II currently work for the Support Service for Special Educational Needs (SSSEN), where I work in a variety of schools with children of all ages. In my team I take responsibility for leading on the EYFS.
Prior to this post I was Assistant Headteacher at a small Derbyshire Primary School. Whilst working in this school I taught in the EYFS and Key Stage 1 and in 2015/16 I led the process of extending our age range from a 5-11 to a 3-11 school. This included working with the sufficiency team and overseeing building works as well as planning to meet the needs of younger learners. I adopted a planning model that made use of retrospective planning and found it to be extremely successful in following children’s interests to help them to be motivated learners.
Earlier on in my career I was an Early Years Advisory Teacher for Children’s Centres in a different local authority. Through this role I developed my skills and understanding of how children learn and develop, from birth through to 5 years old, and gained the qualification of Early Years Professional Status.
I have also worked as a moderator for the EYFS Profile since 2008 across two local authorities, therefore I have a good understanding of assessment practices.