About Kate Winter, Specialist Teacher

For over two years, Kate has been working as a full-time specialist teacher at King’s College School (KCS) Wimbledon, supporting pupils from years 3 to 13 with their learning, some of whom are neuro divergent and have Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) including dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, ADHD, ADD and ASC.

Kate loves the varied nature of her job. Her role in KCS’s Learning Enrichment department includes supporting children with their revision, study and exam skills and helping them with subject specific work such as English (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG), proofreading, reading and writing, essay planning & structure). Kate also gives pupils strategies to support them with their organisation, focus and concentration, time management, social skills, confidence building and exam/work related anxiety. As part of her job, Kate also helps to invigilate internal exams, conduct internal screening for SpLDs and runs a morning spelling group for boys in the junior school.

Before arriving at King’s, Kate worked as a one-to-one Specialist Teacher for three years at Northcote Lodge School in Wandsworth teaching boys in years 4 to 8 with dyslexia and SpLDs. At Northcote Lodge, a large part of her role focused on preparing year 6 and 8 students for their ISEB pre-tests and 13+ Common Entrance exams helping them in particular with their descriptive and practical writing, and prose and poetry comprehension. She also supported many dyslexic boys with their learning and enjoyed giving them a “tool-box” of multisensory techniques to help them develop and most importantly grow in confidence.

Prior to working at Northcote Lodge, Kate worked as a teacher at Wetherby School in Notting Hill Gate, teaching geography, history and science to Year 2 and 3 classes. She also taught literacy and maths to small groups of boys in years 1 and 2, some of whom had SpLDs. Before this, in between having her two children, Kate worked as a class teacher at Eaton House School in Chelsea, where she gained invaluable experience in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

Training

In June 2017, Kate qualified as a Specialist Teacher in Dyslexia and SpLDs having completed a postgraduate diploma (OCR L5) at the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre in Surrey. During her training, she gained a tremendous knowledge base both theoretically and practically, through lectures and two mainstream school teaching placements, where she taught literacy and maths on a one-to-one basis to students with SpLDs. Her specialist teacher training gave her the skill-set to identify and plan specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely (SMART) lessons using multi-sensory teaching strategies and put together Individual Learning Plans (ILPs). It also taught her how to analyse reports (Educational Psychologist and Specialist Assessor) and carry out assessments to identify SpLDs in children. During Kate’s teacher training year in 2009 at Wetherby School, her interest in SpLDs was enhanced further during a 6-week teaching placement at Christ Church of England School in Brixton. There she had the opportunity to teach EAL children and other pupils with learning difficulties that included Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and Down Syndrome (DS). The experience coupled with a teaching training placement at Fairley House School (a specialist school for children with SpLDs) in Lambeth impressed upon her how fulfilling and rewarding teaching children with dyslexia and SpLDs is.

Background

Teaching, supporting and nurturing children with special educational needs is a deep-rooted passion of Kate’s. This interest dates back to 1998 when she worked as a teacher at Itigo Girls School, a secondary school in the Rift Valley in Kenya and then at a primary school in the Maasai Mara, also in Kenya. There, she taught African children how to speak, read and write in English, largely by using multi-sensory teaching methods (e.g. song, dance, drawing, painting and play). The experience opened her eyes to a whole new way of teaching and learning. Three years later, while studying at The University of Edinburgh, she was offered a part time job working with two teenage girls who had Cerebral Palsy. She would take them individually on trips around the city in their wheelchairs and teach them life-skills. Kate learnt a great deal from this experience and found it hugely fulfilling.

After University, Kate spent her twenties working as a journalist in Ireland under her maiden name, Kate Chambré. She continues to write to this day and enjoys incorporating the skills she used as a journalist into her literacy teaching.

At the back of her mind when teaching and supporting children with their learning, Kate’s main objective is to give her pupils a sense of self-belief, and to help them understand “that no matter how high a mountain may appear at times, it will never block out the sun…”

About Kate Chambré, Freelance Journalist

After graduating with a Master of Arts degree from The University of Edinburgh in 2002, Kate consistently worked as a news and features journalist and regular contributor to the newspaper and magazine industry in both the UK and Ireland. Publications she worked for in a full-time capacity included the Irish Daily Mail, the Belfast News Letter, the Letterkenny Post, the Donegal Post, the Donegal Democrat and the Donegal People’s Press. Kate also worked as a weekend news reporter for Highland Radio in the north-west of Ireland and contributed reports to Today 100 – 102 FM. Kate’s news reports, features and reviews also appeared in the Irish News, Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Irish Examiner, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Star and The Sun among other publications. In September 2009, Kate changed careers and trained as a teacher. She later went on to become a Specialist Teacher in Dyslexia and SpLDs. Kate uses her experience as a journalist when teaching and supporting her students with their English, particularly discursive writing and proofreading. Kate still continues to write human interest and travel features. If you would like to get in touch with her, please feel free to contact her.