Kirsten

My 17+ years of teaching has equipped me with many experiences, skills, and strategies to be able to unlock students’ potential. I resigned from my post as a member of the senior leadership team and mainstream class teacher in 2009 as I had always had an interest in working in a specialist setting. It was always the hard to reach children that had interested me and with whom I wanted to make a connection. I made it my job to make the children smile each day and have fun!

My experience includes supporting children with a range of needs including focus and concentration difficulties, dyslexia, autism, processing difficulties, SPD (sensory processing disorder), ADHD, PDA, epilepsy, anxiety disorders, speech and communication difficulties, Asperger’s Syndrome, Down's Syndrome, Dyspraxia, social and emotional issues, challenging behaviour, attachment disorder, early childhood trauma and global developmental delay.

I have extensive experience of working with children throughout the key stages. I always begin with the student's interests/ strengths and utilise games and strategies to improve focus and concentration. This includes breaking up tasks into smaller pieces and using visuals to support understanding and holding attention. I plan motivating tasks adapted to the child's learning style i.e. visual, auditory or kinaesthetic.

I place a high emphasis on parental involvement and a multi-disciplinary approach. I  work closely with families and outside agencies in order to provide the best care possible to meet the needs of the individual children.

I create fun and engaging Maths and English sessions: My natural creativity drives me to make my lessons fun, engaging and multi sensory e.g. I love to teach English/ Maths through sensory activities such as cooking. I include music, movement and ICT, where appropriate, to motivate and inspire children. The ability to adapt, be reflective and respond positively to challenges is at the heart of what I believe makes a good teacher.

Above all my sessions are fun for the learner; I support my students to foster a love for learning through engaging and stimulating lessons. Furthermore, I believe teaching should start with the child’s uniqueness and strengths, and build on these. In addition, I am a guitar teacher and I often use this skill in my sessions to teach music, arts and even maths! It helps to develop expression, creativity and pattern building.

Experience boosting students' confidence and self-esteem: I understand how crucial it is to build the self esteem of children and how with the right support, care and dedication they are able to reach their full potential. Children need a certain level of self-esteem to enable them to navigate the pressures and social complexities of the school day.

Experience supporting children with Autism: I regularly deliver Attention Autism sessions for children and I am trained in the Picture Exchange System (PECS), Colourful semantics and Makaton, which is embedded throughout my teaching to support understanding. I have had great success in fostering communication using these methods.

Providing children with a toolkit to rely on can help alleviate some anxiety. I have found through my professional and personal experience that, although it comes from a different place, children with attachment issues and children with autism can often present similarly. Learning strategies typically used for people on the autistic spectrum can also work effectively for children with attachment disorder e.g. use of visual timetables, social stories, sensory diet, zones of regulation, ‘now and next’ boards, movement breaks etc.

Every child has the right to feel safe and secure in their learning environment and this is what I strive to achieve continually as without this learning cannot take place. Each student is, of course, unique and I take time to really get to know my students. I devise a programme and deliver sessions that will help build his or her confidence and love for learning through their strengths and interests

My specialist experience working with students with ADHD: I have extensive experience in teaching children with ADHD. I have found strategies such as, planned movement breaks, breaking tasks into smaller chunks and providing visual schedules/ timers/ multi sensory activities etc to help improve focus, to be highly effective.

I don't see ADHD as a deficit but as a super power! I work with students' strengths and in my experience the children i have worked with with ADHD all have many positive traits including hyper focus, creativity, spontaneity and boundless energy!

My specialist experience working with students with Down's Syndrome: I have ongoing experience of working with children with Down's Syndrome. For me, building a rapport with students is key. I take time to really get to know the student and what they enjoy and build this into sessions. I have found the students that I work with who have Down's Syndrome to be very visual learners and so I incorporate many visuals into sessions. This includes visual timetables, social stories, numerical visual representation, cue cards etc.

I have found that often cognitive abilities are underestimated due to difficulties with expressive language. I like to incorporate lots of fun games and activities to help develop expressive language and break down any barriers to learning. Assistive technology can help with this too.

My specialist experience working with students with Dyspraxia: To set children up for success activities need to be well planned and allow for processing time. Both visual prompts and verbal instruction will support with this. Talking through an activity whilst engaging in it will support children with Dyspraxia in their planning skills. Planning and getting their ideas can be an issue for children with Dyspraxia which in turn causes anxiety and frustration for the child. I work to lessen anxiety around learning through starting with the child's interests and building self esteem through this.

My specialist experience working with students with sensory needs: I am experienced in teaching children with sensory processing issues. I incorporate a 'sensory diet' into sessions to support their learning. This may include star jumps, push ups, weighted blanket, deep pressure etc. I use these strategies on a daily basis at home with my son who experiences these issues. In my Reception class at school the children engage in a daily 'Sensory Circuit'. It is a short, sensory motor skills programme which sets children up for the day with alertness levels so that they are in the 'ready to learn' zone. This enables me to then teach the young children (aged 4 -5) literacy skills including phonics. Again I use a multi sensory approach for this e.g. forming letters in shaving foam, writing with carrots in brown sauce!

Experience supporting children with reasoning skills and processing difficulties: I have worked with older children to help develop study skills, problem solving strategies and the ability to think flexibly. I help support fluid reasoning through 'showing and telling'.

I provide a verbal explanation when presenting a new concept or activity. The visual and auditory methods provide a more dynamic learning experience helping the student to internalise the learning. I provide clear, sequential instructions with visuals to support. Fun games to help develop auditory memory, such as spotting patterns and relationships are included in sessions. I have found repetition and practice to be effective for improving this area.

Processing skills can be strengthened through a range of fun, motivating games such as 'Bop it!', Air hockey and memory pairs games, all of which I use in my sessions. Providing children with a toolkit to rely on can help alleviate some anxiety around classroom pressures.

My specialist experience working with students with attachment issues: I have a wealth of experience in working with children with attachment disorder and its associated issues, both personally and professionally. I have had intensive training in this area via Coram BAAF and I utilise the skills and expertise on a daily basis.

In addition to supporting my own children with attachment issues, I also tutored a boy on a 1:1 basis with attachment disorder diagnosis via an outreach service. I understand the importance of preparation, predictability, stability, boundaries and raising self esteem through a therapeutic approach for young people who have had a difficult start to life and experienced moves in their early years.

Collaborative working: Whilst going though the adoption process and later on when my son started school, it was necessary to work alongside social workers, speech and language therapists, play therapists, post adoption support team and closely with the SENDCO to ensure the best support for my son. As well as working in schools for the past 15+ years I have also had experience as an Outreach support worker for children who struggle to get into school. I believe in creating win-win situations both professionally and at home with my own children. I maintain a positive behaviour approach built on praise, raising self esteem, modelling and coaching.

PSHE and Citizenship are a particular interest of mine as it helps children and young people develop the knowledge and skills to be able to stay safe and make healthy decisions.

Developing empathy, resilience and confidence are vital in order to face challenges and responsibilities. This is particularly prevalent for students with autism as these skills may need to be taught explicitly.