About Joanna - Specialist Literacy Teacher
My name is Joanna, and I'm a specialist tutor focused on making learning accessible to neurodivergent learners. As a secondary English teacher, I spent nine years taking students through the joys of English Language and Literature. Where possible, I tried to share my interest in all things etymological and linguistic. It was a job I loved. I enjoyed the honour of being able to share my subject with my students, and I loved the privilege of being a part of their education and story. I learned as much from them, as I hope they did me.
Prior to training as an English teacher, I completed a degree in 'Linguistics with the English Language' - this doesn't mean, though, that I can speak a lot of languages. Rather, it is the study of language - its history, its building blocks, and how we learn language. As a fresher, I won the David Crystal prize for an essay. Even as an undergraduate, I had an interest in additional needs, and completed a module with the renowned linguist David Crystal entitled 'Language Disorders'. My P.G.C.E dissertation analysed the reading opportunities presented to dyslexic students in mainstream schools. SEN was an interest of mine before my children were born, and so was language.
I gained a new perspective in 2013, when my oldest son was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome at the age of 6 months. Since then, increasingly over the years, I've had to maintain a balance between understanding the workings of education, and being a professional myself (albeit one who is now operating independently), and being an advocate for my children. I now have four children, and we also count dyslexia and autism amongst our family diagnoses. I am neurodivergent myself.
Qualifications
B.A Hons (2:1) Linguistics with the English Language from the University of Wales, Bangor (2002)
P.G.C.E. Secondary English from the University of Wales, Bangor (2003)
Masters of Inclusive Education (2011), including a Level 7 P.G. Cert. in SpLD from the University of Gloucestershire
A.M.B.D.A [date - fetch list] with the British Dyslexia Association
Patoss Teaching Practice Certificate (renewed every 3 years)
Accredited trainer for the 'Reading and Language Intervention for Children with Down Syndrome' (Down Syndrome International)
Level 5 dyscalculia specialist teacher (OCN accredited with the Dyscalculia Association)
I see a gap in my knowledge and I seek to fill it. Whilst working full time as an English teacher, I completed a specialist post-graduate Level 7 qualification in dyslexia, which meant I could gain A.M.B.D.A (a prestigious qualification for those in dyslexia teaching). I also became a Lead English teacher (we were later known as Glos Ed Leaders) for the Gloucestershire Local Education Authority. After I completed my dyslexia qualification, I continued studying, and completed a Masters in Inclusive Education. As part of this qualification, I looked at how children learn to read and write at Key Stage 1, and my dissertation looked at the way in which autistic students are supported by the English curriculum at Key Stage 2 and 3.
I tutor one to one, online, working with students who have diagnosed or undiagnosed additional needs. It's a wide remit: in a single morning I might work on reading and spelling words containing 'th' with one student, GCSE English with another, and vocabulary built on the root 'anim' with a third - and maths in the afternoon. I enjoy the variety of it - the range of subjects, and of learning needs - and, as a parent of neurodivergent children myself, I often find a shared experience with the families I work with. I'm a former home educator and flexi schooler myself, though some of the children I work with are in school full-time.
Whilst I loved being a classroom teacher, the impact I can have in this role is significant. This year I worked with a teenager who was functionally illiterate - failed by the schools he'd attended - and over three months of weekly lessons, once he was home educated, he became literate. That's life-changing for him.
In my spare time, I set up and coordinated a support group for parent carers who have children with additional needs, which ran for five years. I serve on the Williams Syndrome Foundation Professional Advisory Panel, I served as a governor in a local primary school, and I am a vicar's wife. I was brought up in a reformed Baptist church, where I was sometimes distracted during the hymns by working out the rhyme scheme, and from that which words had once been said differently - 'Lord' and 'word' rhymed once, and 'blood' with [word to research]. These days I go to both contemporary charismatic and Book of Common Prayer services, and I'm passing that interest down to one of my sons.
I love reading, and always have - 'Anne of Green Gables', the 'Chalet School' books, 'What Katy Did' and the 'Little House' books as a child, the 'Baby-Sitters Club' and 'Sweet Valley Twins' too. My PGCE English tutor was adamant that we appreciated children's literature, so much so that we had to submit a log of what we'd read over the year. I've kept up the reading, if not the log - Katherine Woodfine and the 'Nevermoor' books lately, though in the car my sons enforce a strict Rick Riordan-only rule. We camp around Europe, and I'm reliably the one lagging behind the rest of the family to photograph a handwritten or picturesque sign for my MFL shops. My sons bear this; I remind them they're the first users of every resource I make, so really it's all for them. I was once a very proficient sourdough baker. Family history is another interest, and place-name origins. After working for Lakeland as a student I can't easily forego a kitchen implement - and I seem to collect pretty biscuit tins from France, though how many felt-tips and art supplies I can persuade my children to store in them is another matter.
I have a DBS certificate, and am registered with the DBS update service. I am a member of PATOSS, a professional organisation for dyslexia specialists. I am also registered with the ICO.
Research and reflection, as a professional, is an important part of my practice. An overview of some of my recent reading, and pedagogical influences can be found here. I am currently completing a diploma in Autism and Mental Health.