I have dedicated my life to educating and caring for children with additional needs. Starting out as a graduate of Music with Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy) I soon took up the PGCE at Exeter University. From here I returned to the Portsmouth area just at the time my beloved football team hit the Premiership!
Focussing on my career I found my passion for working with vulnerable pupils with a variety of SEND needs and trained as a Dyslexia Specialist Teacher. I then discovered the Every Child a Counter movement and used my dyslexia knowledge to develop a love for all things maths and Dyscalculia. After all, music is a mixture of maths and language!
Then came the opportunity for a place as a SENCo and I used my knowledge to support pupils and their families across a variety of Hampshire & Portsmouth schools.
In 2014, I branched away from the classroom and founded Hampshire Home Learning. At the same time my husband and I embarked on the journey of a lifetime training to become Adopters. This resulted in us becoming parents to three wonderful children in 2016. This experience has been the biggest learning curve of my life and one I wouldn’t change for the world.
In 2017 I joined the staff at Mayville High School as a Specialist Dyslexia and Dyscalculia teacher in their unit, all whilst keeping Hampshire Home Learning running in the local area. As you will see from my references my reputation for being a caring, thoughtful and high quality tutor kept me in demand both at school and at home whilst always prioritising my family.
I was offered the chance to become the school’s SENCo and whilst managing the Dyslexia department I also introduced the Autism Unit to Mayville High School.
Although proud of what I have achieved I knew my family needed me at home and so have returned to help with the increasing requests for specialist teaching and Dyslexia/Dyscalculia screening in Hampshire. In my times as a SENCo I found reward from supporting families to write and fight for the Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP’s) including for my own daughters.
SEND for me, is not just a job, it is a lifetime’s work as I continues to support families using the 20 plus years of experience and studies. I always seek to increase my knowledge of Neurodiversity alongside improving my knowledge and understanding of Trauma Informed Care and teaching. I am currently working towards the Dyscalculia Assessor Level 7 qualification hoping to bring full diagnostic assessments to my catalogue of services offered to children and adults in the future. I consider myself forever a lifelong learner!