Teacher with over 30 years' primary, secondary and special needs experience, available to teach Maths up to GCSE Foundation and Functional Skills Level 2

Originally primary trained, I taught English in secondary schools in Leicester and Cardiff whilst maintaining my early literacy and numeracy teaching skills through private tutoring.

Moving to Scotland in 1992 I child-minded for 8 years whilst my boys were young, providing a flexible childcare service for both pre-school and school aged children, including one child with Dyspraxia, Aspergers Syndrome and Sensory Integration Dysfunction Syndrome, one child with general Development Delay and symptoms synonymous with autism, two with Dyslexia and two others with ADHD.

Returning to teaching in 2001, I worked as an additional Support for Learning teacher in secondary and primary schools enabling children and young people to achieve regardless of any differences in the way they learn or of any social, emotional, cognitive, environmental or physical issues that can make learning more difficult. I have always firmly believed that there is a key to unlock each and every child`s potential and that as an educator it is part of my role to find that key. Questions that I always ask myself are: ‘What is the barrier to this child learning this skill or knowledge? What can I do to modify my teaching to remove that barrier?’ and in order to extend learning: ‘How do I increase this child’s learning capability? How do I enable them to develop and extend thinking skills that in turn perpetuates learning? How do I encourage learning without limits?’

I have also considerable experience in Pastoral Support and Guidance, and have embedded the counselling principles of empathy, respect and genuineness within educational mentoring practice. Using person centred planning tools, I have worked with young people to enable them to recognise dreams, ambitions and possible pathways.

For 4 and a half years, I managed the Additional Support for Learning provision in a large secondary school and 10 feeder primary schools, promoting inclusive practice that recognises differences rather than difficulties, seeks to overcome the barriers to learning created by low expectations, learned helplessness and stigmatisation, and strives to raise the attainment for all through the steps required to support the few.

Leaving Scotland for Kent, I spent a year as SENCO in a private special school before focusing on 1:1 tutoring for private clients and pupils from the Care support services.