Leila A

• About Me, My Expertise, Qualifications, and SEND Experience

I am a passionate Special Needs Primary Teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience in both mainstream and specialist settings. I have taught a range of learners with Autism, PDA, ADHD, ODD, SEMH needs, and Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN), MLd and PMLd. 

I have worked collaboratively with a range of therapists (including Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Play Therapists, Hearing and Visual Teams, Educational Psychologists and nurses) for many years, learning and developing strategies that have shaped my overall practise.

I have formerly led in Maths, PSHE, Parent Partnership, been Head of Base and Assistant Head at a Specialist ASD Primary School.

Having previously led parent networking and modernised home-school communication, I foster strong, trusted relationships with families and work hard to maintain such relationships. 

• How I Teach Students with SEND

I create personalised strategies tailored to each learner’s unique personality and learning profile. This includes centering the learning around regulation and recognition of what is needed by the body to enable learning to take place. 

My approach is holistic, centred on removing barriers and individualised mapping: 

Removing Barriers

Before academic learning can happen, the environment and emotional state must be right. I focus on identifying and addressing the specific areas that can lead to disengagement: 

• Sensory Regulation: Adjusting the delivery of a lesson to match a student’s sensory profile, whether they need high-energy movement or a low-arousal, quiet space.
• Emotional Safety: Building a relationship based on trust and validation, reducing the anxiety that often accompanies autistic learners or those with SEMH needs.
• Physical Accessibility: Ensuring tasks are presented in a way that doesn’t overwhelm fine motor skills or executive functioning. 

Individualised Mapping

I don’t just teach subjects; I work toward the bigger picture. I create and implement Personalised Learning Intervention Maps (PLIMs). This ensures: 

• Active EHCP Outcomes: Long-term goals from Education, Health, and Care Plans are integrated into every Maths or English task we do.
• Measurable Progress: By breaking down daunting EHCP targets into SMART targets, I help students see their own progress, which builds the self-esteem necessary for academic risk-taking.
• Integrated Therapy: My experience collaborating with Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Play Therapists allows me to embed their specific recommendations into our sessions, reinforcing their work through natural, academic play. 

• How I Teach Maths

I utilise evidence-based strategies to make mathematics accessible and meaningful such as using concrete materials to embed concepts. For example, using real plates, cups and food with teddies when teaching sharing, or using Numicon or Diennes equipment to help children see how numbers can be broken down. I connect maths to real-life scenarios, such as ‘shopping’ to teach money and practical tasks such as designing a room to teach measurement.

• How I Teach English

I embed communication targets into English sequences, ensuring language development happens naturally. I use symbols and other AAC to help learners express their ideas without being hindered by the physical act of writing. I engage learners through multi-sensory storytelling to improve comprehension and engagement. I work with learners’ interests to build learning around texts or subjects that they are curious about. 

• How I help students communicate

I ensure learners have access to their preferred AAC where necessary and work with them to model and progress their communication skills via a total communication approach, allowing for gestures, symbols, objects of reference, and specific communication books to be used. 

I read the non verbal cues I get from learners and work carefully to read specific learnt cues from the learner. 

I model speaking my anxieties aloud and in time, develop a trusting environment where the learner begins to feel comfortable to express their feelings and thoughts in appropriate ways. 

• How I help students engage with learning

I plan sessions around key motivators I know the learner has responded well to historically. I adapt sessions depending on the learner’s mood and engagement level. Where appropriate, I work with the learner to review targets and create next steps to continue to work towards their longer term outcomes. 

• How I help students with focus, attention, and emotional regulation

Regulation is the foundation for all academic learning. I co-regulate learners, providing validation of their feelings and working to further understand their emotions, energy levels and strategies to regulate. I encourage learners to use tools they may have already identified as supporting them with focusing or calming. I offer suggestions of other tools that could be tried, and model taking breaks, using breathing techniques or selecting a sensory toy to support regulation. I use Zones of Regulations to help students identify their feelings, categorising them into energy levels and developing strategies to help them regulate in each zone.

• About Me, My Expertise, Qualifications, and SEND Experience

I am a passionate Special Needs Primary Teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience in both mainstream and specialist settings. I have taught a range of learners with Autism, PDA, ADHD, ODD, SEMH needs, and Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN), MLd and PMLd. 

I have worked collaboratively with a range of therapists (including Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Play Therapists, Hearing and Visual Teams, Educational Psychologists and nurses) for many years, learning and developing strategies that have shaped my overall practise.

I have formerly led in Maths, PSHE, Parent Partnership, been Head of Base and Assistant Head at a Specialist ASD Primary School.

Having previously led parent networking and modernised home-school communication, I foster strong, trusted relationships with families and work hard to maintain such relationships. 

• How I Teach Students with SEND

I create personalised strategies tailored to each learner’s unique personality and learning profile. This includes centering the learning around regulation and recognition of what is needed by the body to enable learning to take place. 

My approach is holistic, centred on removing barriers and individualised mapping: 

Removing Barriers

Before academic learning can happen, the environment and emotional state must be right. I focus on identifying and addressing the specific areas that can lead to disengagement: 

• Sensory Regulation: Adjusting the delivery of a lesson to match a student’s sensory profile, whether they need high-energy movement or a low-arousal, quiet space.
• Emotional Safety: Building a relationship based on trust and validation, reducing the anxiety that often accompanies autistic learners or those with SEMH needs.
• Physical Accessibility: Ensuring tasks are presented in a way that doesn’t overwhelm fine motor skills or executive functioning. 

Individualised Mapping

I don’t just teach subjects; I work toward the bigger picture. I create and implement Personalised Learning Intervention Maps (PLIMs). This ensures: 

• Active EHCP Outcomes: Long-term goals from Education, Health, and Care Plans are integrated into every Maths or English task we do.
• Measurable Progress: By breaking down daunting EHCP targets into SMART targets, I help students see their own progress, which builds the self-esteem necessary for academic risk-taking.
• Integrated Therapy: My experience collaborating with Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Play Therapists allows me to embed their specific recommendations into our sessions, reinforcing their work through natural, academic play. 

• How I Teach Maths

I utilise evidence-based strategies to make mathematics accessible and meaningful such as using concrete materials to embed concepts. For example, using real plates, cups and food with teddies when teaching sharing, or using Numicon or Diennes equipment to help children see how numbers can be broken down. I connect maths to real-life scenarios, such as ‘shopping’ to teach money and practical tasks such as designing a room to teach measurement.

• How I Teach English

I embed communication targets into English sequences, ensuring language development happens naturally. I use symbols and other AAC to help learners express their ideas without being hindered by the physical act of writing. I engage learners through multi-sensory storytelling to improve comprehension and engagement. I work with learners’ interests to build learning around texts or subjects that they are curious about. 

• How I help students communicate

I ensure learners have access to their preferred AAC where necessary and work with them to model and progress their communication skills via a total communication approach, allowing for gestures, symbols, objects of reference, and specific communication books to be used. 

I read the non verbal cues I get from learners and work carefully to read specific learnt cues from the learner. 

I model speaking my anxieties aloud and in time, develop a trusting environment where the learner begins to feel comfortable to express their feelings and thoughts in appropriate ways. 

• How I help students engage with learning

I plan sessions around key motivators I know the learner has responded well to historically. I adapt sessions depending on the learner’s mood and engagement level. Where appropriate, I work with the learner to review targets and create next steps to continue to work towards their longer term outcomes. 

• How I help students with focus, attention, and emotional regulation

Regulation is the foundation for all academic learning. I co-regulate learners, providing validation of their feelings and working to further understand their emotions, energy levels and strategies to regulate. I encourage learners to use tools they may have already identified as supporting them with focusing or calming. I offer suggestions of other tools that could be tried, and model taking breaks, using breathing techniques or selecting a sensory toy to support regulation. I use Zones of Regulations to help students identify their feelings, categorising them into energy levels and developing strategies to help them regulate in each zone.