SEN Tutors: Responding to the Individual Needs of Pupils

SEN Tutors give every child a chance to see themselves as intelligent, capable and wonderful within their academic studies, as a result of understanding each person and finding ways to boost their self-esteem, confidence and see their own potential. 

This blog will set the context for the important work we do as a team, working with unique individuals and their families to make learning fun, to show the children their full potential and to see their learning as truly limitless.  

What is SEN or SEND? Follow the link to have a look at the NHS’s definition.  

SEN tutoring: starting with the child, working with the family

SEN Tutors support special educational needs by building positive relationships to enable success. We demonstrate our skills and knowledge to you and how we value your child’s individual needs so that you can quicky see that you can trust our support and guidance.  

Although the initial contact is most often made by parents, the foundation of the way we work begins with the individual child.  

Talk to us about a child’s SEND diagnosis, tell us if you suspect your child has undiagnosed barriers to learning and we will completely understand. We will know the patterns in learning behaviour, responses to specific learning scenarios and the emotional stresses this causes to your child and your family. While we are unable to formally diagnose SEND needs, we can support you with pathways to formal diagnosis and work with you to explore our trusted techniques and holistic provision settings to help unlock learning and a better understanding of your child. 

Have a look at this helpful guide to different SEND diagnoses. 

However, we do not take your child at face value or any preconceptions that may be connected with an SEND diagnosis. We secure a foundation of understanding from getting to know the person. We connect with the family, the any other agencies working as part of the team around the child and, most importantly, the child themselves. The person you love, fight for and who you desperately want to see succeed against all odds.  

We know that each child is unique, and this is always where our relationship really begins.  

To find out more about the SEND Code of Practice, follow the link to the government’s guidance.  
 

Specialist support with creative approaches: engage and inspire

Learning through play is a cornerstone approach to teaching for all of our Limitless Learning Tutors. We are supporting children to be successful in a world of unknowns. We continually value the evolving questions that are asked in society to help our students educationally, such as: 

“What jobs will be available for future generations?” 

“What skills will be required?” 

“How best can we support the children we tutor?” 

SEN Tutors at Limitless Learning believe that our approach to learning through games, play, positive relationships and skills-based learning, gives children the chance to open their minds to the value of developing their skills and knowledge through education. We pride ourselves in teaching students how they learn by knowing their strengths and understanding how to create a growth mindset to develop their skills. We enable our young people to value their skills in problem solving, creativity, innovation and confidence.  

This philosophy is the driving force for the Limitless Learning Tutors. We know that our approach makes a huge difference for each young person we have the privilege of tutoring.  

SEN Tutoring techniques are applied for every individual learner in the sense that, we approach our tutoring with an open heart and a listening ear.  

Each pupil is telling us something in their verbal and non-verbal responses to the content of a tutoring session. The key is knowing how to spot the signs and understanding how to respond.  

Finding the key: unlocking learning with adaptive teaching and SEN Tutoring

SEN Tutors are skilled in working with specific needs. Their experience allows them to weave different approaches into their tutoring in order to provide each young person with the steps to be successful in their educational and personal journey. 

Adaptive teaching is part of the approach used in schools to provide all children with ‘Quality First Teaching’. This is the phrase that is used to express the vast range of approaches that teachers use to provide the best experience for every child in school.  

Quality first teaching is based upon a strong foundation of being an adaptive teacher. Knowing how to see gaps in our student’s learning to capture what a child understands and using this to take them forwards in their next steps for learning.  

This all links to the ways in which teachers assess the learning. Put simply, how a teacher captures where a pupil is ‘at’ with their skills and knowledge.  

SEN Tutoring is a great addition to the teaching that is already happening in school. We work with (and within!) schools, understanding the pressures on school’s resources and classroom teachers to take successful steps as part of a team around the child.  

We create a team of positivity and endless faith in the limitless capabilities of every student we work with. 

SEN Tutoring with Specialist Knowledge for a Deep Understanding of Each Child

SEN Tutors at Limitless Learning use this adaptive approach to every young person. However, we recognise that for special educational needs, there needs to be a specific knowledge base and experience in order to understand a child’s diagnosis and the family’s journey to point as which we make contact.  

We understand that when a child is diagnosed with a special educational need, and a specific barrier (or set of barriers) in their learning needs to be overcome, the journey for that child’s family can be incredibly tough. Overcoming emotional, physical, social and educational barriers takes time and understanding.  

Families battling to be understood, striving for more support can so often be met with a response of “lack of funding”. The journey that brings families of children with SEND to the Limitless Learning SEN Tutors has often been a challenging one.  

We are here, we are ready, and we know that we can do this… together!