Martha

My Summary

My Experience

I hold various personal qualities that I feel are a necessity when working with children. For example; I am able to work with others to resolve issues and also take on board others opinions and ideas. I can also develop appropriate relationships with children, staff and other individuals. I am also able to maintain, contribute and create a happy, safe and supportive environment for staff, students, parents and carers. I can also work in an organised manner and coordinate with other members of staff, students and parents or carers. Additionally, I can also work collaboratively within a team to achieve the end goal. I am friendly and approachable and constantly seek opportunities to improve my practise and the experiences of others around me. I can adapt for each situation I am faced with and I am always open to advice and support from others.

All of my working experiences are with children and young people with SEND in and around an educational setting who have the diagnosis of a disability or mental health disorder. I have worked in both mainstream and special provision schools where I have supported all the needs of the children but with a specific focus on mental health and how to support their mental health needs - for instance, children and young people who are finding it difficult to emotionally regulate. I have been able to work with the child or young person to identify what their needs are in relationship to emotional regularity by creating a support system within school for the child or young person and by creating strategies to enable the child or young person to gain control and be able to emotionally regulate within school and also at home.

Whilst working in schools, I have had the opportunity to meet and greet parents at the start of each day in the playground. This has enabled me to make connections not only with parents and carers , but also with the wider school community. This in turn has enabled me to be able to extend my support to the family and for the child or young person outside of the school setting. Throughout all of the positions I have held safeguarding procedures and policies have been of high importance and I have been required to have extensive knowledge on the safeguarding policies and procedures in place. Therefore, I have worked closely alongside the safeguarding teams that have existed within the different settings and I have frequently been required to prepare and deliver safeguarding reports and liaise with the children involved.

During summer 2017 I was employed by the National Citizen Service (NCS) where I was employed as a Team Leader. In this role I had four support assistants that I had to manage for the entirety of the four week programme. This was an essential duty within this job role as each individual young person within my “Team” had significant SEND and mental health needs, therefore it was paramount that I kept in regular contact with my staff to ensure that the correct care and support was provided for each young person’s diverse needs. At the start of the four week programme I held an informative meeting for the support assistants in my team, the meeting was structured around SEND and mental health needs. Within the meetings I discussed the different SEND needs the young people had and how best to support them; I did this because the support staff had little to non-existent knowledge around SEND and mental health, which necessitated me creating and providing a form of informal training in SEND. As I was the manager of the team communication was key, I ensured the completion of this task by holding regular meetings with the staff team; this ensured the whole team was updated on the young people’s needs or situations which guaranteed that the young people’s needs were catered for to the best of the ability by the team. This position also meant liaising with the young person’s family and other agencies which were also involved with the child, including working alongside social workers, support teams and other external agencies. Which has enabled me to gain experience and knowledge relating to Benefits Agency, Social

Services and mental health services. This in turn has ensured parents, carers and families receive the support they need and were also involved and updated on their child’s needs and support provided.

Whilst studying my BA Hons in Special Educational Needs and Inclusion it was paramount that I had a good understanding of the national curriculum and how to ensure that the lesson plans I had created and the sessions I conducted closely followed the National curriculum. Additionally to this it was been vital that I kept up to date with the national policies and legislation which is implemented within school settings. Throughout all of my working experiences it has been essential for me to be able to have and utilise teaching and leadership skills, such as; planning, monitoring, assessing and managing classes and children’s behaviour, thus encouraging and allowing children to become independent learners. Additionally to this it has been crucial for me to encourage and promote the children’s welfare within my care, to ultimately provide an inclusive environment for all pupils and staff members.

During several of my working experiences I have been responsible in leading several lessons and activities in the absence of the teacher. My BA Hons has enabled me to gain extensive knowledge around children’s development, learning styles and processes. I can also use this knowledge to identify barriers to learning for children and how to adapt the lesson to be able to enable the students to be able to understand and complete the tasks set for them. Furthermore I have collaboratively worked with teaching staff and also working individually to create lesson plans and risk assessments furthermore I have had the task of gathering and creating the resources needed for the activities, ensuring that the lesson is accessible to all learners. I also needed to create lesson objectives that mirrored the objectives set in the national curriculum in order to make them achievable by each student at their own individual level. Furthermore, when the lesson had ended or during the lesson I was able to evaluate the lesson conducted and find possible ways to improve or adapt the lesson to allow students to learn and contribute. Whilst attending settings I have also created meaningful and vibrant displays in which the students and staff team can understand and interact with.

Another skill I have is the ability to use my own initiative to ensure the lesson is completed if issues occur during the lesson. When the lesson has concluded I understand the importance of the students completing a self-assessment on the work and lesson they have completed, this enables me and the class team to gain an insight into their learning and development around the lesson and subject, this highlights which students need further work or highlights the students who are ready to progress further through the subject. I also understand the importance of creating stimulating and fun lessons, which motivate the students and enables them to enjoy their lessons and also progress.

Likewise I am also able to demonstrate and follow behaviour management strategies, which concisely follow the school’s behaviour policies. This helps to encourage and promote the students to learn and enjoy their time within school. I am also able to recognise when students with additional needs need further assistance within the classroom settings and also outside of the classroom, such as smaller learning group sizes. Additionally to this I also understand the importance of encouraging and developing each student’s self-esteem and self- confidence, whether that be within the classroom setting or not. Throughout my working experiences I have been responsible for the integration of children with special educational needs and different cultures and helping the students to create friendships and have trust in the learning setting.

My Qualifications

OCR Level 3 Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care.
Grade - Distinction, Distinction, Distinction.

Special Educational Needs and Inclusion BA Hons - 1st Class Classication.

My Availability

My Fees

• Nannying from £20.00 per hour (gross)

The fees I charge are based on job role and may vary.