Jacqueline R

I qualified as a primary school teacher in 1998. In the years that followed my dedication to first-class teaching and commitment to the best outcomes for all children resulted in promotion to school senior leadership; subject leadership for subjects including Maths, Science and Computing; and outreach work for the local authority. In the last six years, I have specialised in supporting children with Special Educational Needs and their families. I have managed a specialist preschool for children with SEN; teaching children with a wide range of needs including those with profound and multiple learning disabilities and social communication delays. In addition, I taught for a year at a specialist school as a class teacher for children with a diagnosis of Autism and associated learning difficulties.
I currently work part-time for the Local Authority, supporting young learners with additional needs and offering support and advice to their families and preschool settings.
I teach children from Early Years through to Year 6.

My approach to tutoring

Fundamental to my work as an effective teacher and tutor has been my ability to build positive, trusting relationships with the children in my care. I place children’s wellbeing at the forefront of my practice; believing wholeheartedly that each individual needs to feel safe, secure, cherished and valued to help them make personal and academic gains. With a caring and warm approach alongside a genuine interest in children’s individual strengths, needs and passions I am able to support young learners to develop self-confidence, resilience and a positive approach to learning; and make good progress. I motivate children to achieve their full potential through inspirational, multi-sensory and creative teaching and learning experiences, celebrating all small steps of success and building upon emerging skills. I have high aspirations of all children, offering gentle and timely challenges and support as appropriate. I am trained in a range of specific teaching programmes; for example the Read Write Inc. Little Wandle phonics programmes, and Picture Exchange Communication System.

How I teach children with Autism and associated learning difficulties

I have extensive experience teaching children with social communication delays and /or a diagnosis of Autism. My approach to teaching children with Autism is the same approach I take to teaching any child; to focus on strengths, interests, emerging skills and areas of need. I take my lead from the child, working in a calm and patient manner to help build trust and placing emotional well-being and regulation at the core of all interactions. Working in partnership with parents and using ongoing observations, I plan to children’s interests to promote learning across the curriculum and can adapt my teaching instantaneously to capitalise on ‘teachable moments’ in response to children’s growing skills and curiosity. I am sensitive in supporting children with sensory processing difficulties; ensuring the environment, learning activities, approaches and resources meet the needs of the child.

How I teach children in the Early Years and Key Stage 1

My teaching and leadership experience has predominantly been with children in the Early Years and Key Stage 1, including six years of teaching our youngest learners who have additional needs. I am skilled in engaging children in their learning using a play-based approach that includes planned play teaching activities alongside responding in the moment to child-led play. I have high aspirations of children and a clear understanding of a progression of skills that supports good levels of attainment across the Early Years and Key Stage 1 curriculum. I am able to scaffold learning and offer the right degree of support and appropriate challenge at the right moment. Tutoring sessions are: planned to the needs and strengths of the individual; promote positive self-image and self-confidence; and, most importantly, fun and leave children eager to learn.

How I teach communication and language skills

When working with children I adopt the total communication approach of using a range of strategies to support the development of language and communication skills. These include the use of visual supports such as visual timetables with pictorial or photo symbols; clear and simplistic language; Makaton signing alongside spoken word; and physical and gestural cues. In addition, I can use specific strategies to meet the needs of individuals such as the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Intensive Interactions, and Colourful Semantics for sentence building. I am skilled at identifying children’s key motivators for communication, such as wanting more of an activity and responding accordingly.

Attention and focus

I effectively support children to develop attention skills in both self-chosen and adult directed tasks by offering irresistible activities that capture children’s interest and curiosity. I am sensitive to how a child’s emotional well-being can impact on their readiness to learn and focus; and can vary over time. I am able to adapt learning opportunities in response, ensuring the child’s self-esteem remains the key priority. In supporting children to develop attention and focus skills, I have used strategies such as the use of the Now/Next board, the Attention Autism approach and carefully planned sensory ‘diets’.