Nicola

Before my teaching career, I was a professional dancer. The enthusiasm, commitment and dedication I required to be successful shaped my identity and it still inspires my creativity in my current role; teaching creatively and engagingly which has supported pupils’ learning in all subjects. My valuable experience has enabled me to lead afterschool activities and I am very keen to promote Performing Arts to boost children’s confidence, cultural capital and nurture any talents.

Tutoring Experience

I have worked as a qualified teacher for four years across both Key Stages. Through this broad experience, I deepened my knowledge and understanding of the curriculum and also the confidence to vary teaching methods to support all abilities and needs to promote inclusion and effective classroom environments. I began as a supply teacher in Year 1 and worked closely with the Deputy Headteacher to teach all subjects. Due to Covid-19, I had the opportunity to develop and demonstrate my adaptability and capability to work under pressure and ensure that high-quality teaching was still a priority. Then, my role as a Year 3 teacher became more focused on delivering and monitoring home learning alongside teaching keyworker children and daily check-ins with those learning at home. This enabled me to successfully identify gaps in their knowledge in both groups of learners and address this as soon as possible.
Last year, I taught Year 6 and I had to prepare them to take their SATS. I had an 85% pass in my Mathematics class.

Tutoring Approach

Currently, I am based in Year 3 where I regularly use an immerse approach to my lessons to develop children’s curiosity and intellectual development. My focus this year was to present my class with an abundance of rich opportunities to learn in a holistic way across all subjects. I am particularly proud of the impact this approach has had on not only their finished work but their willingness and enthusiasm for learning itself.

I am incredibly enthusiastic about using cross-curricular and multi-sensory approaches to help consolidate learning. I have utilised technology in many ways in my lessons and believe my skills and creativity are supported by this. Children have responded well to using technology and it has highlighted skills and interests which would be hidden if a varied approach to experiences was not used.