Giselle

I am highly experienced with 16 years of experience working with children, young people and adults with special educational needs. I have managed holiday camps for primary and secondary aged pupils: organising activities within the community, as well as academic, play-based and creative sessions. I am well versed in co-ordinating and managing provisions for students with EHCPs, as well as supporting those with EOTAS packages. This includes the administrative tasks, multi-agency liaison and 1:1 work. I aim to create a safe, nurturing and welcoming environment.

My experience providing fun sessions to help students engage in learning: I am known for having a really warm, bubbly, friendly personality. I am an active, up-beat smiley person, who injects bundles of energy into lessons, making them fun. I am a great listener and keen for students to voice their opinions. I tailor sessions, finding creative, active and fun ways to help students learn and engage in lessons. This includes adapting lessons to incorporate interests, devising a series of short activities to sustain engagement, allowing movement, and using lots of visual and sensory items to enhance engagement.

Developing trusting and meaningful relationships to create a safe environment: I build trusting relations with children, forming a safe-outlet to better help children manage their emotional challenges and communicate their needs.  I provide a safe, supportive environment to implement strategies to support and develop independence skills. Building rapport with children and developing a trusting relationship is paramount! This is both for verbal and non-verbal children and young people. Incorporating interests and likes is key to engagement and rapport building.

My experience with emotional regulation, boosting confidence and self-esteem/holistic therapeutic approach:  I believe it’s imperative for children to understand their mental/emotional blocks. I work on helping children feeling empowered, making progress both personally and academically. This alongside focusing on their strengths helps to build their confidence and self-esteem. Ensuring that work set is accessible is imperative in this area, challenges tasks should also be attainable. When a young person is able to see their achievements, it builds an intrinsic motivation to continue and want to do better. Fostering a learning environment that encompasses this is key and something I practise daily.

My specialist experience supporting students develop their independence/Mentoring: I was a Connexions PA for the local authority for 5 years before going into schools and teaching. I have an appreciation for education that goes beyond the academics within the classroom, and am in full support of engagement within activities within the wider community, but also for the development of their independence. I am a realist who always tries to implement a mentor/positive role model role to teaching. Character building, but also life skills and are imperative for any growing young person. I always try to relate the curriculum to real life examples, whilst giving real-life scenarios to help students think about the the wider world and prepare them for adult-hood. Giving them options to allow them to make informed decisions, encouraging accountability over their learning, mapping out/timetabling when they can complete their homework/prioritising their workload vs play/social free time, are some of the matters I discuss with students to help develop their independence. Listening and taking on board their views before offering an alternative perspective is also key. Their engagement in such discussions and within other activities can reduce academic pressures, support with the boosting of self-esteem and confidence, general knowledge and enhance learning. The development of independence skills ties in heavily with study and the development of executive functioning skills also, for which, I support students with on a weekly basis, within school and on a 1:1 supporting the participation of activities within the wider community. This assists with the preparation into adulthood. Consistency is key. Teaching, explicitly study skills is also useful for students who struggle with independent learning. To add further, I was a nanny to 3 children where we engaged in a variety of activities within the home and wider community; baking, cooking, trampolining, bike rides, theatre trips, museums,  park walks, swimming, football, ballet etc. such activities also serve as great rapport building. I currently continue these activities with some of my private clients.

My experience teaching students with PDA: Being flexible, patient and using children’s strengths and interests to engage them is paramount. I believe in employing the young person: it is important to give children options/choices that will help them to feel valued, an equal and in control. I de-personalise requests and directions and use indirect and informal approaches.  Again, building a rapport is key, and I make learning fun, engaging and enjoyable.

My specialist experience teaching autistic students/ those with ASC: Aside from having family members with ASD, I have also taught children with such needs. I understand the impact on families and the challenges that come with communication and understanding. In this sense, I take a therapeutic approach, whilst maintaining firm boundaries. I find it important to use student strengths and interests to help engage them within learning, allowing them the freedom/flexibility to express their ideas in their way. Using literal language is key, as opposed to figurative, and offering real-life relatable examples to help them see alternative perspectives, as they often require support to see things from other’s perspectives. Such students often require lots of praise and encouragement, but also the opportunity to be stretched and challenged- key for those who are high functioning (they like be treated like an adult/equal).

I have also worked with them to support difficulties around OCD. Comprehension around balance in life is paramount. I understand the masking, sensory overload, emotional dysregulation and PDA that may come with such a diagnoses. So I provide a safe, supportive environment to implement strategies to support, develop independence skills, and prepare them for adulthood. For some students with ASD they can become non-verbal or display mutism. It is important, with such individuals, to maintain consistency and use activities that involve multiple choice answers to create ease in their communication. Building a rapport with them and developing a trusting relationship is paramount! Incorporating their interests and likes is also key to their engagement and rapport building. 

My experience teaching social skills  and friendship skills: Many students that I work with struggle to socialise with other students. They may experience difficulties starting and or maintain conversations and friendships. I break down these barriers by discussing with young people what they challenges are, talking about social situations and giving suggestions as to what to say, how to say it and when to say it. We also discuss how to read other people’s body language, and or interpret things that they may have said- thus gaining a better understanding of other people’s perspectives. This is turn can help to reduce anxiety, rationalise thoughts and provide a more meaningful and purposeful action point moving forward. Modelling behaviour and social videos also supports with this.

My experience teaching 1:1 Learning Support/ Study Skills/ Mentoring and executive functioning skills/supporting students with their homework: Particularly effective with students with dyslexia, slow processing and memory difficulties, ADHD/ADD, ASD (including high-functioning autism), sensory processing disorder, PDA, those disengaged with learning, anxiety and depression, low self-esteem/confidence, and those who have English as a second language/studying abroad. My experience includes:

•  supporting students in the community
•  teaching study and executive functioning skills; – note taking, revision techniques, exam techniques, focus and concentration;
•  develop a meaningful trusting relationship – paramount to student engagement, development of independence, and key to enhancing significant progress (primary age through to 6th form/college/young adults)
• support with understanding and consolidating class notes, in addition to support with organisation and homework completion
•  Providing therapeutic mentoring, counselling-like support
• supporting with emotional dysregulation
•  providing fun sessions to help students engage in learning;
• devising bespoke visual timetables to support revision and independent study/work completion- enabling structure, routine and develop of independence skills
• Support to troubleshoot issues, providing an external neutral/non-biased perspective to help reduce anxiety
• sustained attention strategies
• personalised social stories to help them understand social/behaviour/communication/peer group difficulties.
  set clear expectations/realistic goals, maintain respectful boundaries. I will hold students accountable, encouraging them to take responsibility over their learning (in particular for teenagers and young adults)
• differentiated and appropriate scaffolding e.g. writing frames, sentence starters, prompts (visual and verbal), additional links to read.
• revision and organisational skills: time/workload management
•  motivational coaching to increase confidence, self-esteem and work out-put
• past paper exam questions (if working towards an exam) alongside mark schemes
• identify strengths and find examples, lots of praise and encouragement, positive reinforcement and positive affirmations to reset a positive mindset
• ability to use a clock/diary effectively
• coaching and role play to help the development of positive peer relationships
• exam stress-management
• going through work completed in class to embed learning and clarifying misunderstandings
• developing working memory (repetition, auditory and visual recall, use of colour and bold headings, spacing of work)
• support to help develop social skills, so that children may devise healthy meaningful friendships

My specialist experience teaching pupils using sensory/play activities for primary – KS1: Many students, in particular children at primary age, or older students (who are functioning at primary level), learn through play. They often need to have all senses stimulated in order to engage. There is often need to be very creative and playful in approach, incorporating interests, drama, role play to engage the children. Where possible, it is good to get the children moving around (standing and sitting) to develop both fine and gross motor skills, asking lots of questions and discussing what something might look like/how it feels is another way for them to learn as they play with various sensory objects. Modelling behaviour will be key.

My specialist experience teaching students with ADHD/ADD; I thoroughly enjoy supporting students with ADHD/ADD. I understand challenges with organisation, executive-functioning, time-management, transferring their thoughts onto paper, emotional regulation, focus and concentration. I have supported children in academic and non-academic settings and have a vast tool bank to enhance their productivity.

My experience working as a specialist mentor to help with transitions: I have supported many students with transitions: from an alternative provision, within the community, between activities, from specialist schools and other transitions. I understand that support needs to be gradual and building a rapport is key. Young people need to feel safe and reassured. Working closely with families, schools, and other working professionals will be key to ensuring that any transition is smooth and successful. I have also supported with the completion of EHCPs, contributed within annual reviews, made referrals to their special services, and supported students with EOTAS packages.

Working with families: I have ample experience working closely with families; as a SENDCo, 1:1 tutor, mentor/coach, nanny. I am flexible and able to easily adapt to the family’s needs. I use my initiative well and am a quick thinker/problem solver. I am committed and innovative in supporting the understanding of your child’s difficulties, suggesting and implementing constructive marginal changes to support.

Specialist experience teaching English, including phonics reading and writing – I am a qualified English teacher, who also completed further training within Primary phonics. This training was imperative in understanding the literacy fundamental skills learnt in Primary to enable students to access the curriculum in KS3 and 4. I am able to amend resources to the correct level, use synonyms and real life examples and imagery to aid comprehension, breaking down tasks into smaller more manageable chunks, and provide support with helping students to transfer their thoughts onto paper, expand upon their answers, and work within timed constraints. Well skilled in improving GCSE English grades.