What Services Do I PROVIDE?
Services to schools
Training
Contact me for my 'Training Offer' to schools. There are a suite of 'I Can't ….Yet!' training designed specifically for staff meetings in schools. These are approximately 1 hour in length and are created for teachers and Learning Support Assistants.
In addition there is:
- whole school training around 'Writing' - 1 day
- LSA specific training for supporting either reading writing or maths (1 hour sessions)
- a set of 'interventions' training based on research/evidence based strategies (1 hour sessions).
Contact me for more details about the training I offer or to discuss bespoke training needs.
Consultancy
I can provide specialist advice and support for pupils you have concerns for their learning and access to the curriculum.
Visits can be:
Whole day £375
Half Day- £200
A visit could include: individual pupil work, staff clinic/consultations about pupils through discussion and scrutiny of pupil’s work, staff training/coaching around SEND, SENCo support. Visits include a written summary/report with recommendations and advice included.
- Individual pupil work: This would involve; observation of the pupil in the class to see their learning behaviours, scrutiny of their work- looking for strengths and weaknesses, discussion with staff and possibly parents, work with the pupil – involving formal and informal assessment.
- Consultation Clinic: This would involve a meeting with the class teacher to discuss a pupil and looking that their work (20-30 minutes per pupil). Strategies to support are suggested, modelled during the session.
- Training: teacher and LSA training – see separate training offer.
- Coaching: this would follow training in a particular intervention/approach to ensure the staff member is effectively delivering the support. The staff member working with a pupil would be observed and advice to tweak practice given as immediate feedback.
- Support for the SENCo with provision mapping, SEND Policy and Paperwork.
Services to parents
Supporting Empowering Parents - Literacy
Are you concerned about your child’s reading or writing – including handwriting and spelling?
The research, see below, shows strongly that little and often in both teaching and supporting reading is the way to go! 10 -15 minutes daily has more impact for your child than a block once a week. If a child is finding reading or writing tricky, they will most likely have some memory difficulties so a weekly session will not have the impact you are looking for.
So…who is best placed to support your child with their literacy? That’s right…YOU! You are the person who has daily contact with your child. You are the person who can affect that positive change for your child.
BUT – just like professionals in schools, you will only be able to accelerate your child’s reading if you are properly trained.
I can help! I provide a package of assessment, training and coaching to empower you to support your own child with their reading.
The package includes:
· Assessment of your child’s literacy
· A report including a programme for daily support of 15 minutes using an evidence-based strategy tailored to specifically target the areas of weakness in reading that your child is experiencing. This is not a ‘one size fits all’ programme. Rather, I will look at your child’s needs and choose from many of the recommended interventions available that I have used and have recommend to schools for the last 17 years.
· Training from myself on how to deliver the personalised programme for your child.
· Then three subsequent coaching sessions (at approx., 1 week, 3 weeks and 6 weeks after training). This involves me returning to your home, to watch you in a session with your child. This is so important as fidelity to any intervention is what makes it effective. We need to make sure you are delivering it correctly to ensure maximum impact. The coaching can help you tweak the sessions to ensure this takes place and will further your understanding of how to best support your child.
Contact me to arrange your package of support for your child.
Cost £350.
The research
The frequency of teaching inputs is important to educational success. Scammacca et al. (2007) argue for daily or near daily teaching sessions. Solity and his colleagues argued that practice of new skills should be distributed over time rather than massed into a particular time (Solity et al., 2000). Therefore, daily practice of 10 minutes (practice distributed throughout the week) is more effective than one hour of practice delivered in a block (massed). Vaughn et al (2012) suggest that ‘shorter-duration interventions, several times a day, can better capitalize on young students’ attention and interest’. Rose (2009) also supports the concept of ‘little and often’ (p14) and this is further supported by Education Endowment Foundation (2016 & 2017) who note that intervention sessions should be brief and regular and should be maintained over 6 to 12 weeks. Gersten et al (2009) give a more nuanced account, suggesting those at Tier 2 level of intervention (literacy difficulties that require some support) receive tuition three to five times per week, for 20 to 40 minutes, while those at Tier 3 level of intervention (entrenched difficulties, which have not responded to Tier 2 interventions) receive intensive instruction on a daily basis.
References
Education Endowment Foundation. (2016). Improving Literacy in Key Stage One. London: Education Endowment Foundation.
Education Endowment Foundation. (2017). Improving Literacy in Key Stage Two. Guidance Report. London: Education Endowment Foundation.
Gersten, R., Compton, D., Connor, C.M., Dimino, J., Santoro, L., Linan-Thompson, S., and Tilly, W.D. (2008). Assisting student’s struggling with reading: Response to Intervention and multi-tier intervention for reading in the primary grades. A practice guide. (NCEE 2009-4045). Washington, DC: National Centre for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education.
Rose, J. (2009). Identifying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties. Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Nottingham.
Scammacca, N., Vaughn, S. Roberts, G., Wanzek, J. and Torgesen, J. K. (2007). Extensive reading interventions in grades K-3: From research to practice. Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation, Centre on Instruction.
Solity, J., Deavers, R., Kerfoot, S., Crane, G. & Cannon, K. (2000). The Early Reading Research: the impact of instructional psychology, Educational Psychology in Practice, 16, 2, 109-129.
Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J. and Murray, C. (2012). Intensive Interventions for Students Struggling in Reading and Mathematics. A Practice Guide. Centre of Instruction. RMC Research Corporation in partnership with Florida Center for Reading research. .
Full Diagnostic Assessment (Dyslexia)
Some parents want to find out more about their child's specific literacy difficulties. This can lead to them commissioning a Full Diagnostic Assessment- the outcome of which may be a diagnosis of Dyslexia. This assessment is in line with SASC Guidelines. As a member of the PATOSS (Professional Association of Teachers Of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties) and holding their Assessing Practising Certificate, I am able to carry out this work.
It involves:
- questionnaires for the family and school about the pupil/student
- an assessment of aspects of the pupil/students learning - including phonological awareness, processing and memory
- a thorough report with recommendations
- a meeting subsequently with the parents school to share the report and answer any questions. I will not be prepared to undertake an assessment unless the parents and school are in agreement with this meeting.
For me it is all about working together in the interests of your child.
Cost £450
Do contact me for a free no obligation discussion.
Dyslexia
Does my child need an assessment?
If your child is struggling with aspects of literacy, like reading and writing, then early identification can often be the first step to understanding the obstacles that are getting in the way of their progress. It can be the key to unlocking their talents and self-belief. However, a full diagnostic assessment is not the first resort - talk to your child's school -they will be able to guide and support you in deciding if a full assessment is necessary.
Why decide on a Full Assessment?
There is an ongoing debate as to what exactly 'dyslexia' is- it is classed as a disability but is non-medical. a better name for it is perhaps, 'a severe and persistent difficulty at the word level'- but this does not really roll off the tongue and does not describe all of the issues a person experiencing difficulties will be encountering.
The assessment is not a ‘test’ that give a yes/no answer; it is focused on understanding your child as an individual and on finding a positive way forward. The reports aim to be helpful, clear, and easy to read and understand. It contains recommendations on how best your child learns. All of my assessments are followed up by practical advice, in a written report shared at a meeting.
On some occasions it is not possible to offer a clear-cut diagnosis of dyslexia. In such circumstances, a comprehensive description of the profile, including strengths and weaknesses will be given. If necessary, recommendations to other professionals, such as a speech and language therapist or occupational therapist will be included.
What is the benefit of an assessment?
Parents want to understand what is happening for their child and what the barriers might be for progress. All want recommendations for how they and their child's school can help. A diagnosis can be useful for exam arrangements at GCSE level if the child is in Key Stage 3/4/5. Rarely is an assessment carried out just because a family are looking for a label. It is important to note that diagnosis or not - an assessment does not guarantee extra support in school for your child but it may help staff understand their needs more fully.
Services to Adults
Dyslexic Adult Tutoring
I tutor students who are in receipt of Disability Student Allowance - to help them with their studies. It is fascinating to see how adults with specific literacy difficulties learn. It is my role to exploit their strengths and build on these and also to scaffold the areas of their course they need help with - this could be organising - planning of assignments, grammar and punctuating when writing and the mire that is referencing!