Lucy

Hello, I`m Lucy, I`m a friendly, down-to-earth individual who enjoys working with children, young people and adults helping them to realise their full potential. I`m hard-working, patient and genuinely care about the pupils I work with. I enjoy building a rapport with students and enabling them to see the real life applications of their studies as well as building up their confidence to tackle challenges on their own.

It is important to me that each student feels comfortable working with me and has an idea of what they would like to achieve, so that learning is something they feel they are in control of.

Every individual has strengths and I believe in encouraging and empowering students to recognise and celebrate these qualities in themselves. By starting from a place of what they do know, rather than focusing on what needs to be learnt, I believe students feel more confident and with this confidence comes a new motivation to take on challenges.

I have a BA in English Literature and Theatre and a Masters in Creative Writing.

Availability: Flexible: I can work weekdays, evenings and weekends.

Willing to travel: 3 miles

Experience: I have over 8 years of experience working with children and young people and have always been passionate about education. I am currently an intervention teacher in a secondary school delivering focused sessions on the GCSE English Language.

This consistency means that I have met and worked with hundreds of pupils and gained a real life, practical understanding of how children learn and respond to things differently, and how best to adapt my own teaching to suit them.

My experience also includes being a teaching assistant in two different primary schools, where I worked across all year groups with children with a range of needs. I have supported children in class, in group work and in one-to-one interventions across a range of subjects, with a focus on Maths and English.

I would run reading sessions on a regular basis, emphasising the importance of reading as a life skill as well as the enjoyment that can be gained from it – finding material which the individual is interested in is key to this. I was also responsible for running a book club where I encouraged the children to extend their thinking to enable them to answer higher level comprehension questions. In addition to this I ran an after school drama club and have assisted in many school productions, often an abridged Shakespeare. I have coached students, even very nervous ones, through the process from first reading to rehearsal to performance. These performances are always extremely successful and rewarding for both the child and myself.

I am also aware of and have had training in ‘Talk for Writing’, a scheme designed to help children develop their English skills by imitating the key language they need for a particular topic orally before they try reading and analysing it. Obviously this technique may not work for every child, but it is being used in both primary and secondary schools and I am able to adapt my approach using this scheme according to your child’s needs. In additions to this I have been trained in ‘Kinetic Letters’ – a neat handwriting scheme also used in primary schools and am able to use this in sessions if requested.

Due to working in schools, I have had an enhanced DBS. I also have knowledge of basic first aid and an awareness of safeguarding. I am aware of the curriculum and the changes taking place within it.