Education consultant with a specialism in metacognitive learning and SEND

Moving my family back to the UK, using my time and energy to help them adjust to the cultural change, sorting out a home for them to live in and settling the children into university and 6th form. (Also doing a little bit of study skills tutoring and working in the local tourism sector while I'm at it.)

Using my teaching skills, qualifications and experience, alongside my IT skill base, I worked to build up a Support for Learning Dept from scratch, initially with one colleague (the existing SENDCo) and later taking a senior role within the team as it grew. My role involved teaching and mentoring students, with both diagnosed and undiagnosed learning needs, helping them to navigate the challenging world of high school. My approach was to help them (and all key stakeholders in their… Show more Using my teaching skills, qualifications and experience, alongside my IT skill base, I worked to build up a Support for Learning Dept from scratch, initially with one colleague (the existing SENDCo) and later taking a senior role within the team as it grew. My role involved teaching and mentoring students, with both diagnosed and undiagnosed learning needs, helping them to navigate the challenging world of high school. My approach was to help them (and all key stakeholders in their education) to understand the student as an individual learner, so that they were able to begin to take control of their own learning. I used my experience of the individual student in front of me, combining this with my background in database development, as well as my role as assessment coordinator and took a data-driven approach to understanding each learner, working to build a full strength and weakness profile of each individual. Using this, I developed a specific, strength-based approach to their indivdiualised development. Repeatedly, the self-knowledge and understanding gained, along with the experience of success, was a recipe for the development of greater self-confidence and self-belief, which in turn helped propel students on to even greater success.I had a particular focus on working with students with ASC in mainstream schools (the topic of my MEd(SEND) research, because of the a-particular challenges they face in the mainstream school environment and their significant need for support. However the approach was also expanded to work with all students in the main cohort - thus breaking down stigma and barriers sometimes associated with SEN. Support for Learning for All Students - acknowledging that we all learn differently and that the nature of help and support we each need varies to achieve our individual goals. Show less

Voluntary role

This was a 5 month temporary contract.