How to Work With Me
Why not get in touch for a chat about what you need? I will offer you a service that best fits your needs and then you can take the time to decide and let me know!
Since working with Liz my teachers have noticed a real difference in my performance in class. I’m confident to answer questions and I’ve gone up at least 2-3 grades in my topic tests. My exams no longer scare me and I’m confident I can get at least a grade 5 or 6 which I’m really happy about as last year I was only getting 2-3’s on my tests.
During a free initial consultation, we can discuss the kind of transformation you are looking for, whether it is a whole school approach, engaging learners more effectively in the classroom, or supporting a learner at home with their self-belief and mindset.
About My Services
What exactly is metacognition I hear you say? Also, how does that relate to improving mental health and academic outcomes for children and young people?
Any word that starts with "meta" indicates something that is turning attention on itself. In this case, attention is on "cognition" which includes all the mental skills required to gain knowledge and apply it effectively.
Metacognition therefore creates a situation where the mind is turning attention on its own ability to learn.
This is commonly translated as "thinking about thinking," but that is very simplistic and leaves out a vital component of success, which is an appreciation of "self."
Many students lack this sense of "self" and even some who are more self-aware, have not yet applied it to themselves as learners.
Schools can be full of students who feel that education is something being done to them, so they become passive recipients of whatever curriculum has been allocated, without engaging fully with the learning opportunities on offer.
Success in learning comes from having a full appreciation of your own role in that process, a belief that you are capable of engaging with it, and the internal motivation to face challenges with resilience.
Very few students gain these skills without support, so improvement can only be achieved by ensuring an environment where all learners are explicitly encouraged to learn about themselves and are taught how to think in a metacognitive way.
That's where I come in.
More Details
I can support a whole school approach to improving metacognitive skills in students, through a shared policy, full staff training and a licence to use my Learner Success Pathway (LSP), a pack of activities based in metacognition that supports individual learner progress. The LSP is particularly effective for those who are considered vulnerable.
Included in that whole school support, but also provided as a separate opportunity for others, are workshops around "Metacognition in Practice" for teachers and support staff.
Teachers receive training in how to have a more metacognitive approach to their teaching practice in a way that encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning, whilst Special Educational Needs Coordinators and their teams are trained to elicit greater independence by modeling metacognitive skills.
If a school is to successfully integrate "metacognition," then supporting their most vulnerable learners to access the curriculum more effectively is essential.
To this end, I train willing members of any team that works with these particular learners, to deliver the materials from the LSP with individual students in order to gain a licence to reproduce it in school.
Training to deliver the LSP is also available as a stand-alone programme for support staff where schools allocate one or two people to train on-line with a mixed cohort from other schools.
On successful completion of the programme, each person receives a licence to reproduce the materials for use on an individual basis with students who attend the school that paid for the course.
Parents also have the opportunity to train in the use of the Learner Success Pathway in order to support improved academic outcomes for their own children from home.
The materials are provided for personal use, (with no licence to reproduce provided in this instance), however parents do have direct access to me for coaching support whilst working through the pack with their child(ren).
The A-Z of Supporting Learner Achievement
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What to Expect
Click on a button, provide your contact details, and we can set up a free call where you can tell me what you most need help with and I will provide details of how I might be able to solve that problem for you.
I am obviously most likely to point you in the direction of one of my services already listed above, but if not, maybe a bespoke package would be the best solution and we can work out together what that might look like.
I look forward to hearing from you.
M's doing fabulously, she is well on track for good results in all of her subjects. We had her virtual parents’ eve last week and all of the teachers have noticed a real difference. She’s got her priority place at college already (results depending) in the exact subjects she wants so that’s keeping her motivated. She gets excited when she gets good marks in her assessments now, which is something that we’ve never seen from her before. We’ve got Liz to the thank for that.