Lesley

My books are now open for new students after the GCSE Exams (18th June 2024).

I am a highly experienced and dedicated SEND Teacher with over 10 years experience working across Primary and Secondary; First, Middle and High schools, SEND settings, alternative provisions, hospitals, home education and online learning providers, teaching English, Maths and Sciences.
I also have extensive experience in teaching students from countries such as China, Korea and Libya who have English as a second language.

Tutoring Experience

My Current Role:

I am a Specialist Intervention Tutor working with children ranging in age from 11 to 19 years with many different learning needs. Within my role as Specialist Intervention Tutor I provide English lessons to a wide range of students with complex needs.

I have proven success in raising achievements by delivering one-to-one, GCSE Maths, English and all three Sciences. All lessons are planned and personalised to each pupil's individual learning needs, outside of the traditional mainstream classroom setting. The learners I currently work with are classed as having complex needs, for example Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Anxiety, Emotional and Social needs, attachment disorders, ASD, ADHD, MLD, ODD, GDD, ESL.

I am a highly experienced and professional tutor who has done a lot of work both privately for parents/carers and within the public education system. I also work with local councils to provide support to home educated students.

I work with a lot of families who have English as a second language, helping both child and adult learners to develop their English Language reading, writing and comprehension skills.

I teach learners of all abilities and do my best to help each individual achieve personal their goals.

Tutoring Experience
I love to teach learners of all abilities from 4 years of age upwards, both in person and using video calling platforms. Using video platforms enables me to teach across the UK and even across the world. I currently have a small number of learners who are learning outside of the UK and am hoping to expand this in the future.

I am a highly qualified and experienced Teacher who enjoys helping children of all ages and abilities to achieve their full potential. Everyone has their own personal goals, our idea of success can look very different. I tailor all of my teaching to reflect the individual goals of my students.

I currently offer lessons in the following subjects:
English Language
English Literature
ESL - English as a second language
Maths
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Criminology
Sociology
Psychology

I have spent many years studying ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, ASD, ODD, GDD and many more areas of SEND and to be able to support the learning and development of my students. I have worked in many SEND and mainstream settings as both a teacher and tutor; privately and contracted by local authorities for children unable to access the main school environment. I tailor support for children with additional needs above and beyond those that can be supported in a mainstream classroom setting. I take part in lots of professional development training to ensure my teaching skills are modern and relevant.

SUBJECT EXPERIENCE:
Maths:
I have taught mathematics to learners between the ages of 5 and 25 (Early Years, SATs, KS3, GCSE and Functional Skills) both in classroom and private settings since 2012. I have experience in teaching the IGCSE syllabus as well as both Pearson Edexcel and AQA GCSE syllabuses. I always try to make maths fun and hands-on, thus reducing learner anxiety and uncertainty. I endeavour to build learner confidence in their own mathematical decision making. I want them to feel confident in not just answering questions but in setting questions themselves. Setting questions requires a higher mastery skills set. When learners are able to effectively set maths questions, they demonstrate a greater level of understanding for that particular topic of focus, this sets them up for the future and helps them to develop a better understanding of exam questions. I have taught GCSE maths for many years and always use material taken from exams alongside my own questions to help learners feel confident in answering a wide range of questions. Using past exam materials helps students to understand how questions will be worded and set out in their real exams. It also helps to familiarise them with the structure, thus reducing anxiety when it comes to real exams.

English and ESL:
I have insurmountable experience in teaching English. I have taught English to a wide range of learners from 4 years upwards, within classroom, intervention, home education, 1-to-1 and group setting; online and face to face. I have taught from Phonics, through to GCSE Lit and Lang and Alevel English Literature. Many of my current learners have English as a second language. I have experience in teaching the Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel IGCSE and GCSE syllabus as well as the AQA GCSE syllabus for both Language and Literature.
I spent the entirety of last summer intensively teaching English language skills to Korean students ranging from 2 to 15 years of age.

Sciences:
I currently teach Pearson Edexcel IGCSE/GCSE Biology, Chemistry and Physics and both Trilogy and Triple AQA GCSE Biology, Chemistry and Physics; both online and face to face. I have extensive experience in teaching sciences and marking I/GCSE science exam papers. I enjoy exploring the wider world of science with pre-GCSE students to help them to make sense of everything around them. I regularly set safe home science experiments for students to carry out as homework and appreciate parents/carers being supportive of this learning especially when they find sealed bags of mouldy bread in random locations or concoctions of crystals on window ledges. Please be aware that any experiments set as homework will not be harmful however, they could be messy.

Social Sciences:
As a devoted Social Scientist myself, I would like to expand more on my teaching of GCSE and ALevel Criminology, Sociology and Psychology. I have 3 years experience in teaching the social sciences as well as a 2:1 BSc Hons Sociology and Criminology and a Masters in Criminology that is almost finished!
Social sciences help us as humans, to try and make sense of ourselves and those who surround us in society. For the last three years I have been teaching ALevel Psychology to my own daughter as well as studying for my MA in Criminology. This has reawakened my passion for the social sciences. Last academic year, I also taught ALevel Sociology to a small number of adult learners. I strive to help learners to understand exam techniques and what exam questions are asking of them so that they can achieve the results that they deserve.

Additional qualifications and training:
Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders level 2
Planning Lessons for Children with SEN
Making Sense of Autism level 1
Keeping Children Safe in Education
Safeguarding children in education
Delivering Phonics to SEN
In-house sign language training
Dyslexia Training

Tutoring Approach

I take a student-centred approach to all of my teaching. Every lesson is tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual that I teach. No two lessons will be the same.