NB Education

Hello and a belated Happy September to you all! 💚

Last week was our first week back to lessons at NB Education and it was so lovely to catch up with all my students and families after the summer holidays! It is definitely feeling very autumnal 🍂 here now in Sheffield with lots of rain and chilly mornings. I hope everyone is starting to adjust back into routine and that school transitions have been positive.

Last week was also a big week for me personally as I celebrated my 40th birthday! 🥳 🎂 We had an amazing family weekend away staying at Bear Lodge at the beautiful Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve. While initially quite torrential ☔, the rain thankfully relented and we had a lovely time exploring the reserve by safari truck and on foot! The weekend took me back to my roots pre-teaching, as a conservation biologist and life-long animal-lover 🦌🦒 🦍🐅🦓 and it was great to hear about the fantastic conservation work being done by the .

I do love to incorporate animals in our lessons from reading to writing and maths, so look out for some animal-inspired learning from the trip coming soon! 😊

That's a wrap - all lessons at NB Education are now finished for the summer holidays! I hope you've all had a great end of term or enjoy the final few days.

I'm feeling really grateful for another brilliant year of learning, fun and progress. It really is a pleasure to work with such lovely students and their families each week! ⭐️ Thank you for all your support 💕.

This year is a particularly special one for me in that all my current students are returning to continue with lessons in September 😊 It's so lovely to continue learning longer-term - I have now worked with some students for 3 years!

Whatever your plans this summer, I hope you can enjoy some fun, rest and quality time with family and friends. 💚

A little peak at yesterday’s learning- reinforcing odd vs even and number bonds in a maths lesson yesterday. This lovely new student is working on some core number facts and place value to build up their confidence and ‘number sense’! 😊 ⭐️ 🔢

📅 Happy National Numeracy Day! 🧮

Today is all about celebrating the power of numbers — and parents, that includes you!

Not confident with maths? You’re definitely not alone — but it’s never too late to build your number confidence, and doing so can make a huge difference for your child too.

👨‍👩‍👧 Here are a few ways to grow your confidence and support your child’s learning:

✨ Start simple – Point out maths in the real world. Everyday tasks like cooking, shopping, or budgeting are great ways to use maths together and help children see its relevance.
📚 Ask questions together – It’s okay not to know all the answers. Learning with your child can be so powerful. Celebrate effort rather than talent.
💻 Use free resources – Check out National Numeracy’s website for fun, practical tools to build your skills at your own pace.
💬 Talk positively about maths – Even if it wasn’t your favourite subject, showing a “can-do” attitude encourages your child to do the same.

📈 A little confidence goes a long way — for both you and your children. Let’s break down the fear around numbers and build more confident futures together. 💪

Take a few minutes to visit the National Numeracy Challenge - its free and ideal for brushing up, checking your level, or for catching up on learning you missed and it’s all about the maths you need in daily life and at work – no algebra or trigonometry in sight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3pZFP7u3DI

You don't have to be a maths expert to support children - Family BaNC Animation

Wishing you all a lovely Easter weekend!
🐣 🐥 🐰 🍫 🌸 🌷 🌼 💖

I wanted to let you know that I’ve recently completed National Numeracy's training programme and I am now a fully CPD accredited Numeracy Champion. This means that if you don’t feel confident with numbers or would like to improve your everyday maths, I can support you. So, please get in touch if you’d like to:

• learn about resources you can access to improve your confidence with numbers as an adult,
• simply talk about how you feel about numbers or maths,
• find out about locally available free courses and provision.

Why not have a go at the National Numeracy Challenge? It’s a free website or app designed for adults who don’t always feel confident with numbers – have a go today using this link:
https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/challenge/

However you feel about maths, you’re not alone. Many of us want to get better with our everyday maths but are held back by feeling it's something that we can't improve. Being good with numbers isn’t a special talent, it’s something we can all learn🙂.

Getting on With Numbers | National Numeracy Challenge The National Numeracy Challenge is a website that helps you learn the maths needed for everyday life. However maths makes you feel, you’re not alone and we’re here to help.

SEND INSPECTION
Sheffield's SEND and Alternative Provision will be inspected by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and Social Care.
🗓 The inspection will take place between 24 February and 14 March 2025.
🔎 It will provide an independent and external evaluation of how effectively Sheffield City Council, education providers, health services and social care identify, assess and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, including those accessing Alternative Provision.
👂 The inspectors want to hear from children, young people, families and professionals.
👉 Please complete a survey by 4 March:
https://ofsted.smartsurvey.co.uk/p/AreaSend/10364967

It's ! 💛

We believe every child deserves the chance to thrive. This week, we’re focusing on helping young people explore the theme ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself,’ empowering them to better understand their emotions and build resilience. 🌱

🌟 🌎 Happy International LEGO Day! 🟨🟥🟦

Today, January 28th, is International LEGO Day, which commemorates the day the LEGO brick was first patented in Denmark in 1958. It's a day to celebrate creativity, innovation, and the joy of building with LEGO bricks!

LEGO is certainly very popular in our household with both my children and I also love finding ways to incorporate it in lessons. It is also great as a calming activity for sensory regulation 😌.

Here are some easy ideas for how to use LEGO for learning - I would love to hear if you have any more:

1️⃣ Build Maths Skills: Use LEGO bricks to teach counting, addition, subtraction, or even fractions! For example, stack 6 bricks, remove 2, and ask, “How many are left?”

2️⃣ Spell It Out: Write letters or sounds on LEGO bricks and challenge your child to build words by stacking them together. This is a favourite in our lessons!

3️⃣ Tell a Story: Create characters and scenes with LEGO pieces, then let your child build their own story around them. This one is lovely for allowing their creativity to shine ⭐️

4️⃣ STEM Challenges: Ignite their problem-solving skills by challenging them to build bridges, towers, or vehicles that can carry small objects.

5️⃣ Colour Sorting & Patterns: Help younger children practise sorting by colour and creating patterns to develop their critical thinking skills.

🧠 LEGO isn’t just play—it’s learning in disguise!

I'd love to see/ hear about any of your favourite LEGO creations or activities 😊 🧱

A belated Happy New Year to you all! 🥳

I hope you had a wonderful festive break with your families and that 2025 brings you much peace, health and happiness. 💕 I've had a lovely couple of weeks off with my family and lots of chocolate and cheese have been consumed! 😊

We've had a delayed back to school here (much to my daughter's delight!) with many schools closing due to the Sheffield snow ☃️ ❄️. I'm looking forward to our first sessions back tomorrow, but if the weather has other plans then I shall be in touch 🤞

I have some exciting new ideas for the NB Education that I'm determined to find the time to implement this year, so watch this space! ⏰ I remain fully booked at the moment but if you wish to join the waiting list for a future spot, then please get in touch.

We've enjoyed some lovely Christmas-related learning over the last couple of weeks - we've read all about reindeer, cracked The Grinch's Christmas code, written beautiful wintery descriptions and worked on our vocabulary with star synonyms. 🤩

That's now a wrap for our tutoring sessions this year and so time to say a huge well done to all my students for your fantastic, hard work! Thanks also to all the lovely families, fellow tutors, friends and followers for your support. Wishing you a wonderful and magical Christmas break! ⭐️ 🎄 🎅 ♥️

There can be so much pressure and expectation around this time of year but don’t be afraid to do Christmas your way! 🎄🎅🏼⭐️

This December we want you to embrace doing YOUR CHRISTMAS, YOUR WAY!

Let’s face it, being neurodivergent at Christmas isn’t easy – there’s so much going on, the sensory input is wild and everything is out of normal routine.

This year we want you to feel empowered to make choices which fit with your family’s needs rather than feeling like you’re missing out because you can’t do some things.

We’ve got a blog here on some of the challenges that we know our neurodiverse families face at this time of year: https://sunshine-support.org/being-a-neurodiverse-family-at-christmas/

Our top tips:
-Don’t feel pressured to do something which doesn’t meet what your family needs. Christmas is just a day and it’s not worth the meltdowns and burnout to try to do what others are doing. We particularly like the phrase ‘good for them, not for me.’
- Be open-minded about what changes you can make – yes, you might have always had wrapped presents under the tree and a turkey dinner at the table but is it really worth the difficulties this might cause?
- Feel empowered in your own choices. You know best and are making the right decisions for your family.

What top tips do you have for tackling Christmas as a neurodiverse family?