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Areas of learning support

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Phonics & Reading

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  • Phonics is the ‘highway code’ to teaching your child to read and spell. Regardless of the phonics programme your child follows at school, I can support them in closing gaps in phonics knowledge and teach children to blend and decode.  All children complete a national phonics reading test at the end of year 1. When children start to develop gaps in phonics learning, this can impact on their access to learning across many areas of the curriculum and they can quickly begin to fall behind without early intervention. The good news is that teaching phonics is fun! With a range of strategies and games in my armoury, I should have your child caught up and reading in no time!

    Common barriers:

    • Learning ‘gaps’/unsecure in some phonemes/GPCs

    • Retention of sounds/learning

    • Blending phonemes to read words

    • Reading Common Exception Words (CEWs)/tricky words

    • Identifying digraphs and trigraphs in words

    • Alternative pronunciations of sounds

    • Alternative spellings/graphemes of sounds

    • Reading with fluency and automaticity

    • Comprehension and inference

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Spelling

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  • Many children find spelling difficult, and why wouldn’t they? Spelling in English is massively complicated! Using diagnostic assessment tools, I can work out your child’s main barriers within spelling and identify the right strategies to support them in improving their spelling and their confidence.

    Common spelling barriers:

    • Incorrect spelling of graphemes

    • Omitting sounds in words

    • Spelling homophones

    • Spelling common Exception Words (CEWs)

    • Not applying common spelling rules/patterns

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Handwriting

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  • Handwriting can be a barrier for lots of children. Bad habits can be formed early which can make things harder to fix – but not impossible. Children need neat, legible and joined handwriting by the time they leave primary school. Practise makes perfect, but there are lots of tips and tricks (including for left handers) that I can use to support children along the way.

    Common handwriting barriers:

    • Incorrect letter formation

    • Inconsistent script in shape, size and orientation

    • Unable to write on the line

    • Incorrect pencil grip

    • Inconsistent spacing between words and letters

    • Problem letters

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Punctuation

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  • Punctuation is like music! It tells the reader how a piece of writing should be read, and children should learn how and when to control and use this tool. Yet lots of children write pages with no punctuation at all! I can support children with the necessary subject knowledge they need to apply punctuation correctly and encourage them to play with these very important and clever marks to improve their writing outcomes.

    Common barriers:

    • Insecure understanding/subject knowledge

    • Lack of awareness of punctuation in reading

    • Lack of awareness of their reader, the purpose and desired impact of their writing

    • Considering punctuation to be unimportant

    • Editing and redrafting skills

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Writing Composition, & Grammar

A woman with blonde hair and glasses helping a young man with brown hair at a desk. They are focused on a notebook, and there are papers, a book, and a computer mouse on the desk.

  • When writing has a clearly defined purpose, it becomes more meaningful and improves children’s engagement. Children can be encouraged, motivated and engaged to write through effective and creative task design. As children get older, their stamina for writing will need to increase, and they should be able to confidently apply a range of language devices for deliberate effect and impact on their reader. Being able to write well is a powerful communication tool for life. I can teach your child all the necessary skills that they need to write effectively in a range of different forms for different purposes, equipping them with tools and strategies that they can take back into the classroom with them to improve their writing outcomes.

    Common barriers:

    • Insecure sentence structure and understanding

    • Application of grammar skills

    • Lack of vocabulary

    • Lack of awareness of their reader, the purpose and desired impact of their writing

    • Insecure editing and redrafting skills

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KS3/KS4

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  • Sadly, many children start secondary with gaps in knowledge, skills and understanding in English and these learning gaps can continue to widen, resulting in students becoming increasingly disengaged because of struggling to access learning. Whatever your child’s abilities and experiences, I can help.

    Students studying for GCSE English need a strong understanding and knowledge of the set texts. They will encounter and need to learn increasingly challenging vocabulary. They will need to develop skills to deeply analyse texts and authorial intent. Exam technique will contribute to their success.

    Common barriers:

    • Gaps in knowledge, skills and understanding from the primary English curriculum.

    • Insecure in the literacy basics: phonics/spelling, handwriting, punctuation.

    • Confidence and mindset

    • Engagement and attendance

    • Lack of personalised, individual support

    • Insufficient strategies to support their own learning and work more independently.