Welcome thread

Hi, my name is Jane and I am the curriculum lead for maths and ICT at a specialist college with campuses in Cornwall & Devon.  Many of my students are autistic, all have learning difficulties.  Almost all of my students have maths anxiety when they first come to college.  I'm hoping to be able to gain some new strategies for supporting my students and to give me a better insight into whether the problems are something more than anxiety.

Hi All, My name is Julie. I am a secondary school maths teacher living on the Surrey Hampshire boarder. I am a former accountant who retrained as a teacher back in 2007. After six or seven years in state school I have moved to a dyslexic school for boys. Two years ago I completed a level 5 course in understanding how to teach neuro diverse students but have always wanted to raise the understanding of dyscalculia to the same level of understanding as dyslexia having written my pgce dissertation in dyscalculia several years ago. I am hoping that this course will help me to do that.

Hi. I am in awe of everyone's qualifications on here and slightly intimidated. I am an Army wife with a dyslexic daughter and due to that I did my Level 5 Diploma with Helen Arkell this last year in order to reach out to other struggling learners who may have been overlooked at school. I am not a teacher but believe that the right person with the right tools, attitude, compassion and approach can make an enormous difference. We move every 2-3 years and will once again be heading for foreign shores next summer which isn't particularly helpful but in the meantime I want to make the most of being here and broaden my own knowledge. Not being a qualified teacher I feel I want to/need to get another string to my bow. Maths is certainly not my strong point, rather than anxiety I think I glaze over when numbers are mentioned - should be an interesting course and an incredibly steep learning curve! My aim is to demystify letters and numbers, enlighten those that don't get them and seriously boost their self-belief and esteem. I am coming to the course with no prior knowledge or experience but I'm looking forward to the next challenge.

My name is Alison and I did my AMBDA qualification when I found out one of my children was very dyslexic. Since then I have become a self employed literacy/dyslexia tutor and work in various settings helping primary children (including the governments catch up programme). I feel now is the time to learn more about maths and how to better help some of the children I meet.

Hi everyone, I’m Fiona and I live in Surrey. I became interested in dyslexia when my son started showing difficulties, so I completed my Level 3 Supporting Learners with SpLD at the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre in 2014. I then started working at an independent school in Surrey, initially doing in class support and then helping the children in Form 1 with phonics and learning to read. Over the years I have gradually increased my remit and now work with children in Forms 1-6 helping them with both literacy and maths however I increasingly find myself supporting more children with maths difficulties. I’m keen to improve the support that I offer, to improve my understanding of dyscalculia and maths anxiety, and to develop practical strategies that will help the children I work with.

Hi Everyone, I'm Alison. I work for Brighton and Hove Inclusion Support Service as a specialist teacher for literacy difficulties and dyslexia but am also very interested in dyscalculia, maths difficulties and all the overlaps. And I began my teaching career in the same school as Sammi (above). A few years ago... Hi Sammi!