Mary

I am a professional, highly qualified school educator with a committed specialism in SEN tutoring. I have sixteen years' expertise in teaching and tutoring English Language and Literature to teenagers aged 11-19, and young adults with additional needs. I am also qualified to tutor Maths to GCSE level (including English and Maths foundation GCSE), Music (piano and cello) and computer coding for KS3. I have tutored teenagers and young adults with ADHD, ADD, Autism, global development delay, dyspraxia, dyslexia, and behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. I plan carefully differentiated tutoring approaches so that that individual pupils make visible learning progress and, where appropriate and required, achieve clear passes in public exams for English and Maths. I have a 100% pass rate in GCSE English and Functional Skills English for select pupils with additional needs.

My versatility as a tutor, with a range of subject expertise incorporating music, computer coding and Maths as well as English language and Literature, ensures that I can utilise a range of multi-sensory learning approaches, to develop pupils' enjoyment and engagement in school learning, partly through developing pupils' expertise in utilising assistive technology, to maximise progress.

In terms of tutoring non-verbal pupils, I have always tailored my teaching approach specifically to fit the learning needs of the pupil, keeping in mind assessment information and discussions with parents/guardians and support professionals within education. Primarily, I have established in the initial tutoring stages how the pupil is communicating in terms of non-verbal cues and built on those cues. Different strategies which I have found successful are mirroring what the pupil is doing in terms of verbal expression during activity sessions: if the pupil is imitating a noise while playing with toys or within a game, then I can do that, too, positively. Exaggerating my own non-verbal gestures and slowing down verbal communication has been very effective, too, as has providing judicious processing time for the pupil to respond, while keeping up the pace of an activity and changing the learning focus when required. I have used visual representations/symbols to communicate with the pupil, and promote positive communication, to develop a comfortable and supportive learning space.

Pupils have developed confidence with vocabulary acquisition through word association games, and through ‘play’ approaches where new vocabulary emerges through playing fun and exciting games which reflect the child’s interests. There are many assistive technology apps which, if carefully introduced and their usage monitored, can develop engagement with words, whereby pupils can match words and images, and build their own responses, in conjunction with ‘real-world’ art from ‘making’ and ‘doing’ activities.

Ultimately, I make sessions fun and exciting for young children through a multi-sensory approach. I plan carefully to run varied activities of short duration which build a specific knowledge base, while there is the potential to change and develop these activities from the child’s perspective, and foster language development. Careful observation of an activity’s progression permits me to capitalise on the child’s enthusiasm for play and their ability to change swiftly from one activity to the other. Then, pupils have the opportunity to be creative, through changing and developing the structured series of activities in their own way, when ‘unstructured’ time is appropriate and welcomed.


I have extensive experience in developing strategies for individual pupils, which are skills adaptable to new students' particular teaching and learning phases:

- Revision strategies to improve confidence in reading and writing: scaffolding for essays; 'chunking' for reading; planning strategies; mind-mapping;
- Verbal and non-verbal prompting to develop focus and independence when approaching school curricular tasks
- Advice in using fidget toys for improved focus and memory retention;
- Social stories;
- Social communication strategies to develop confidence;
- Developing a learning routine, e.g. school timetable, to enhance confidence and independence;
- Coaching in I.T. skills for effective learning: Read and Write Gold; typing classes to improve computer keyboard use;
- Communicating with school colleagues and family;
- Strategies to improve receptive and expressive language skills;
- Time management coaching;
- Direct teaching of planning techniques for developing organisational and time management approaches;
- Tailored individual strategies for developing working memory;
- Planning educational visits and carrying out Risk Assessments.

- PGDE Secondary English;
- Masters, English Literature;
- CELTA;
- PATOSS training: morphology for teachers, to assist reading development in pupils with dyslexia;
- Makaton;
- Read Write Gold training;
- Mind mapping for exams;
- Child protection awareness in Education, NSPCC;
- I.T. for the English classroom.

1. You are looking for a professional, highly trained tutor with comprehensive SEN teaching experience for any Key stage;

2. You think that learning is most effective for the pupil when it is tailored to their interests without limiting educational progression;

3. You want a tutor who builds the pupil's self-belief and confidence in interacting with others, as part of a team with other professionals who are there to support the pupil's development;

4. You want a tutor who knows that engagement in learning stems from good communication with pupils' parents/guardians and professional support team;

5. You want a tutor who builds a positive tutoring environment through communicating positively with the pupil; a tutor who incorporates a range of communication methods into teaching sessions, with the flexibility to change and develop educational activities to maximize progress for the pupil;

6. You want a tutor who knows that 'lightbulb' moments, whereby a pupil makes a step forward in awareness of their own capabilities, might take place during many different educational activities which the pupil enjoys: when constructing clay models of characters from a favourite story, for example; observing the progress of the International Space Station on a smartphone App; when developing confidence in linguistic expression through colour-coding and 'chunking' the text of a story. I think that flexibility and creativity as regards approaches to teaching are crucial, in providing a safe space for the pupil to express their capabilities confidently, and to learn about the importance of making mistakes, and trying again, as the capstone of progress.