Laura

Experience working with children with dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADD and ADHD; I hold an OCR Level 5 qualification in teaching learners with SpLD (dyslexia) . In my most recent role I have been supporting children in a prep school who are either dyslexic or who have fallen behind in their school work. I prepare and plan a multi-sensory series of work in phonics, reading, writing and maths for these children in order for them to catch up with their peers and boast their confidence in the classroom as well as preparing them for 7+ and 11+ exams.I also have experience teaching children with ADHD and attention difficulties. I will be able to keep your children focused and engaged by using timers, a variety of different activities and ‘brain breaks’.

My experience teaching across the Primary curriculum, home-school learning and catch up learning plans; I am a qualified Primary school teacher and have taught across EYFS, Key stage 1 and Key stage 2. I therefore understand and am able to teach the full primary curriculum in both Maths, English and Science as well as support with homework and preparation for new terms. I have supported a lot of children with their home-school learning homework through lockdown. I have accessed children's homework via their online platforms so I am aware what homework is coming up and can ensure they’re up to date with their homework. I can also prepare additional information incase they did not quite grasp the homework concept in class.

I have also provided home-school tuition for a number of students and I am experienced in planning and delivering individualised home-school programmes and catch up programmes. I will target your child's specific gaps in knowledge and tailor a unique learning plan that covers these gaps to ensure your child is up to date and ready to start a new year group.

Throughout Covid-19 I have taught a number of children online and the transition to online learning has been a great success; lessons are interactive and engaging.

My skills and experience teaching children with memory and processing challenges; I teach in a cumulative way at a child’s own pace, slowly building on their skills whilst always recapping and repeating previous skills taught. I chunk information into small bites to ensure children process information a step at a time. I ask children to explain how to do something as this involves making sense of information and mentally filing it. In addition, I use lots of visual examples and teach in a multi- sensory way to help make connections and improve memory of certain topics. For example, the use of mnemonics for spelling. I also love to play memory games to enhance a child’s ability to memorise such as matching games.

My skills and experience teaching students who struggle with reading comprehension; I specialise in teaching phonics and reading and have implemented whole school phonics and comprehension interventions. I will be able to pin point what your child is struggling with and teach a variety of different skills to boost their comprehension. We will learn how to read, visualise and understand the bigger picture in a story. We will look in-depth at reading skills such as retrieving/recalling, summarising, inference, predicting and vocabulary. As well as reading texts we will do lots of other activities to improve comprehension skills such as ‘reading’ and deducing meaning from pictures or drawing to help visualise a story.

Skills and experience teaching English, writing and spelling; As well as being a fully qualified teacher, teaching for several years across both Key stages 1 and 2, I have alsoimplemented whole school literacy interventions addressing writing and spelling. I like to use stories about the child’s interest to spark an curiosity and generate ideas for a creative writing piece. To build up writing skill and sentence structure I use methods from talk for writing and Pie Corbett, which involves games and talking sentences before writing. I ensure that children are writing for purpose, are well supported with vocabulary and sentence starters and have clear, well-defined goals for improvement. As a dyslexia specialist I have lots of experience teach spelling. I use an approach that is individualised and cumulative and includes phonology, phonemic awareness and a multisensory approach.

My skills and experience teaching study skills including organisation;I allow children to take ownership of their own organisational processes as each child will have a different way of organising in their minds. I will facilitate this by showing several ways we can organise different aspects of our lives including organsation of personal belongings, organisation of time and studying. For example, the use of checklists, index cards that could be colour coordinated or the use of word documents and computer files. In addition, I model to children how to note-take and discuss time management skills by breaking down tasks and modelling the most important information to include, how to prioritise and how long to spend on different types of questions/activities.

My Skills and experience teaching maths; I have been recommended by other parents for the teaching of Math. Working with lots of students who struggle with Math, I have grasped a deep understanding of why children don’t understand certain concepts and how to rectify this. I work slowly, at the child’s pace, showing concepts through pictures and physical apparatus as well as a including lots of repetition of strategies and word problems. I love to teach times tables through songs and play games that consolidates learning.

Experience working with children with Autism; As well as receiving training from the National Autistic society, I have also worked with many children across the primary ages diagnosed with Autism. First and foremost, it is vital that a positive and trusting relationship is built with any child with additional needs. Each child diagnosed with ASD that I have worked with has had varied needs and their strengths and weaknesses are completely unique to them. It is therefore absolutely crucial that a child-centered approach is always taken, putting their individual interests and unique approach to learning at the heart of teaching sessions. This way they are both able to access the curriculum and develop their receptive and expressive skills in their own way. Other strategies that are often integrated into teaching include the use of Applied Behaviour Analysis, visual support (PECS), rewards and ensuring instructions are clear and concise. In my sessions I ensure that concepts are broken down into small, manageable chunks with the use of physical equipment (such as numicon) and that concepts are revisited in a fun and multi sensory way that best fits the individual child. Sessions always fun, calm and positive!

Experience working with students with sensory needs; As an SEN teacher I have worked with children with a variety of sensory needs. Each sensory need is individual to the child and there are many different strategies I have put in place to address the level of arousal and help a child reach a more optimal state to learn and perform tasks. Some of these include hand held fidgets, ear plugs, weighted vests, wiggle cushions, personal quiet spaces.

My specialist experience teaching children with speech and language difficulties;I have taught many children across EYFS, KS1 and KS2 with a variety of speech and language needs, including developmental language disorders and speech sound disorders. There are several strategies I use to help children improve their speech and language skills at a younger age. Some of these include expanding on what children say to help them build bigger sentences, commenting on what the children are doing which is a much less pressured and play based way to build on children’s speech. Modelling how to say words in sentences and using new vocabulary in a variety of different ways in different contexts is also very important. Using visual prompts and simple Makaton to express their most important needs and interact with peers is also a very effective communication strategy and builds confidence in a child. Through my degree in Linguistics and Phonetics I have also learnt many strategies to help children with speech sound disorders such as lisps; teaching children how to place their tongue in different parts of their mouth, how to position their lips and use their breath.

Establishing trusting relationships and building student’s confidence, self-esteem and independence: The key to teaching a child successfully is building a warm, caring and trusting relationship. I spend a lot of time getting to know children, understanding their likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses and ensuring we have a little fun and laughter in every session- whether that be chatting about their new puppy or playing Dobble! This allows for me to establish strong boundaries between learning time and talking time. It is also important for me to build strong relationships with parents and carers. I am always in communication with parents to understand where the child is at in our sessions, in school and at home so we can ensure their areas of need are targeted accurately. I am more than happy to give feedback and to communicate with schools and teachers. Boosting self-esteem and confidence is integral and comes as part and parcel when working with children who struggle with learning. Giving praise for even the very smallest of achievements is absolutely imperative when building confidence in a student who often thinks they're 'rubbish' at everything. I also ensure I am building on their strengths and using their strengths to help their weaknesses. Within building confidence comes building independence with greater confidence children will naturally become more independent but some children need a little extra help becoming more independent, I do this slowly using a step by step approach. For example, modelling to the child what is expected, doing the task the task together, asking the child to do part of the task independently then the full task independently. Giving praise and rewards for tasks completed independently. I have successfully been able to support progress, improve confidence and develop self-esteem whist nurturing a love for learning and having fun in the process and will be able to do so for your children.

My skills and experience working with children with attachment disorder and anxiety;I work closely with parents to learn as much as I can about a child’s anxieties so that provisions can be put in place to an ensure a calm session that does not trigger anxieties. I always endeavour to build strong trusting relationships with each child I teach; ensuring each child is provided with a calm, structured environment that they feel safe in. I make sure children feel comfortable to say or sign when they do not understand a part of learning. To provide a structured environment I maintain predictable routines and provide timetables which can be ticked off as we go through a session if this is something that will make a child feel more comfortable.

Experience building social interaction skills and helping children to understand feelings and emotions of self and others; Many children struggle with building social interaction skills and developing friendships at a young age and this is something that is taught and learnt through appropriate modelling from adults. Some children struggle more with social interactions and there are several techniques that can be put in place to help a child such as using social stories to show how certain scenarios should be handled. Modelling how to turn share, take and communicate with others, as well as using simple Makaton sign with a whole class so that children who are less able to communicate verbally can still sign with their peers, is crucial. Phrases such as ‘how are you?’ and ‘can I have that please?’ can be easily taught in Makaton and make a serious impact on their social interactions. There are several tools that can I use to help children understand their own feelings and that of others. For example, the use of a ‘coping wheel’  which is a visual tool to help children independently manage anxiety and self care. A strengths and weaknesses chart that breaks down a child’s strengths and weaknesses in a controlled way, highlighting areas for development.

Experience teaching for the 7+ and 11+ exams; I have tutored many students for the 7+ and 11+ exams. In my most recent teaching post I was as a specialist dyslexia teacher at a top London independent preparatory school. In this post I taught children who struggled with literacy and numeracy to succeed in entering and passing 11+ and 7+ exams. I have an exceptional record in supporting students with school entrance exams including: North London Collegiate School;Latymer Upper school; Francis Holland School;City of London School for Girls; Channing; Dulwich college; Highgate school; The American school; Wellington; Wetherby senior school; Harrow; Eton college; Bute House Preparatory school; Emanuel School; St Pauls; Westminster School; Westminster Under School; Kew House; Alleyn’s School.