SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS
‘Solutions to children’s learning difficulties lie with teachers who are confident that they have, or can access, the skills and expertise they need to promote children’s progress.’
Brian Lamb OBE, author of the Lamb Inquiry, Special Educational Needs and Parental Confidence 2009
Senior leaders, teachers and teaching assistants face different challenges in achieving the joint aim of meeting the needs of individual learners in the classroom and enabling academic progress.
Providing effective support for pupils who find learning difficult requires knowledge, understanding and a growth mindset.
Senior leaders need to be confident that the provision is effective and affordable. Teachers and support staff need to know how to adapt, differentiate and overcome barriers to learning. I help schools to deliver effective support to both pupils and staff.
The behaviour we see is based on a feeling and rooted in a need which is discovered by unpicking the complexity of an individual learner. This is key for both home and school, informing teaching, intervention and strategies that make a real difference.
Support and advice around learner needs:
- Learner profiling explores where difficulties lie for each unique neurodiverse being
- Understanding needs informs the setting of outcomes that build skills and enable change and progress
- Advice for onward referral is age and stage appropriate and in line with child development and the demands of the curriculum
- Parental advice is linked to school provision
- Assessment of executive functioning skills provides information of strengths and weaknesses so that essential skills, for learning and life can be built and supported
- Information to increase and inform parental engagement
Support, advice and training for staff: Not telling you what you already know, but building on your knowledge and skills.
- Learner focused advice and practical strategies, for teachers and support staff
- Aligning provision with desired outcomes
- Advice on individuals or a clinic to discuss a number of learners of concerns provides practical advice for cost effective targeted intervention
- Staff training to understand barriers to learning, how they impact on behaviour and progress and how to support them effectively
- Training to enhance existing skills and enable effective differentiation
- SENCo and SEN staff support
A bespoke service to meet needs of staff and learners.
Meeting the needs of pupils with learning difficulties is needed to enable progress and achievement in measurable ways. My approach looks beyond labels with advice and strategies based on the needs of the individual and demands of the curriculum.
Teachers and teaching assistants are the frontline, tasked with complying with the S.E.N.D. Code of Practice, 2015. But if they don’t really understand what a difficulty with learning is, how can they use their skills to adapt their teaching and make it accessible? I can help them develop an understanding of the different barriers, how to identify and support them.
Understanding learners and providing effective support increases parental engagement, especially when a learner finds things difficult.
“Kate has an understanding of potential barriers to learning unlike anyone I have met. She also knows how to use this understanding to implement ideas and strategies that help move the child on, not be used as an excuse. She communicates this in a way that is inspiring but also practical and feels achievable. The impact she has made on children, families and teachers cannot be underestimated.”
“We found her combination of hands on experience, deep knowledge of learning difficulties and knowledge of the available ‘educational support’ to be of great value in guiding our son through the emotionally difficult years of 7-10.”