I am a Consultant Teacher in SEND for Fusion SEND Hub who are based at Talbot Specialist School. My role is to ensure that I am at the forefront of any current research in SEND and that this specialist knowledge is shared throughout the whole school community that we work with. As a consultant teacher in SEND, I have opportunities to support schools in developing the role of SENCos and Inclusion Managers with its increased responsibilities. I have helped schools to establish and embed evidence-based interventions through coordinated approaches. I have provided detailed formative and summative assessment information to meet the statutory and learning needs of pupils with SEND.
Prior to working at Fusion, I was a class teacher in a large primary school in Birmingham with a high proportion of pupils with EAL. I was lucky enough during this time to take part on the Comenius project which allowed me to visit schools in other European countries. I visited an inner city Early Years settings in a Paris suburbs and a Primary school in Italy. This experience was of particular interest to me as I was also a child with EAL when I came to live in the UK, which has given me an appreciation and understanding of the potential opportunities and challenges faced by EAL learners in this country throughout my professional career.
During my time teaching in Birmingham, I developed an interest in supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable leaners and decided to enroll in a Masters programme at Birmingham University to study Special Educational Needs. This opened up an opportunity for me to teach in an informal integrated resource and take on the role of SENDCo in a Sheffield school. I subsequently went on to work as a Learning Support teacher for the Local Authority.
It has been, and continues to be, a privileged to work with young people, their families and schools to improve outcomes for students. I am a strong advocate of developing strong partnerships with parents to achieve the best outcomes for young people.
I am committed to an outreach approach for schools, with a view to sharing my expertise and facilitating links between schools to share good practice. I am always looking to create links with and work closely with other agencies. A close collaboration with the Speech and Language service on the use of Shape Coding in a mainstream setting has enabled me to developed effective inclusive approaches for pupils across Sheffield.
I have always been passionate about working with pupils in the Early Years and I have regularly delivery training and supported schools across Sheffield in my role as a Fischer Family Trust Early literacy trainer. My knowledge of the theory and approaches advocated in FFT provide a strong basis in my advice for the provision of individual pupils and when coaching teaching staff.
Dyslexia has always been a personal and professional interest of mine, which I studied at Master’s level. This aspect of SEND has played a significant part in my work over the years when working with schools. I am continually seeking innovative approaches to raise teaching staffs’ awareness of the strengths of the dyslexic learner and to improve support for them at Quality First Teaching and for individuals.