Nurture Success Private Tuition and Consultation Services

So this week, I’ve been to the Phillipines twice and today was my second time in Bali! 😀

Diagnostic dyslexia assessments available. Please message me for details. Ages 8- 16 considered.

🦋Drawing and Talking is a therapeutic technique used by a variety of professionals across the globe to support the emotional wellbeing of children and adults suffering poor mental health.
🦋For more information or to view dates click on the link below;
https://drawingandtalking.com/

Our Homeschool Bulk Buy is now live!

Get 60% off all home programs and packs until 11th September 2023.

Shop here: www.nessy.com/shop/home-products
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​​​​​​​Use the code: BULKBUY60

Some good ideas here

12 week programme. 30 minutes per week. Support for children who struggle with anxiety. Message me for details.

Not sure how to help your child with their learning or social and emotional needs? Need some new ideas? Choose from a 1.5 hour 1-1 consultation with written feedback or a 30 minute solution-focused session. Message me for details.

That’s another dyslexia report completed. Excellent visual ability and good verbal ability but slow processing speed impacting on reading and writing speeds and fluency. 25% extra time in exams recommended and strategies suggested for school and home. 👍

We offer this intervention for children with SEMH needs. Message for details.

🦋Drawing and Talking sessions are one-to-one for 30 minutes on the same day, time and place each week, for 12 weeks.
🦋During the sessions the Drawing and Talking Practitioner will ask non-intrusive questions about their drawings, and over time a symbolic resolution is found to conflicts and trauma begins to heal.
🦋For more information or to book please click on the link below.
https://drawingandtalking.com/

This year, Nurture Success will be putting together PowerPoints for schools based on a number of SEMH topics. The first will be produced in September and will be on the subject of attachment and trauma. It will give an overview of attachment theory and attachment styles and suggest strategies to create secure attachments. These can be used for staff training. The initial cost will be £10 but will go up. Please message me privately to let me know if you are interested.

We are delighted to welcome a new Partner Centre to the Integrated Reflexology Consortium - In-Spires Reflexology College, in Lichfield, run by Principal Ruth Hodgkiss.

Ruth says: "I am very excited to have joined the IRC as a partner school and am looking forward to teaching the newly revised and updated Agored Cymru Level 5 Diploma in Practitioner Reflexology.

I was a teacher of Business and ICT for almost 20 years before completing the level 5 course myself in 2015. I was hooked from the first weekend and chose to leave my teaching post in order to set up my own business as a Clinical Practitioner. I love managing my own diary, supporting clients and making a difference to their lives. Educating remained in my blood though, so in 2016 I was delighted to become an assistant tutor for Allison Walker from Contemporary Reflexology College (where I did my training) before setting up ‘In-Spires Reflexology College’ in 2019 in my home city of Lichfield. I deliberately keep classes small, so you are guaranteed lots of 1:1 attention as you progress through the year-long course. I will teach you lots of practical techniques to enable you to support your clients in a truly holistic manner. You will learn foot, hand and auricular reflexology. I am currently writing a CPD course on facial reflexology so you will be introduced to this wonderful modality too. The course is up to date and relevant and you will learn how to support the chronically ill as well as how to work with clients at all stages of their reproductive life (to include puberty, periods of infertility, maternity, menopause and andropause). We cover how to understand and evaluate research reports and we learn about business planning and cash flow forecasting so you can understand how your reflexology business will work for you. Of course, we also cover anatomy, physiology and pathology on a very applied level, so the information is relevant and helpful to today’s reflexologist."

Testimonials:
Training to become a reflexologist though In-Spires Reflexology College was the best decision I have ever made. Ruth is an amazing tutor and always on hand to offer support where needed. I cannot recommend this course enough. – EP

My journey to becoming a reflexologist began at In-Spires Reflexology College, where I had the privilege of learning from Ruth Hodgkiss, an expert and supportive tutor. I was looking for a new career path that would allow me to help others and fulfil my passion for reflexology. I did not have any prior medical knowledge, but that was not a problem. The course was designed to teach me everything I needed to know, from the theory behind reflexology to the practical skills of applying it. I enjoyed every lesson, as I got to practice with my fellow students, who shared my enthusiasm and became my lifelong friends. Ruth's classroom was a bright and comfortable space, where I felt welcome and inspired. She was always there to guide me, answer my questions, and encourage me to achieve my goals. Even after I graduated, she continued to offer me her support and advice. Thanks to her and the course, I am now a successful self-employed reflexologist, who loves making a positive difference in people's lives. I am so grateful for the opportunity to study at In-Spires Reflexology College, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to pursue a rewarding career in reflexology. - CW

In-Spires Reflexology College is based in Lichfield City Centre (Staffordshire), just a few minutes walk from Lichfield City Train Station and is easily accessible from the A38, M42 and M6 Toll.

The next course starts in January 2024 so if you would like to find out more about this amazing course, please get in touch via email in the first instance: [email protected]

Assessment picks up areas for work but also strengths. People with dyslexia often have strong visual ability skills. Wow!

Definition of dyslexia,
adopted for diagnostic assessments (Rose, 2009)

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points. Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor co-ordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia. A good indication of the severity and persistence of dyslexic difficulties can be gained by examining how the individual responds or has responded to well-founded intervention.

Full diagnostic dyslexia assessments available. Based in Pelsall. Booking now for October. Drop me a message.

As we reach the end of our 7th academic year, we would like to thank all the children, families and schools that have come to Nurture Success for support. It has been a fabulous year for specialist tuition, learning and dyslexia assessments and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful families who have attended for consultations. This year, I have also been teaching online to the Phillipines and am about to start work in Bali. Here’s to new adventures. 🥂 Your feedback would be appreciated and there is a review section on my page. Happy hols! xx

Thinking about all you children breaking up for the Summer today. Enjoy your last day! ☀️

My students love these games. 👍

Trugs provides people learning to read with the benefits of using phonics-based reading resources, to assist with phonics mastery and dyslexia support, alongside being an effective reading resource in schools and homes alike.
https://buff.ly/3jEUMZE

So true

What do we offer?

Nurture Success supports children with learning and SEMH needs through nurture-based specialist teaching and tuition, therapeutic work and learning assessments (including diagnostic dyslexia assessments).

We also offer consultations to parents. These are 1.5 hour meetings to help to explore a child’s needs in depth and identify strategies and resources to support them.

Thirdly, we support schools through consultation, assessment, 1-1 therapeutic work, project work and training. Our specialism is in supporting schools to develop Nurture Groups and nurturing practices.

To all teachers approaching the Summer break. Happy hols!

Diagnostic dyslexia assessments available from September. Based in Pelsall. Please message me for details.

One of my favourite strategies for teaching spellings. Simultaneous oral spelling is a multi-sensory technique used to improve spelling skills. It involves the process of saying the letters of a word out loud while simultaneously writing or typing them. This technique helps to reinforce the connection between the spoken and written forms of words, making it easier for individuals to remember and correctly spell them. Please ask if you’d like a demo. 😀

Would your child benefit from a boost in their reading skills over the Summer break? Limited availability in July and August. Message me as soon as possible to book in.

My students love these games. I frequently recommend them to schools and parents in consultations or following dyslexia assessments. 😀

Online group phonics sessions over the Summer for children going into Year 2 in September. Tuesday mornings. Please message me to book.

Not a bad idea! 😀

Love this.

Want to know how you can help your child with their reading over the Summer? Face to face or online consultations available.

Fun phonics interventions available over the Summer break. Mini assessment and 1-1 sessions tailored to your child. Alphabet rainbow games. 10 Minute Box. Phonics games and apps. Available Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesday mornings. 1 hour or 30 minute sessions. Online or face to face.

75% of dyslexics are above average at visualising, including the world's greatest visualiser – Muhammad Ali 🏅

This makes us unstoppable on:

🏈 the sports pitch
🏎️ the race track
🥊 in the boxing ring

It gives us a 3D awareness of the space around us and makes it easier to judge distance and speed.

👀 Plus, it gives us (like Muhammad Ali) the ability to be a change-maker – to see how the world could be. Not just how it is.

🏆 It also helps us visualise success and gives us the added determination champions need to achieve it!

Get the book “What I Need” on Amazon or Nessy.com

Changing lives through horses home schooled group session starting Wednesday 7th June for a 6 week course.

The changing lives programme is specifically designed to help young people who have become disengaged in mainstream education .

This session will cater for ages 12-18 years old. With or without previous experience with horses.

Sessions will run from 11am to 12.30pm.

The course will cover horse care and some riding is also included.

Please get in touch for more info and eligibility.

☎️ 01213537174

They Just Want Attention

One of the first things we are told as parents is not to trust our responses to our children’s distress. We’re told that to respond to our children with empathy and compassion makes us weak, that the reality of parenting means that ‘tough love’ is necessary. Which means ignoring distress.

This starts in babyhood. When babies cry, their parents feel it too. Their bodies respond, every part of them want to pick them up and soothe them. Breasts leak milk, the response is physiological as well as emotional.

New parents are told that if they do what comes naturally, and pick up and rock their baby, they’re ‘making a rod for their own back’. Some books (and people) will say that if the baby is fed, changed, warm enough and not being spiked by a pin, then they are ‘just crying’ and should be left to get on with it. Parents are told that holding their baby all the time, as the baby prefers, is getting them into bad habits. And co-sleeping? Don’t even mention it.

Many continue to do what feels right, but feel bad about it. They are caught between what their instincts tell them to do and what the world tells them is good parenting. They feel guilty about responding empathically to their baby. Some even keep it secret.

As those babies get older and become toddlers, their distress becomes a ‘tantrum’. Tantrums, parents are told, are manipulative behaviour and should not be given into to. Ignoring tantrums is what Good Parents do, even if it goes on for hours. Otherwise you’re likely to be told ‘No wonder she behaves like that, if you give into her’. Children who want lots of attention are ‘clingy’ or ‘just looking for attention’, as if there was a reason why small children shouldn’t look for the attention of their parents.

Again parents are torn, the message that they should be tougher is all around, but the need to soothe and calm runs deeply through their bodies.

By the time children reach school age, the idea that their distress doesn’t matter digs deeper in. Now it’s not just ignored, but they are actively punished for it. They express their distress through behaviour, but parents (and schools) are told to focus on what they see, rather than the reasons for it.

Time Out, the Naughty Step, stars and sticker charts, all of them serve to focus us on compliance rather than empathy. We try to persuade the child to stop showing us how they feel, because it’s just too inconvenient. The child who is still having ‘tantrums’ by school is shamed.

‘A big boy like you making a fuss like that?’.

Parents who go into school and say their children are distressed are told they ‘look fine when they’re here’, or told that they are anxious and need to relax. If their children are so distressed that they refuse to go, they’re told to keep making them. There’s no other way, apparently and it will get worse if you listen to their distress. Don’t criticise the school, parents are told, we have to present a united front.

It’s never been clear to me at what age we are meant to start taking our children’s distress seriously. Is no one allowed to be distressed until they are eighteen? Do they have to be able to express it politely and without emotions? Or is it until they reach the point where they are so distressed that they can’t go on anymore?

Up to then, it sometimes seems that distress is used as a reason to push harder. Push away all those feelings, until you just can’t anymore. It pushes parents and children apart, as parents are told that responding to their children's distress is the wrong thing to do. They feel bad whatever they do.

We can do better for our children than this. We can choose to hear their distress and to come alongside them. We can be a soft place to land, even if some think that makes us weak.

Our children (and we) deserve nothing less.

Image: Arwan Sutanto under Unsplash

Nurture Success supports Mental Health Awareness Week. Nurture principles are followed in all areas of our work. Specific interventions include Drawing and Talking, sand play, Lego and CBT based approaches.

Good luck to all those starting their GCSEs today! Go smash it!