HANDWRITING

Amanda has achieved more than we ever could have imagined in the nine months she has worked with Ryan. He struggled to write his own name initially and is now quickly producing legible script. He thoroughly enjoys his sessions with Amanda and his self-confidence has soared. I'm so thankful we found her. Amanda has a true dedication to her work and the children. I could not recommend anyone more highly. We are truly thrilled with his progress. From the Mother of a child starting at The American School:June 2010

Our dyspraxic daughter started attending lessons with Amanda when she was eight and still struggling to write. Thanks to Amanda's patience and perseverance she has steadily improved and now achieves a clearly readable cursive script. I have no doubt that she would have continued to struggle without Amanda's help and expertise and Amanda's advice has been invaluable in enabling her to make significant progress at school. From parents of a child at The Cavendish: May 2009

Dear Amanda

We are thrilled with the progress Ben has made with his handwriting technique since he came under your tutelage. When you took him on last September, Ben's writing was virtually illegible and very childlike, which we assumed was a permanent feature of his dyslexia/dyspraxia. We noticed immediate improvement once you started him using a calligraphy pen, and now, just three months later, he writes beautifully even with a biro. Frankly, had we not seen it with our own eyes, we would have not believed such progress possible.

Perhaps the best testimonial comes from Ben's classmates who constantly tell him that his writing is now the best in the class. In fact one friend, who shall remain nameless, was so impressed that she couldn't resist "kidnapping" his beloved calligraphy pen.

So a big thank you because your input has contributed to an enormous turnaround in Ben's performance at Kew College, and he is a much happier and more confident child as a result. And we are much happier parents! kind regards, Mark & Michelle From parents: December 2008

Dear Amanda
Thankyou very much for teaching me to read, write and spell. Also, for helping me with my handwriting I hope you have a happy christmas. Love Josh A handwritten card : December 2007

Dear Amanda,

We feel so privileged and grateful for everything that you have done for Josh over the past few years. We have no doubt that he would still be struggling at school if it wasn’t for your exceptional teaching.
On a personal level, I will miss your excellent ‘input’ and guidance for me as a parent re. how to help our son. We sincerely wish you every success with your business and happiness in the future. We will keep in touch. A personal letter: December 2007

What I mean is you are so dedicated and so concerned for my son to get it right.  He loves you as well and knows you really care.  He really doesn't want to give up! An email: December 2007

TOUCH TYPING

Dear Amanda, Theo has been transformed by his session with you. He now uses his lap top at school and for his home work, he raises his wrists, gets quickly into a new document, saves his work and so on. You gave enormously practical advice to us about what equipment he needs, how to work effectively in the class room and how to make templates for tables and written work. I was so proud of his first typed essay which was of course neat, beautifully spelt, more detailed and coherently argued. He spent no time at all settling down to his work and found it much easier to review his thoughts and commit them to paper in such a legible form. Thank you very much indeed for your dedicated professional and kind approach, so helpful to him and to me. An email: March 2010

Flynn started typing lessons at Amanda McLeod’s centre with low accuracy, looking at his fingers and a speed of 12 words per minute. He progressed to 90% accuracy and left McLeod’s with an average of 29 words per minute and peak of 51. As a result of these lessons, Flynn is competently able to use his laptop in the classroom. Amanda was always available to talk about my son outside the lesson time. She puts the children’s needs first, even if that may not be to her advantage. She takes pride in creating a fun learning environment and promotes learning through positive praise. Amanda keeps the size of her groups small. She explains why something should be done in a particular way, believing students learn quicker, and more thoroughly, if they comprehend the reasons behind her methods.   

From Elle Macpherson:March 2010

Amanda McLeod is a lovely teacher to encourage one's child to use touch typing. She is totally approachable, always willing to speak on the phone and explain how her teaching operates and Ben always looked forward to his sessions. Having started in August 2009, Ben now manages very well using his laptop at school (Jan 2010). We are all staggered at how he has progressed to suddenly typing, printing and organising his work - it's wonderful! So thank you Amanda for all your efforts as he now uses the laptop for all lessons and preps. Ben himself is thrilled too and so much more satisfied with the work that he produces.  From a Mother: February 2010

'My 12 year old son had a very happy half-term week sorting out bad habits which had crept into his  touch typing with Amanda. She took great trouble and he received a good deal of individual attention. The airy, colourful atmosphere was most agreeable and he found what might have been a rather dull process great fun. Her positive, cheerful atttitude helped him acheive his goal pretty effortlessly. I would thoroughly recommend her courses to anyone.' Good luck with it all. You may see my younger son some time soon! From a Mother: October 2009

My daughter Michaela who is dyslexic have received typing lessons from Amanda for just over a year. This has helped her tremendously in literacy and busted her confidence a great deal too. She has almost "out grown" her dyslexia, which only I believed was possible. Now she only occasionally makes a spelling mistake, where as before she only occasionally spelled difficult words correct. She has progressed beyond belief and can now do home work practically unaided. I am not saying this is entirely down to Amanda efforts alone, but it certainly helped her in so many ways over come her reading and spelling difficulties. She can now read Harry Potter, where as before she could only read simple children's books. Has it been worth it? Yes, absolutely. From a Mother: September 2009 

I am dyslexic and I find spelling really hard, so my mum and dad had the idea that I should learn to touch-type. We found Amanda and she taught me well and now I can touch-type. I find this talent really useful because I now type a lot of my school work and I can use spell check which helps people read what I have written.

Amanda teaches us really well, she is patient and kind, and if we are stuck on a word she helps us. As well as that, at the end of the lesson for about 5 to 10 minutes we get to play on some games which is something fun to look forward to.

Amanda McLeod has been teaching my daughter Esme to touch type for the past year. In this time she has achieved a fairly accurate 24 wpm which allows her to complete a good deal of her work on the computer; as she is dyslexic this is quite an advantage, with regard to legibility and utilising spell check. It is a very late evening for my 9 year old after school and a lengthy journey, yet Esme goes willingly each week and I expect that has a good deal to do with Amanda’s cheerful character and encouragement.  From a Mother and daughter at The Cavendish: June 2009

Amanda is one of a kind teacher and will encourage you to do the hardest you can. The lessons are not only for touchtyping but for spelling and for having fun at the same time. I didn't thing it was possible but Amanda has has managed to pull it off.

If you are willing to learn to touchtype then it is much easier than when you do not want to learn. If you have a bad habit then Amanda will make you do it again and again till you get it right then she will watch to make sure that you get it right. Amanda has a limit for the work and so if you get lower than 90% then she will make it do it again.

At the end of the lessons she will give you 10-15 minutes to play a game. There is a range of games that you can choose from which are all fun. Some help you with your maths, some that make you use your brain to find clues and some that are just fun.

As a child you may not think that touchtyping will be helpful but I'm in year 8 now and I have got to do loads of essays and projects which all have to be done on the computer. It will also stay in your brain for the rest of your life and so one day it could help you with your job.

If you are dyslexic then the touchtyping will help because there are dictations which help you with your spelling. Even if you are not dyslexic it still helps you with spelling.

If you want to learn to touchtype I differently recommend her. It may be hard at first but it is all worth it in the end. From a child at Newton Prep: December 2008

Dear Amanda
Thankyou for teaching me typing
from Dom  A handwritten card from a child at Fairley House: December 2007

Last Christmas I managed to drag my very reluctant dyslexic and dyspraxic 13 year old son to a typing lesson with Amanda. I don’t know how she does it, but from the first lesson he loved her and enjoyed the lessons. More importantly he happily took on her (very tactfully put) criticisms and did the required practice week by week. A particular problem for him at school is to set down what he knows in logical and detailed sentences, and just half a dozen “creative typing” lessons with Amanda have resulted in him being able to express himself well, and more easily than he can by writing. Now, two terms later, he types well enough for his homework and coursework and will probably type for his essay based GCSE papers.  From a parent: September 2007

...as I mentioned she specialises in helping children with dyslexia and dyspraxia as well as teaching typing. Peter had to be dragged by the collar to see her the first time, but she has a way with them and he really enjoyed going to her after that. More to the point he can type acceptably now too! She’s also very good on feedback and, more often than not, I’d get a phonecall after his lesson to discuss his progress and any little pointers to remind him about. An excerpt from an email: August 2007

LITERACY - BEGINNER READERS

We would especially like to express our appreciation to Mrs. Amanda McLeod. She has helped x achieve goals beyond our expectations. We were consistently impressed by her teaching methods. X always seemed to come away with a complete understanding of the topic. It was obvious that they were not merely doing rote, 'pencil and paper' work in their classroom.
Mrs McLeod was fantastic at focusing our attention on our daughter's strengths. Parents were often called in to hear about what their daughter was doing well. That was always a tremendous boost to our daughter's self-esteem. Any area that needed attention was always approached professionally, and gently. Much to Mrs. McLeod's credit, x has grown as much emotionally, as she has academically.
We feel very fortunate that our daughter's first 'school experience' has been so incredible. Every child should be so lucky. We thank you very much.  From a parent to a headmistress of Queen's Gate School: July 2005

DYSLEXIA

When Ms. McLeod began teaching J, his knowledge of phonics and the skills required to decode print were almost non-existent and he was almost one year behind the national average in terms of achievement. Amanda has systematically taught J all of the rules and skills necessary to break down words, showing an awareness of J's interests to motivate him and an ability to quickly identify if a particular teaching strategy is not appropriate for J, therefore making changes accordingly. Her extremely structured approach to teaching ensures that J does not ever become bored and he is always clear regarding Amanda's expectations and learning objectives. She is able to sustain his concentration throughout the one to one teaching period. Following a consultation at J's school recently, his teachers have assessed him as currently working at slightly above the national average. He has therefore made significant progress over the last year and a half. We are in no doubt that this is largely due to the outstanding teaching ability of Ms. McLeod. Her lessons are always planned and delivered to an extremely high standard with a good balance of fun as well as significant learning for the child. Ms. McLeod is highly professional and has always maintained a regular dialogue with us as parents throughout the past 18 months. Through this process Amanda has guided us as to how we can best help our son at home. A Letter from the Head of a London Nursery School : December 2006

I met Amanda when she was my daughter’s form teacher at Queen's Gate School, London. She proved to be an immensely talented teacher. My daughter improved dramatically that school year, both academically and in terms of maturation.
Amanda has the gift of making learning fun, whilst being tough at the same time. Children naturally love and respect her.
The following year, I had the opportunity to see her work with my daughter again: this time as a private specialist tutor. My daughter was a slow learner and Amanda put her on the Dyslexia Institute Literacy Programme. I found out that Amanda is extremely up to date with this very delicate form of tuition. Again, the improvement was tremendous.
Amanda also taught x to write in a cursive script and her handwriting has become clearer, smaller, neater and joined up.
Amanda takes her profession very seriously and, above all, she enjoys it very much. I am sure every child lucky enough to be taught by Mrs. McLeod will benefit from her teaching, whatever his or her circumstances or needs. Unfortunately, we have moved abroad and x and I miss her already very much. We wish Mrs McLeod the very best for her future.  From a Queen's Gate School parent: July 2006

DYSPRAXIA

She has made tremendous progress in every aspect of school life.
Amanda has played an invaluable part in x's life this year, her dedication and sensitivity have been exemplary. She has been flexible enough to manage changing day-to-day requirements without losing sight of x's IEP targets, and monitoring development throughout.
She has worked with x's therapists and adapted herself, frequently at great inconvenience to herself but always for x's benefit. The difference in x is visible. His/Her cursive writing is better than we could have hoped for and he/she has the confidence to attempt difficult tasks.  From a parent: September 2006

GENERAL

I have no hesitation about recommending Mrs Amanda McLeod. She is an experienced and qualified classroom teacher and also experienced and qualified to work with individuals for literacy, handwriting and touch typing.
She is experienced at working with dyslexic and dyspraxic children and is also familiar in working in close cooperation with parents. She is reliable, honest and highly trustworthy.  From a colleague: October2007