I offer a range of services aimed at helping children (between the age of 3-16yrs) experiencing difficulties at school. The main thrust of the work is to establish the youngster's learning profile in order to optimise the teaching style for that youngster and any parental support required.
I work with children of all abilities from the less able to the exceptionally able, including:
- Gifted children
- Children showing slow general progress in class
- Those experiencing difficulties with specific skills like reading, writing or arithmetic
- Children with special educational needs such as those with sensory, physical or speech impairments
- Those that are in emotional or behavioural trouble.
I support adults in a parenting role who are stressed and anxious because of their child's difficulties either at school andlor at home.
I support teacher's in helping them to be aware of their teaching style and how it supports a particular child with their own learning style. I am ready to listen/offer advice when it is asked
for, and support the teacher in their classroom management.
The specific services include literacy and numeracy advice, (together with other curriculum
enquiries); brief therapy solutions for emotional and behavioural difficulties (at home or at school), developing and promoting self-esteem in various aspects of their life, monitoring and follow-up for your particular child. Staff in-service training and peer group work for youngsters
can also be arranged.
To carry out an assessment I collect information from recent school reports, discussions with staff and parents and information about the child in different contexts (sometimes observations in class or playgrounds are helpful). During the individual assessment with the child, I carry out a combination of informal tasks and discussions as to their social experiences and curriculum evaluations together with standardised assessment tools drawn from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale appropriate to the youngster's age; (WISC-V (UK) or WPPSI-II) and other standardised tools I deem appropriate to the task. I ensure the youngster has a positive experience with me and goes away with a sense of achievement.
The format of a school held assessment usually consists of a classroom observation (20 minutes), followed by approximately two hours minimum, working individually with the child. There will be a break, when I may be able to talk to relevant staff. The assessment is followed by a parent andlor staff consultation for approximately one hour. The format of a home assessment is to work for two hours minimum with the childlyoung person and then they can be taken back to school (whilst I score up) and then we have the parent consultation.