How do I work?

I follow these steps:

* An initial conversation with the parent/carer either by phone or in person.

* I read as much as I can about the learner: if you can provide copies of your child's school report and/or diagnostic reports, that is very helpful.

* I then meet the learner and we have a 90-minute opening session together. This provides me with an opportunity to get to know them a little and carry out some informal assessment activities. The learner also gets to meet me!

* I spend time analysing all of the above and then I put together a personalised learning plan for the learner.

* From this plan, I select 5 or 6 targets to work on.

* Each target is tackled every week in our session, with a range of multisensory activities used as learning tools.

* After 6 weeks, I review progress and feedback to the child and parent/carer.

Areas of learning that are covered in our sessions

Reading

Writing

Reading accuracy: high frequency words, phonic patterns such as long vowel sounds.

Reading for meaning: how to tackle a reading comprehension; how to infer meaning.

Building a sentence; choosing the right word; grammar and punctuation; handwriting; planning and organising longer pieces of writing; writing for different purposes and audiences;

Phonological awareness

Spelling

Knowledge of letter strings and patterns,

homophones, word

families; identifying prefix-root-suffix;

commonly confused words.

Identifying individual sounds in words;

matching rhyming words; blending and segmenting sounds.

Other areas of focus:

-Concentration and focus

-Memory

-Processing

-Numeracy

-Study skills

-Executive function skills

Support for secondary students

I offer sessions for secondary-aged students, focusing on these areas:

Study Skills
* Active reading strategies
* What kind of learner am I and how do I learn best?
* Revision techniques
* How to approach exams
* Getting organized with my studying
* How can technology help me?

English Language GCSE:
Exploring Language techniques:
* What are they?
* How do I write about their effect?

What is Structure?
* How do I identify structural elements in a text?
* How do I begin to write about structure?

English Language GCSE:
Writing for different purposes
* How to plan a piece of writing.
* How to organize my ideas clearly.
* How to include effective vocabulary and grammatical choices.