Dora

Dora RemovedMA (Special and Inclusive Education), MA (Human Rights), BSc (Hons) (Politics and Sociolinguistics), BSc (Hons) (Computing), PGCE, CELTA

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A well-experienced fully qualified and professional tutor with excellent communication skills, focusing on the provision of academic support to pupils with special educational needs (SEN) at all levels: primary, high school and university. Extensive experience working with students who are non-verbal, have autism, learning difficulties, cerebral palsy, Down's Syndrome, dyspraxia, complex needs, speech and language delay, challenging behaviour, dyslexia, ADD, ADHD,  study skills requirements, processing and memory needs. Also prepare for entrance examination including the 11+.

I am a qualified teacher with over 15 years' teaching experience in London who specialises in the provision of academic support for students of all kinds at all levels - both those who are seeking enhancement of their academic performance and those with special educational and behavioural needs who require a caring but disciplined approach. My vocation is for the provision of holistic, lifelong education, regardless of the nature of her pupils' educational background.

I am also a consultant to some of London's leading private schools; I have successfully prepared many students for their 11+ and 13+ entrance exams and interviews.

It was Dora's love of learning, coupled with her fascination with knowledge and her passion for human rights that led her to become a committed full-time educator.

Tutoring Experience

I am a skilled academic instructor with 16+ years' experience in delivering instruction, evaluating students, and developing and implementing schemes of work for English and maths. I also specialise in tutoring the 8+ and 11+ age groups in English and maths, as well as in teaching EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) at all levels.

As well as academic subjects, I teach study skills, time management skills, independence, social and communication skills as well as expression and intonation.

I have recently become a life coach and an academic mentor of a female student (Year 10) who is currently attending Surbiton High School.  Our highly interactive sessions feature a great range of topics focusing on the fine tuning of, inter alia, the specificity and clarity of written and oral expression as well as general life skills such as time management, revision techniques, interpersonal communication, to name but a few.

In addition, since October 2019 I have been working with another female student (currently in Year 11) attending Sacred Heart School, London.  Considering the fact that the student did not read nor write at all between March and October 2019 (stress-related mental breakdown), her parents contacted me in October 2019, desperately seeking my help.  Following a series of intensive sessions between October 2019 and July 2019 (3 h per week) that featured all sorts of unconventional tuition techniques ranging from philosophical discussions or Origami to Higher Tier GCSE mathematics, the student was so motivated and determined to get back to school, she was finally allowed to sit her Year 11 (re-entry) exams at the beginning of September 2020, which she passed successfully.

Special Educational Needs (SEN) teaching experience:

May 2019 – Present (1-to-1/online). Male pupil (19 years old). Complex health and disability needs (including global developmental delay) Subjects taught: English and Maths (KS2 – KS3); Following Riverston School Maths and English individual learning plan specification available on Maths Workout and Seneca Learning online platforms

March – July 2020 (online). Male pupil (17 years old). 3 h per week (1.5 h English / 1.5 h Maths). S had complex health and disability needs, which impact on his ability to attend to learning in a meaningful way. Condition: ADHD, Autism, Anxiety Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Sebastian also has a medical condition, Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, chromosome 15q25.2 duplication and emerging bipolar mood disorder. Subjects taught: Functional Skills English and Maths (Entry 3 – Level 1) / GCSE English preparation

January – March 2020. Female pupil (Year 6). 1.5h per week (45 English / 45 min Maths). Condition: auditory processing disorder. Challenges: Visio-spatial reasoning; non-verbal reasoning; reading comprehension; working memory. Subjects taught: 11+ Prep (English / Maths)

January – April 2020. Male pupil (Year 8). Condition: autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia and maybe additionally, defiance disorder, processing issues, attachment disorder. Subjects taught: Maths (KS2 – KS3)

May 2019 – July 2020. Age/year: girl in year 7 (then 8) and boy in year 10 (then 11). Challenges (girl): Both English and Maths; working memory, processing speed, multi-step directions, dyslexia-type challenges, comprehension. Subjects taught: Year 7 and 8 English and Maths. Challenges (boy): Both English and Maths; very short-term memory, writing and maths, confidence, organisational skills. Subjects taught: GCSE Maths and English preparation

October 2019 – March 2020. Male pupil (Year 7). 1.5 h per week. Condition: sensory or auditory processing disorder. Subjects taught: Year 7 English and Maths; homework help

January – March 2020. Male pupil (Year 7/8). Subjects taught: Maths; organisational skills

February – July 2019. 1.5 h per week; 1-to-1 tuition. Female pupil (Year 6). Diagnosis ADD and mild dyslexia / dyscalculia. Subjects/ skills taught: Maths, conceptual awareness, problem solving skills, organisational skills, ways to approach a problem

September 2018 – April 2019. 15 h per week; 1-to-1 tuition. Female pupil (10 years old). Diagnosis; Smith – Magenis syndrome, ADHD, Microcephaly, Intellectual / learning disability, Significant speech and language delay or speech difficulties, Behavioural difficulties (including self-injurious behaviour and aggression towards others)

February – July 2018. 5 h per week; 1-to-1 tuition. Male pupil (14 years old). Diagnosis: ADHD, difficulties regulating his sensory system, requiring a need to touch and fiddle with objects, difficulties with fine motor skills which impacted on his handwriting, hypersensitivity to noises, affecting his ability to concentrate (considerable attention deficit)

February 2018. Female pupil (8 years old), 5 h per week: 1-to-1 tuition. Diagnosis: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, significant language delay and a pattern of behaviours, special educational needs in the following areas: Language and Communication, cognition and learning, Social, emotional and behavioural development, physical and sensory

October 2017 – March 2018. Male pupil (7 years old). 20 h per week: 1-to-1 tuition. Diagnosis: Right frontocentral cortical dysplasia, functional disconnection with interior part of the corpus callosum, disconnection of right hemisphere in May 2010 with resection of anterior part of corpus callosum and disconnection of frontal polar and orbital regions of frontal lobe in November 2011, left sided hemiparesis, severe learning difficulties (marked cognitive and development delay, visual and hearing impairment), intractable epilepsy

September 2016 – July 2017. Male pupil (12 years old). 2 h per week: 1-to-1 tuition. Diagnosis: Global Development Delay

September 2012 - August 2015 (Uxbridge College). Working with visually impaired and partially mute students included in mainstream.

Tutoring Approach

"Per ardua ad astra" = Through hardship / hard work to the stars

In order to effectively support my pupils’ specific learning disabilities by raising their academic standards and performance in literacy and numeracy, amongst other things, I incorporate their specific learning styles (visual, auditory or kinaesthetic) in addressing their social, emotional, academic, and behavioural needs.

Considering I myself have spent over 20 years in higher education so far, some (experience-based) effective time management and study skills that I teach are as follows

Organisation (time management, essay composition)
Planning
Text analysis techniques
Study and note taking (selection of relevant facts) skills
Other revision strategies (workload division)
Exam techniques: structure and composition of answers, using suitable academic vocabulary, fronted adverbials and advanced grammar
Succinctness and clarity of expression

Most children with learning disabilities need skills in these areas. It is often their lack of these skills that makes learning overwhelming, challenging and builds a gradual aversion towards school and learning.