Sarah Beard
Dyslexia Assessor and Dyslexia Specialist Tutor, Trainer and Centre Director.
Sarah is the founder and director of SJB Assessments and Dyslexia Solutions Online ( formerly dittas). She is a Dyslexia Consultant with extensive experience teaching and assessing learners of all ages, having worked for over thirty years supporting dyslexic learners, including many years in a College of Further Education. Sarah also lectures locally and nationally on the subject of dyslexia and SpLD and has trained over 300 teachers to become dyslexia specialists in teaching and assessing students with SpLD (Dyslexia). She was a joint founder of the PAPAA course, a nationally recognised qualification in assessing Access Arrangements. Sarah offers assessments for all ages and tutors children aged 6-14. She regularly attends training events to supplement her Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and believes that you never stop learning.
In addition to SJB assessments, Sarah runs Dyslexia Solutions Online, the online tutor agency for dyslexia specialist tuition and Dittas training, which involves a membership and CPD courses for other dyslexia assessors and tutors.
Sarah has three dyslexic children of her own (all adults now), so she understands the struggle that parents have with getting their child’s needs recognised. She is passionate about helping dyslexic students and those who support them. When you call, Sarah will always be the first person you speak to and is happy to answer any questions you may have.
Cathy
Dyslexia Assessor
APC – Assessor for all ages, including DSA, Workplace and Exam Access Arrangements
Cathy returned to teaching over fiteeen years ago as a result of seeing how learners with SpLDs often struggled to have their difficulties recognised.
She has now been assessing both children and adults for a number of years, including assessing for DSA, Workplace and Exam Access Arrangements. Cathy has conducted many assessments for dittas over a period of eight years and works from a business centre in Croydon.
Tara
Dyslexia Assessor
Tara has over 20 years of experience as a primary school teacher. She has held various roles from class teacher to head of school. Tara was inclusion lead for many years and it was in this role she found that she was supporting many children who had dyslexia along with their class teachers. She is now a full-time private dyslexia tutor and assessor for primary and secondary students.
Karen
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor
Karen developed her interests in dyslexia and specific learning difficulties when working within the Special Educational Needs Department of a large secondary school. Karen supported students in the classroom as well as delivering 1-2-1 and small group tuition daily.
Karen is a qualified Specialist Teacher in Dyslexia and Specific Learning Difficulties (Level 5) and recently qualified as an Assessor of Learners with Dyslexia/Specific Learning Difficulties (Level 7). She has been awarded her Assessing Practicing Certificate through PATOSS (Professional Association of teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties).
"Being able to provide specialist 1:2:1 teaching is extremely rewarding. The teaching I provide is multisensory, child-centered, and adaptable, as well as being fun and positive. I believe using our senses and strengths improves learning, making learning more memorable and enjoyable."
Penny
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor
Penny is a qualified dyslexia specialist and has over 16 years’ experience working in education, where she delivers interventions daily to learners age 5 – 11 years old.
She has been awarded her teaching practice certificate from PATOSS (the Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties) and she supports learners through online tutoring by creating an individualised programme to meet their needs and interests.
Penny's aim and passion is to help build learners’ self-esteem and confidence, discover the way they learn best and enable them to reach their full potential.
Mary
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor
Mary has over 20 years’ experience working as a specialist SpLD teacher in the private and state schools’ sectors, supporting students aged 5 to 14 with both literacy and maths. She is now working as a private tutor and believes that it is important to bolster students’ confidence and self-esteem. Her lessons are personalised for pupils to help them study in the way best suited to their learning styles, and include interactive and fun activities.
Luthfa
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor
Luthfa has over 13 years of expertise as a primary school teacher and SEND intervention lead in schools around East London. She has spent this time working directly with students of all learning abilities and categories, including those who have autism, down syndrome, physical, and sensory impairments. She now has knowledge of various disabilities and requirements, which enables her to provide individualised and pupil-centred plans. Luthfa works part-time as a private dyslexia tutor for primary and secondary students in addition to her job as an exam access arrangements assessor. She provides all her students with a multisensory, structured, cumulative, and phonically based programme.
English is Luthfa's area of expertise and focus, and as a former English Coordinator, Luthfa observed that students struggled with literacy as opposed to other subjects. To better comprehend and support her learners, she felt compelled to finish a Masters in Special and Inclusive Education and a Level 7 Postgraduate Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia).
Nicola Howard
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor
Nicola has over 15 years teaching experience working first in Further Education and then in Primary Schools. As a class teacher, she was particularly passionate about finding the most effective way to help learners who found it challenging to develop foundational literacy skills. She decided to specialise in supporting learners with literacy difficulties, became Reading, Phonics and Intervention Lead Teacher at her school and qualified as a Specialist Teacher/Assessor of Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties.
She loves working 1:1 with learners as she is able to find out about their unique strengths, difficulties and learning styles to be able to give them the tailored and high-quality support that they need to make great progress in their learning and confidence.
In her free time, when she is not reading, she loves spending time cliff-top walking, paddle-boarding and bird-watching (ideally with a nice cup of coffee!).
Nicola Harbisher
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor
Nicola has over 20 years’ experience of working in secondary schools as a French and Spanish teacher and, more recently, as a Specialist Teacher delivering 1-2-1 Literacy and Study Skills Interventions.
Nicola first became interested in dyslexia when she, herself, was diagnosed in her final year at the University of St Andrews. Then, some years later, having a daughter with dyslexia prompted her to train at UCL to become a Specialist Teacher in Dyslexia (Level 5) and a Dyslexia Assessor (Level 7). Nicola has been awarded her Assessing Practising Certificate through the British Dyslexia Association.
Combining both her empathy from personal experience with her professional background, Nicola is passionate about supporting her students and equipping them with the skills to become confident and independent learners. Lessons are bespoke, fun, multi-sensory, and learner-led and they follow current evidence-based practices.
Lelah
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor
Lelah is a qualified dyslexia specialist with many years of experience supporting children and young people with special educational needs, working across a range of settings from primary schools through to higher education. She works closely with learners and their families to provide calm, personalised support that builds confidence, understanding, and independence. Lelah’s specialisms include dyslexia, literacy, and exam access arrangements. She holds advanced qualifications in both teaching and assessing learners with dyslexia and currently works as an Exam Access Arrangements Assessor and Study Skills Tutor.
Karen
Specialises in GCSE English Language
Karen has 19 years of teaching experience as a secondary school English teacher, including 3 years at the Head of Department level. Karen became a specialist teacher and assessor in 2021 and since then has used her teaching skills from the classroom to support neurodiverse students and plan bespoke lessons, responding to their individual needs, as well as developing their self-confidence and skills of resilience.
Karen tutors all ages at Secondary school but in particular, specialises in GCSE English Language.
Francesca
Speech and Language Therapist
Francesca is a Speech and Language Therapist who offers Speech and Language Therapy and Speech and Language Assessments. She works in a number of london and Kent schools with children of all ages and has extensive experience in ASD
Kate
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor and English as an Additional Language (EAL)
I am a qualified primary school teacher with a vast range of teaching experience, spanning from primary school to adults. By working in several primary schools, secondary schools, a private language school in Italy and as a self-employed tutor to young adults at a post-16 provision, I am experienced in tailoring my practice and pedagogy to the needs and demands of the individual and setting. Within my career, I have specialised in English as an Additional Language (EAL) and Dyslexia.
.png)
Helen
Dyslexia Specialist Tutor
Coming from a large teaching family, I started my teaching career 35 years ago and have held roles of English Lead, SENCO, deputy headteacher and headteacher in various settings. I then decided to return to university to extend my own expertise so that I could specialise in teaching and assessing children who have a specific learning difficulty.
As a child, I hated reading. One inspirational teacher turned the key for me, turning me into an avid reader. Now, as a specialist teacher, I understand that alongside having the specialist skills and knowledge to tutor dyslexic children, I also understand the need to turn that key and make learning engaging, relevant, fun, and inspiring. Teaching online is a perfect vehicle for this and I love it.
In my spare time, I play the flute and keyboard and love singing in choirs. I also love hiking in the countryside, travelling, cooking, sewing and learning Spanish.