Eva

General • KS1-KS4 support • Experience teaching primarily SEND students: SpLD- dyslexia, visual impairments, dyscalculia, processing difficulties, dyspraxia, ADD, ADHD; Autism, Speech and Language Difficulties, Profound Learning Difficulties (Global Developmental Delay, Cerebral Palsy), Literacy and Numeracy difficulties, Emotional challenges. Additionally: revision planning, exam skills, and skills for learning in general.

My experience teaching students with SEN: For the past 14 years I have been supporting children and young people aged 5 to 16 with additional learning needs, including communication, memory, phonics, reading, spelling, literacy and numeracy difficulties in various subjects: English, Maths, Science, and others, where relevant.

I have experienced and observed teaching in both primary and secondary sectors, and taught SEN students in a mainstream and independent setting (both mainstream and special schools), based on specialist SEN training in specific learning difficulties- dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, ADHD, and speech and language. This goes in line with extensive cooperation with educational psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and other school professionals. I specifically try to keep the parents in the loop along the way- any decision-making needs to tie in with mutual understanding and support. My teaching was rated as good, or outstanding in internal and internal inspections.

 My specialist experience working with students with SEN to develop trusting and meaningful relationships: From my experience, students trust teachers and leaders that are knowledgeable, honest, balanced, passionate about their work, positive and consistent. Most of all, however, a bond develops through mutual respect, the ability to listen to the child and students seeing their own progress with the tutor on their side, supporting through a range of experiences. Effective communication is the tool to enable this. 

The first step to getting to know the student is active listening and patience which help to understand the pupil’s voice, and the way they think, process and respond to various situations. Getting to know the students: their interests, hobbies, and dreams, allows them to focus on their goals and also adapt the resources accordingly. Someone who is always there and remembers this one tiny- but important- detail, can sometimes move mountains.

My experience teaching students with autism including high-functioning autism: Students with autism have always been a part of my school community and, as an interim Lead of the only Autism Specialised Base in a secondary state school in Camden, I was in the lucky position to adapt the curriculum to each student, ensuring their progress by engagement, using recognised strategies: The Incredible 5- Point Scale, ABC, Zones of Regulation, Social Stories, sensory profiling, ELKAN communication support for verbal ASD students in a secondary setting-receptive and expressive language; some PECS, Makaton and Colourful Semantics for younger students; various literacy and numeracy games, often via assistive technology (WordShark, NumberShark) and to train other members of staff on these. I have developed and taught an ASD differentiated curriculum in a challenging environment for core subjects: English and Maths for secondary-age students, that has been rated outstanding during the Ofsted inspection in 2018. You can also read my experience of working with Jawad and Saptieu below. Since most exams require good quality of writing, higher-functioning autistic students often need specific assistance with various types of writing, stressing supportive practice with feedback. It is important to make it meaningful, use assistive technology, use visuals and writing frames,  and teach explicitly with instructional sentences, writing frames, and lots of repetition. I believe that to help students with autism fulfil their intellectual potential, we need to provide them as early as possible with knowledge about who they are as learners, and with strategies to use to address their areas of need. When working with autistic students, I learned that it is incredibly important to remember how positive rapport and an individualised approach can turn a corner for a young person with unique and specific strengths. Longitudinal studies conducted at UCLH proved that young people with autism give relationships the highest meaning. This also sometimes means that the match between the tutor and the student has to be carefully considered or even reconsidered.

My skills and experience teaching students with processing difficulties: Most of the students I teach show processing difficulties. To build their confidence, it is important to make teaching relevant to their interests and learning styles, following their natural way of learning and strengthening the areas for improvement.  I devised carefully paced, scaffolded tasks, supported by embedded visuals, 3D props, mindful breaks, and self-reflection summaries. This way, the students consciously participate in their learning, reflect on it, and can see immediate progress, thus boosting their confidence. It is vital that the teaching is also structured and cumulative to support the long-term memory of the students.

My skills and experience developing focus and concentration skills: I believe that engaging, personalised and relevant teaching increases students’ focus on learning from the start (please, look at sections regarding motivating, creating fun lessons, anxiety, writing resistance and improving confidence). To additionally improve students’ concentration, a range of sensory and mindfulness tools can be used: short, carefully structured tasks, active or mindful rest breaks, and various props. Creating a sensory profile of each pupil helps to discover the most helpful tools.

Revision planning: On many occasions, I have helped several students to develop a revision schedule. Depending on how close students are to their exams, the revision plan will either involve covering content and creating notes to attempt exam questions or developing understanding.

My experience working with young people with social interaction and friendship skills: Longitudinal studies conducted at UCLH proved that young people with autism value their close relationships the most. They are also often like-minded and often find it easier to befriend other autistic students. Many schools and councils organise various support and friendship groups for students with ASD, ODA and anxiety as well as for their families. Apart from the recognised communication strategies to support interaction and friendship skills, my work would focus on tailoring this support to the young person’s personal preferences and educational setting. I tend to assess students’ skills through an informal discussion of a social situation (e.g. in a shared video) and lead them onto their personal experiences. We then focus on the tricky areas and work through charts based on the ”Talkabout” programme or my own resources developed over the years of experience working with ASD and SEN students.

Various strategies have been developed and incorporated to support young people with ASC and anxiety to develop friendships and social interaction skills, starting from Comic Strips, Zones of Regulations, The Incredible 5- Point Scale and sensory profiling for the younger students through Social Stories, Theory of Mind, Circle of Friends and videos for teenagers, ELKAN communication support strategies for verbal ASD and receptive and expressive language skills development program to coaching strategies for older students.

My experience providing fun, student-led sessions to help students engage in learning: My most memorable lesson was on introducing language features through the ballad ‘Highwayman’ to a group of autistic, dyslexic, and anxious students. I dressed up as a highwayman, so the students were thrilled to see what the character looked like. I entertained them with a short talk about what highwaymen used to do. I recorded a video of the highwayman taking their teacher hostage and they had to answer a set of questions to set her free (luckily for me, they were willing to do it!). We played a multisensory video of the ballad and then the students had to answer a set of questions leading them to discover the rules of all the language features for themselves, involving stomping, clapping, and the oral rehearsal with assisted elocution. At the end of the lesson, the students completed the multisensory Kahoot quiz using the multisensory ‘Barnyard Buzzers’. It was a fun lesson, where the students got very involved. I try to answer and embed ethical questions where relevant, such as: what do we have in common with Highwayman?  and what is the better way of getting there?

Of course, it is not always possible to run such sessions daily. Also, careful planning, good rapport, and knowing your students are a base to avoid any misunderstandings.

It is, however, important to embed multisensory teaching in the process to make sessions fun; such as quizzes, games, concrete objects, and to relate the content to students’ interests, where they can demonstrate their strengths and some knowledge, too.

In 1:1 tutoring it is also possible to allow the child to lead the sessions using their specific skills and interests. My two autistic students were very passionate about public transport. Together we designed a set of sessions that included a visit to the London Transport Museum where they were solving a set of interdisciplinary tasks (Maths, English, Science), related to the objects in the museum. They photographed, presented and published their visit online, writing a blog for their school. Another time, we used cooking (pizza, cupcakes and pancakes) to practise math functional skills and some science topics. Students then were selling their products to the whole school together with other students.

My skills and experience teaching students with anxiety: Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear. Depending on the severity, it is very important to recognise the source of anxiety and to build a step-by-step- plan to overcome it. Usually, accepting our feelings and then seeing small, staged successes related to the source of anxiety, is the very first step to overcoming the feeling. E.g. for exam anxiety, well-organised preparation and getting through past papers successfully in exam conditions, then through the first exam, usually reduces anxiety. It is important to recognise and celebrate successes along the way and to find strategies that will work in completing the task that causes anxiety. Special access arrangements for exams may be needed, and if the anxiety is at a very high level- support from a specialist may be required. (Also, please, see Jill’s review at the bottom of the page).

My experience teaching study skills, exam techniques and executive functioning skills (inc. for GCSEs): Study skills involve a wide range of abilities:  planning, organising and time-scheduling, listening and note-taking, effective use of revision resources, listening and note-taking, reading, writing, revision, using assistive technology and exam skills. Typically, I run a study skills checklist and we then focus on seeing the pictures and setting the priorities. I usually get the full picture of a student from their school if possible and liaise with the teachers. The students then develop their ways: starting with skilful goal-setting, through the effective planning of their learning, creating a stable and well-organized learning environment, revision tools, and developing effective reading, planning, and writing techniques. Some of the techniques include:

– reading: passive vs. active reading (-including focus and concentration, reading comprehension, identifying the purpose, skimming, scanning and close reading strategies;

– writing: tackling questions, techniques for a blank page block, organising, note-taking (e.g. Cornell method), planning and structuring techniques, structuring a paragraph, maintaining the flow (key vocabulary and cohesive devices), introductions and conclusions, proofreading skills (secretarial and authorial), non-fiction writing

–  exam skills: identifying and understanding the language used in exam papers,  planning a sequence of events and the time at which they need to happen before the exams, the use of revision resources, tackling the exam, mental being- positive and negative stress, practising timing (includes using any access arrangements)

– revision: study space, time management, making and using notes for revision, planning and timetabling revision, active learning, memory techniques, learning to revise, the use of technology for revision

– metacognition: focusing on academic success and performance

My experience teaching Maths: Apart from teaching a differentiated maths curriculum, as mentioned above,  very recently I have been supporting a young student with working memory difficulties and anxiety around exams. Since September, he has become the top-performing student in his set, aspiring now for grade 5, rather than 3 or 4, due to a carefully organised study and revision schedule. You can find the details in the review below.

The key that works for all students is that the teaching is multisensory, structured, and cumulative: firstly, the targeted areas are broken down and adapted to apply to a student’s learning style (assessed), using concrete and multisensory tools; secondly, the learning is progressive using a similar- but not repetitive- adapted structure to each lesson; lastly, the teaching is cumulative- each lesson ties and revises the previous one, with specific intervals over 30 days; it also anticipates the follow-up, showing the student the big picture, including the student’s strengths and needs.

This, of course, requires a careful planning process and a detailed assessment which I always run during the first few sessions to establish the base and the starting point.

My skills and experience teaching students with dyslexia: Dyslexia is my main specialism and I have worked in schools specialising in supporting students with dyslexia in both state and independent sectors. To best support any child with dyslexia, a robust assessment is the foundation. Then, each child’s personal needs need to be addressed in a multisensory, structured, and accumulative way. To say it simply- I always plan a well-thought-out program with specific targets, depending on the priorities of the child. This way, the skills will stay in the long-term memory. Another aspect is the technical knowledge and effective use of assistive technology. And lastly- the lessons need to be meaningful for the student- I strive to get to know the child and their interests to make the lessons most productive.

My experience working with students with ADHD: During my specialist training, I have been provided with the knowledge and tools to support students experiencing problems with attention and/or hyperactivity and impulsiveness. From my experience, apart from the base strategies to support ADHD- such as: ensuring clear and calm space, using alert cues to have the pupil’s attention, breaking down the tasks and avoiding instructional overload, allowing ‘brain- brakes’, using timers, letting the pupil seat in the most comfortable position whilst using carefully selected fidget toys, providing calming activities, allowing them to rephrase instructions, and playing to the student’s skills and interest, it is very important to remain calm and to ensure that all rules are clear and consistently applied, with self-check lists to avoid rushed and careless work and a possible reward to work towards to when relevant. During online teaching, it is vital to see the student working and to apply activities that allow the teacher to see the student’s real-time progress, such as working in Google Docs, participating in online games, quizzes and other interactive activities that are available via screen share. Liaison with the parents often brings positive effects to maintaining students’ motivation through positive feedback or by establishing a clear reward system at home. You can also check Zak’s profile below (ADHD).

My skills and experience teaching students with writing resistance: Writing can be a huge issue for many students- those with dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, and generally with dysregulated executive functioning skills. Unfortunately, the exam mode is mainly written- which does not make things easier. If the student has access arrangements in place, they may have a scribe or speech-to-text software available for the exams. In other cases, it may be worth talking to SENCO about it. Staged practice with specific software/scribe may be a starting point. If there is no access given, then pair writing is a starting point- where a student contributes and the teacher scribes. With time and specific writing frames, the student contributes more. This is followed up by carefully arranged timed writing. Praising and celebrating success is very important, as well as consistency and the student taking ownership. Motivating can be sometimes hard- hence the choice of topics should address students’ interests and allow them to shine (e.g. for a student interested in science, we would watch a short film on a recent discovery, discuss it and then write a purposeful article/letter/take part ina  written competition- that can be even sent to a relevant body, etc.

My experience boosting students’ confidence and self-esteem: In my view, low self-esteem around school comes from the disparity between the expectations and the status quo. It is important to give students a clear and realistic plan of progress and to prove that it works. From the academic point of view, I see my role as an enabler, but also a coach where the student reflects on his way and the process of learning, which is called metacognition. By asking and answering some empowering questions, e.g. what do I know already? what do I want to improve? what I am already doing to help myself and how I can make things better?; or, even- why am I doing this?- the student is in the centre and control of the process. This good start leads to careful planning where the student is also at the centre of decision-making (tutor-led) and, eventually, evaluates their progress each session. the students learn to know the power of ‘yet’ and they can see when ‘I don’t know this yet’ becomes ‘I know this already. Let’s do some more! Establishing an effective reward system is also sometimes necessary, but, for a student that has been struggling with a subject for a long time, seeing their progress is often a big enough reward.

My skills and experience in supporting children to develop their independence: I have mentioned metacognition as a very important part of the learning process, that supports motivation to learn through carefully posed questions. This way the student is taking over their learning. This leads to growing independence in the whole process. Through regular, step-by-step self-evaluation, the students take charge and responsibility for their learning. Sometimes the breaking point is letting the student win a few quizzes with rewards and having a goal each time. But long-term, it is about the student making a conscious decision to be responsible for their learning. Of course, the tutor needs to gain the students’ acceptance and trust first, which sometimes takes a while. To break down the ice, I am trying to know my tutees’ passions, dreams, plans for the future, strengths and challenges. Then my role revolves around making the learning experience unique and fun to unlock their potential in a multi-sensory, structured way.

My experience teaching executive function skills: working with a wide range of SEN students, especially with ADHD, ADD and ASD, I am familiar with various aspects of challenges with executive functioning skills, such as having trouble starting and/or completing tasks, prioritizing tasks, forgetting what has been said, heard or read, trouble in following directions or a sequence of steps,  panicking when rules or routines change, having trouble switching focus from one task to another, getting overly emotional and fixated on things and struggling to organise their thoughts, managing time or keep track of their belongings. Please, read the section on ADHD above and autism as well as supporting concentration skills below to find more information on my experience and strategies. You may also want to read the profiles of Saptieu, Jawad and Zak below.

My experience teaching students with visual impairment: I worked with partially visually impaired students (please see a review from Nadezda). The main focus of our learning has been on building rapport and prioritising subjects that needed the most attention in a student-friendly way: starting from appropriate communication, adapting resources, including making sure the student wears their glasses and has the work accessible (technology, enlarged font, screen magnification, specific colour and texture, personalised adaptation and organisation of work and space, making sure they wore glasses), very often addressing various anxieties, focusing on oral work and presentations and implementing technology when possible (e.g. touch-typing, text to speech and vice-versa). VI students often struggle with confidence and friendships. Therefore sensitive and skilful communication as well as being included in decision-making and feeling just like everyone else is an important part of the process.  If possible, coordination with the school is always advisable.

My skills and experience in supporting children with dyspraxia: Most of my dyspraxic students in secondary schools benefited from the following strategies:

– assistive technology- speech to text Software, e.g. Dragon, using a laptop for written assessment when possible, scribe

– ensuring support with putting the written information down

– breaking down the instructions into smaller parts, scaffolding tasks and increasing them in difficulty

– using pictures, symbols, modelling, and demonstration, repeating instructions

– adding – time when completing tasks, preparing partly completed work

– encouraging them to self-correct their work or behaviour

– using colour-coding for left and right

– using sensory support, e.g. wobble stools or cushions, adjusted stationery, e. g. pen, pencil, paper

– using electronic planners for organisation, organising study space

– using spider diagrams and mind-maps- also electronic when revising

– ensuring rest-breaks

My specialist experience teaching social communication skills to children: many students struggle with social communication; especially when they are on the spectrum or suffer from anxiety and other mental health difficulties. In the case of ASD, the theory of mind explains one aspect of the issue.  Apart from using classic ASD techniques, like social stories and comic strip conversations, or more advanced communication techniques (like communication cards, visuals, Makaton, and Pecs), it is important to remember that each child is different and there may be different reasons why they struggle to communicate. In each case, various situations require rehearsing the anticipated scenario or analysing and redesigning a scenario that caused difficulty, often including the development of the child’s speech fluency, together with their vocabulary. Sometimes support from a qualified psychologist may be advisable, especially when mental health difficulties are in the picture.  It is important to mediate any difficulties and also to ensure that this is done in a sensitive and confidential manner. Rewarding each step is another important part of ensuring the consistency of a child’s effort.

Programs taught: Inclusion based schemes of work and programs to SEN and underachieving students – English nurture groups (Y7-9), maths nurture groups (Y8-9), Zones of Regulation (Y9-11), the Incredible 5/point scale (Y7-8); Expressive Language (Y7-9), Vocabulary Enrichment (Y7-9), Lego (Y7-8), Reading (Y7-8), writing and comprehension (Y7-9), literacy and numeracy (Y7-9), Functional Skills English and Maths (Y10-11); Toe by Toe, SRA (Y1-6), assisting in the delivery of ‘Read Write Inc’ (Y1); Expressive Language program, Vocabulary Enrichment program (Y7-8), ASDAN (Y10-11), Prince’s Trust (Y10-11), PAT (Y7-8), Dockside (Y7-8), Word Family (Y1-6).

11+ Maths, English (SEN): I have previously worked with two students on the 11+ assessments. Jasmine sat entry examinations for three schools, with all students going on to one of their preferred secondary/boarding schools.  Jasmine, 11+ maths: Jasmine is severely dyscalculic, she struggled with her general maths skills (including timetables) and applying theory to practice. We steadily worked on building up her confidence, understanding, and exam technique. She was offered a place at Kew House. Conrad, 11+ English: Conrad has dyslexia and found it difficult to extract and then implement information from the text in his writing. His focus, processing, and writing speed were low. We suggested typing sessions which-at completion- sharply improved his writing speed — we steadily built-in techniques for time-efficient reading and planning a correctly structured written response. As a result, he moved up a set within a term in Year 5.

GCSE English/Mathematics (SEN): I have worked with several exam boards (Edexcel, AQA, WJEC) for GCSE/ Functional Skills/ AQA. I have helped many students move from 2/3/4 to 3/4/5/6. For students at the lower end of the grade, the focus is on learning content and attaining a firm understanding as well as application.

Student examples: 

Jawad, GCSE maths: Jawad found several areas of maths challenging. He was autistic, lacked full understanding, and doubted his ability. We worked through his knowledge gaps and tricky aspects of the topics to give him an excellent base to work. Then we moved on to more advanced work, which I made multi-sensory, fun, and interactive, in line with his ASD profile. He moved from borderline 5/6 to a 7.

Saptieu GCSE English Language: Sap, in line with her ASC spectrum, struggled with expressing herself in writing. She wasn’t able to structure her text or make up a storyline that would reflect her ideas accurately. We worked on her planning skills as well as vocabulary and sentence structure to write coherent paragraphs. She also struggled with bringing adequate evidence to her analysis, so she learned the techniques to work with the text efficiently and embed it into PEE paragraphs.

Rose:  due to dyslexia and mental health issues, Rose suffered from high anxiety and worked therefore only in a hybrid school in year 10, mostly online. I assessed her study skills, liaised with her teachers to get a full picture of her needs to enable the most effective progress, and I ask her what she wanted to be supported with. We then agreed to plan an effective route to support her organisation, writing, proofreading and tackling the exam questions. Rose grew in confidence and her father has recently written ‘how well she is doing in the English Language at the moment. She puts it all down to you and the amazing work you did with her when she first joined … So many of the things that she didn’t once do (spelling, punctuation, capital letters) she now does automatically and – more importantly – she knows why.’

Archie, GCSE Revision and Study Skills: Archie was struggling to organise his time effectively when he started revising for his exams. I helped him prioritise his revision subject by subject and built a realistic revision timetable with him that he used throughout his study leave and exam period. We also worked on revision techniques and timed practice papers. This way, we helped him develop his organisational skills and ensured he felt confident going into his exams. Archie was offered a place at Harrodian.

Zak: Zak struggled with ADHD, mostly with a lack of concentration, and found it very difficult to focus in class. I helped him with the organisation of his work, homework, and any bits of classwork he had not been able to finish. I made lessons as interactive as possible but stuck to a clear routine, including breaks, so he felt confident each time we had a session.