Emma

SEN-specialist 121 tutor with over 20 years experience, with enhanced DBS, Safeguarding qualification, full UK driving licence, and a proven track record of student success.

Hello, my name is Emma and I am a 42 year old native English - speaking woman based in Salford, UK. I am a fully qualified teacher (PGCE) and Level 3 SEN Teaching Assistant. I have an enhanced DBS on the update system and have my certificate in advanced safeguarding. I have a BA (Hons) and Masters in Media Productions, and a Level 3 in Special Educational Needs Teaching.

I am Autistic and have a 13 year old Autistic son which I mention as I have experience of the UK education system as a teacher and as a parent, especially the issues SEN / SEMH students and parents face. I am extremely passionate about supporting all learners who are struggling to achieve and thrive in mainstream education.

Outside of all that, I have three cats and two dogs, I love music, TV and films (this includes all the random memes my son shows me on YouTube), gaming on my Switch, hiking, gardening, and producing my own animated video productions (as you can see with my wacky introductory video).

Tutoring Experience

I have been working in Education for 21 years in Creative Arts (with a focus on media productions and theory) and Special Educational Needs.

In these years I have worked in a wide variety of settings. These include nurseries, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities both private and mainstream, the workplace, with adults in community centres, specialist child residential care units, and specialist colleges for learners with a range of learning difficulties and needs.

In these settings, I have worked as an Apprenticeship Assessor, an Additional Learning Support Worker, a Nursery Nurse, a primary-school and a specialist college SEN TA, an SEN Adult Art Coordinator, a college Lecturer and Course Leader, a Personal Tutor, a Fuctional Skills Tutor, a Key Skills Tutor, and a university Lecturer.

This has given me a huge wealth of experience in working with learners from all walks of life and of all ages (my youngest student was 6 weeks old, and my oldest was 80!) which allowed my now-considerable teaching and tutoring practice to grow to the level it is today.

Tutoring Approach

As a teacher, my approach is one of nurturing the student. From Day 1 my focus will be on developing a good rapport with the learner, taking the time to get to know them and likewise allow them to get to know me.

Their learning experience will be more organic, with lively discussions around the topic which I enjoy relating to their own personal passions to aid their understanding. Recap is a key component to develop the linking of short-term memory to long-term thinking and memory retrieval. Multisensory learning is another that I have found works exceptionally well with SEN learners, involving multi-media sources combined with discussion and then the completion of assessed material which links to the relevant syllabus / curriculum. Sometimes, when demonstrations are required, then the I do / You do approach works well as then the learner can see how I apply the technique or theory, and oftentimes the learner themselves can talk me through it's application which reinforces the application.

When it comes to working with a learner with additional needs, this can come in the form of supporting them in completing their homework as well as developing their social, emotional and mental health resilience. Building their confidence in their own knowledge and skills is crucial,.and I can give the learner the 121 time with the personalised strategies they need that the class teacher is unable to provide.

These are just some of the examples of approaches I have used in the past, but all my approaches can only be decided when a rapport has been established. There will be regular reviews on my approach to allow for a dialogue with the learner to customise the learning experience.