My main passion in life is teaching children, and in particular working with
children with a range of learning needs to overcome their difficulties, achieve
and grow.
I qualified as a teacher in the UK and taught as a classroom teacher for a number of years in the UK.
It was during this time that I realised the number of children in the school I taught who had learning difficulties and who were failing to meet national benchmarks.
So, I took the decision to take further
training in teaching children with special needs culminating in me achieving a
Post Graduate Diploma in Dyslexia and Literacy.
Since then, I have undertaken further training including a Certificate in Performance Coaching (Education) and THRASS Accredited Certificate.
I am also an Irlen Institute Screener and an Associate Member of The British Dyslexia Association.
In 2012, I completed my Graduate Certificate in Autism Studies and
I then after a brief break from study, I continued on and in 2019 I achieved my
Masters in Special Education - Intervention Studies.
I was also invited to join the Golden Key International Honors Society in recognition of my academic excellence in my Masters Degree.
This provides me with access to Higher Level Training to continue to develop my skills.
In 2019, I began the process of accreditation as Lead Teacher in Australia.
This is a vigorous and demanding process involving collating a portfolio of evidence which demonstrated that I meet all 37 descriptors of the 7 standards for Lead Teachers.
In addition, I was observed teaching and my colleagues were interviewed to verify if I met the criteria. In December 2020, I was invited to Customs House in Brisbane to received my award.
I was only 1 of 8 Lead Teachers accredited in Independent Schools Queensland in 2020. Only 0.25% of teachers in Australia have achieved Lead Teacher or Highly Accomplished Teacher.
The
ceremony recognised that I am an elite teacher within the profession. In 2021, I was invited to present at the HALT summit.
My friends say I am addicted to learning and I am always looking for new ideas, reading and learning from experts in the field. I use this information to improve my teaching.
I am currently writing Mathtastic, an intervention for students in the early years of Primary School which draws upon current research about the most effective interventions in learning mathematics to remediate these skills and concepts.