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| Hi, my name is Joanna. I live in Berkshire with my husband Jonathan and two daughters, aged 16 and 8. Other than supporting children with literacy, I enjoy painting watercolours and acrylics, photography, music, amateur dramatics, swimming and walking my two dogs by the River Thames. 5 years ago, I started working as a Teaching Assistant at a local primary school. I worked alongside the class teacher delivering the National Curriculum to a mixed year 1/2 class. As is often the case for support staff in schools, I innevitably spent the majority of my time with children who were needing additional support. During my first term I attended a course run by National Inspections for Classroom Assistants. My work was thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding and it provided me with a sense of fulfilment and purpose. Before long, I was teaching small groups and devising programmes of additional support for individual pupils. I also spent an increasing amount of my 'spare' time creating teaching resources, many of which were reproduced following requests from colleagues. My Head Teacher, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator and other staff encouraged me to enquire about teacher training courses and, in September 2004, I enrolled on a Foundation Degree Programme in Primary Education with London Metropolitan University. During the first year of my studies, my confidence also grew in the classroom as I could now apply theory to my practice. I frequently taught the whole class in the absence of the class teacher and also worked 1:1 with several children with Special Educational Needs. I was now developing a strong interest in the teaching of early literacy through synthetic phonics. For a university assignment, I created a comprehensive presentation entitled "Helping Your Child Read", which I delivered to a large group of parents prior to their children starting school. This was well received and was designed to provide parents with useful hints and tips for encouraging and enjoying reading with their children. It also cleared up a multitude of confusion and misconceptions surrounding synthetic phonics teaching. The presentation was accompanied by a leaflet which clarified the main points. This was so successful that following discussion with the LEA Literacy Co-ordinator, my work is currently being considered for print and circulation throughout my Local Education Authority. I also presented it during a live broadcast on my local radio station last summer! In July last year, it was confirmed that I had passed my Foundation Degree with Merit. I was promoted at school to Learning Support Teacher. This involved planning and delivering both individual and group programmes of support for children experiencing difficulties in literacy. As an additional project, during the summer holidays, I tailor-made a comprehensive programme of study for my sister who has special needs and who, at the age of 34, was still virtually unable to read. Having assessed her phonic knowledge and level of ability, we spent 2 weeks working 3-4 hours a day. We worked with a selection of books, worksheets, games and activities and my house was covered with various visual aids to help her. She eventually returned home to her support worker with a 4page report and a large portfolio of the work we had covered. The whole experience was incredibly rewarding and at times emotional and I was thrilled at my sister's achievement, which would hopefully continue with the help of her support staff at home. This exercise prompted me to put a flyer in my local library and I now tutor several local children who are experiencing varying levels of difficulty in literacy. I designed this website in order to share my experience and knowledge, whilst supporting parents and carers through a variety of inspiring hints and tips and hopefully minimising any stress or anxiety. Please feel free to email me on joanna@readytoread.biz with any questions, comments or problems you might have and please don't forget to sign my guestbook. I really hope I can help - Joanna |
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