Family Education Coaching
I don't just want your child to 'get better grades'; I want to help you build a foundation of academic happiness that opens doors for their entire future.
What can Family Education Coaching offer you?
Beyond the classroom, I am a firm believer in the power of resilience and self-belief. I know that success is rarely about raw talent—it’s about the right mindset and a solid support system.
The Academic Foundations
I provide specialist knowledge development and coaching in maths, reading, and writing to prepare your child for lessons and prevent gaps from forming or closing gaps that have already formed.
We can explore:
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Phonics and Early Reading: A cornerstone to academic success. By building your knowledge, we can maximise the time spent reading with your child and accelerate their progress
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Modelled teaching: I can model short teaching lessons with your child. We can discuss the subtleties and the elements you can ‘magpie’ for your own interactions
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1:1 teaching: Although this is not the ‘bread and butter’ of my vision and what I offer, I have some capacity for 1:1 teaching
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Pre-Teaching: Introduces key concepts before the lesson, maximising the impact of the actual lesson and boosting their learning potential. It empowers the child to feel like an "expert" in class, boosting their confidence
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Gap Analysis: An analysis of your child’s knowledge and attainment. Is your child missing any foundational knowledge?
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Multi-Sensory Literacy: Using physical or visual methods to help with spelling or reading for children who don't thrive with traditional "look-cover-write-check" method
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Nursery and Preschool: A discussion and coaching around how to get your child ready for school - setting secure foundations - ready to learn
The Mindset Coach
I help to build the resilience and self-belief your child needs make the most of their education - the psychological "readiness" to learn.
We can explore:
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Growth Mindset: This builds the crucial self-belief that children need. The power of ‘yet’. There are fantastic studies on this
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Empowering and Self-belief: Discuss and develop opportunities and experiences that build a positive ‘can-do’ attitude that your child can take into the classroom and the wider world
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Anxiety Regulation: Providing tools for children who experience anxiety around school and tools for parents to aid their child – maths, tests and friendship anxiety or school refusal
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Metacognition Skills: Helping children understand how they think, so they can identify when they are stuck and why
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Mistake Celebration: Shifting the focus from the "correct answer" to the "beauty of the process," building the resilience to fail and try again
My Approach
The Home-School Bridge
I can provide bespoke strategies for you to support learning at home in a way that suits your family – we can make learning ‘invisible’ and low stress.
We can explore:
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Your Home Environment: Assess and adapt your home environment for academic exposure and success focusing on recall and retention
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Questioning: Arm you with key questions that develop critical and creative thinking and build self-confidence
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Homework: Create a personalised routine that builds understanding and reduces friction between you and your child
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SEN: advice and guidance for supporting children with Special Educational Needs at home - e.g. dyslexia
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Everyday Situations: Recommend everyday situations that expose and develop knowledge and thinking linked to academic and/or social development
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Gamifying the Routine: Finding opportunities to introduce low-pressure opportunities for mental maths or vocabulary building
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Resource Building: Provide a quality list of books, apps, and physical tools tailored specifically to their child's current learning
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Digital Balance: Coaching on how to use technology as a learning tool
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Learning Preferences: Develop your understanding of how children learn and the term ‘metacognition’
The Parent Advocate
I can guide you through your child’s education.
We can explore:
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The Curriculum: Make sense of the curriculum to build a better understanding of what your child learns in school and why
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Your Child’s School: Unpick the school’s approach to reading, writing and maths to understand how they implement the curriculum in school
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School Understanding: What does school actually look like for my child?
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School Reports: Discuss your child’s school reports for a deeper understanding
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SEN: Explore special educational needs and disability (SEND) and what this means or might mean for you and what it looks like for your child in the classroom
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School Interventions: Discuss any school support that your child is receiving, such as Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or Provision Maps
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Decipher Data: Help you understand standardized test scores (like SATs or Phonics Screening) and what they actually mean for your child’s progress
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School Transitions: Navigate and support the move between Nursery → Reception → Key Stage 1 → Key Stage 2 → Key Stage 3. These can often be high-anxiety periods for parents
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School Polices: Build a better understanding of school policies on behaviour, homework, or bullying, to name but a few and how to engage with them constructively
Grammar Schools 11+
My values at Family Education Coaching align with Colyton Grammar School. They use the ‘Future Stories Community Enterprise’ Ltd (FSCE) Entrance Test for their Year 7 entry test and here’s what they say about it -
'It is designed to assess a child’s academic ability in the most holistic manner permissible, rather than just through rote learning.
… the test aims to remove any need for tutoring. Instead, it emphasises the excellent work that children do at primary school and explores a child's innate ability, curiosity and problem-solving skills.
This move away from tutoring is essential in ensuring that we select children who will be best placed to thrive in our challenging and enriching school environment.'
Their emphasis had moved away from tutoring and is geared towards the child as a whole. If we can prepare your child by nurturing their curiosity, critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills, and therefore their self-belief and confidence, then they already have the solid foundations for success in primary school and through into grammar school.
Geographical Coverage
I am based out of Exeter, Devon. For face to face coaching, I generally cover 30 mins drive time. This could include Tiverton, Ilminster, Axminster, Sidmouth, Exmouth and Newton Abbot.
I can however cover a wider area but an additional cost will be involved for the time/expenses taken to accomodate this - see 'Coaching Packages' for more information.
A little more about about Family Education Coaching
Nursery and Pre-school
I offer coaching to parents with children in nursery and preschool. When considering secure foundations and getting our children ‘ready to learn’, this is a great time to start coaching. We can prepare you with the knowledge and understanding of what school and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) will look like for your child and even discuss early reading and phonic techniques.
Secondary and Further Education
My main area of expertise is primary school but there is a lot of crossover between primary and secondary schools. I have vast experience of the foundational knowledge that supports learning in secondary school. If your child lacks this crucial knowledge and didn’t leave primary school with the age-related expectations, this is something we can explore.
If you have questions and/or have concerns about the transition from primary to secondary school, I can help smooth the transition from Year 6 to Year 7 - this could start by focusing on confidence and resilience around SATs.