“Leon is an incredibly warm, patient person, and quickly built a close bond with my son, who has ADHD and had very low confidence in maths. Leon's sessions were personalised and full of fun, high-quality maths learning, with games, cards, counters and other props.”
Sally, parent

My journey into teaching began with a voluntary position supporting a football and literacy project in Oxford aimed at disengaged children in Cowley. Shortly afterwards, I moved to Cornwall (to surf!) and became a teaching assistant in the PE department of a secondary school and their nurture centre. This was enough to convince me that I wanted to make a career of working with children and young people.

I moved back to Buckinghamshire to study for a PGCE in Secondary Physical Education but pivoted to work in a primary school as a primary school class teacher, learning how to teach maths and English (and all of the other subjects) in the process. As a PE specialist, kinaesthetic activities are a key part of my approach.

After moving to Brighton, I was appointed as the Sussex lead for advising all 450 Sussex primary schools on how to spend their PE and School Sport Premium for Active Sussex. This involved delivering training days for primary school teachers and helping them to overcome their fears of delivering high quality PE.

Throughout this time, I tutored and began to see that there were many young people really struggling in schools. Their barriers to learning were wide ranging and often, through no fault of the schools, unsupported.

A chance conversation in 2017 led to me joining an alternative educational provision for 14-25 year olds as the GCSE and functional skills maths lead. Nearly every student had had a negative experience of mainstream education. Most also had SEND and/or SEMH needs. Our approach, as a team, was a therapeutic one whereby if a safe and trusting environment was created then the learning would follow. And often it did. I switched over in 2020 to lead the English language GCSE and functional skills curriculum and the work based qualifications.

Alongside this, I trained as a coach for young people who were at risk of becoming, or already were, NEET (not in employment, education or training) and adults in a similar position. The purpose was to support them to explore their personal barriers and then set goals for their next steps. I’ve adopted a lot of these coaching skills in my teaching.

So, in summary, if you think I can help, please do not hestitate to get in touch. I’ve been around schools and children/young people for a long time and have experienced a lot. Of course, each individual is different but I believe that nearly all good teaching and coaching comes from a place of safety and trust which I prioritise as a part of my process.