BA, PGCE, MA, PG Dip Dyslexia and Dyscalculia, MDG, AMBDA
Hello, I’m Sarah Houdmont, a fully qualified teacher with three decades of experience in primary education. I’ve had the pleasure of working with students from Reception through to Year 6, developing a well-rounded understanding of children’s learning journeys. In recent years I have focused on learning support, working with children with literacy and numeracy difficulties from Early Years to Key Stage 3.
Assessment Practising Certificate (APC) Number : 0123/117 (Dyslexia Guild)
Sarah was supportive and highly knowledgeable from the start of the process. It began with an informal conversation over the phone, where I could ask any questions I needed about the process. Sarah was flexible with the date of the assessment to suit us and our child and organised a location which was familiar to our child. During the assessment, Sarah made our child feel relaxed and safe to get the best of her. Sarah was very quick to return the diagnostic assessment to us which was highly detailed with areas of strength and clear strategies to support our daughter with her learning. I would highly recommend Sarah for the dyslexic assessment as she is approachable, knowledgeable and caring.
Sarah assessed a pupil in my class who had been struggling for some time with her written work and processing skills. It was great to have the opportunity before the assessment to give Sarah my teacher views and share with her insights into how my pupil coped in the classroom. I loved Sarah’s holistic view, and it was lovely to see her considering the whole picture – not just attainment and levels but personality too. As a teacher, it’s important to look at the bigger picture and Sarah definitely did this.
After making a diagnosis, Sarah produced an extremely detailed report which I found so useful. I gained so much knowledge and learnt new strategies which not only benefitted the pupil being assessed but other children in my class. Since the assessment and following Sarah’s expert advice, progress in my pupil’s attainment has been very clear to see. However, more importantly for me as a teacher, the pupil’s confidence and self-esteem increased.
I can’t thank Sarah enough for giving me more insight into dyslexia and sharing valuable strategies which benefit many children in my class.
Our dyslexia assessment with Sarah was worth every penny. Sarah was always quick and responsive in communication and showed empathy and understanding when discussing my son’s difficulties. My son was really positive about his assessment experience, which is a testament to Sarah’s ability to build good rapport to get the best out of him on the day. Sarah provided some initial feedback to school staff which they valued and enabled them to start putting support measures in place. Her report was very thorough and provided a lot of useful information to support us at home and school both now and tin the future. This assessment will prove invaluable in our son’s progress, particularly as he transitions to secondary school. It will also help us to advocate for his needs. Thank you, Sarah!
Sarah conducted an extensive, thorough, and rigorous dyslexia assessment for our daughter. It is of no surprise that she has been given a diagnosis and is very useful moving forward in terms of her further education and support needs. The diagnosis has come as quite a relief for our daughter and has given her many answers as to why things are the way they are and has helped in her feeling less ‘stupid’. She has read the report and reacted with good humour and sensibility when interpreting the results. The fact that she is in the top 1% in the vocabulary subtest and verbal reasoning is very reassuring and fits entirely with where her strengths lie. We appreciate the way this has been executed and thank Sarah for her understanding and compassion whilst working with our daughter.
Sarah completed very detailed assessments for our children’s dyslexia reports. The results of the assessments were then used to target key areas that could be focused on inside and outside of the classroom. Even though the analysis of the assessment for one of our children confirmed that they do not have dyslexia, the results helped to be able to recognise their strengths and weaknesses and this information is used by Sarah in 1-1 support sessions, which have proved to be invaluable.
Sarah Houdmont has been a tremendous help to our child. She took the time to conduct a full assessment, providing us with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia. Her expertise and compassionate approach have been invaluable in supporting our child’s learning and confidence. We highly recommend her services.
We appointed Sarah to undertake a private dyslexia assessment to feed into an EHCP application to secure support for our son’s ADHD, ASD and dyslexia. Our son is an expert at avoiding and delaying tasks that require concentration and sustained mental effort, but Sarah expertly encouraged him through a variety of tests in such a way that he actually enjoyed it! The assessment report was honest, comprehensive and very accurately described our bright but very frustrated boy, and the challenges he faces every day. Sarah clearly explained the test outcomes, how these are related to the ADHD, and most importantly included recommendations for the home and school settings including guidance for specialist teaching, further reading for us as parents, and practical tips & techniques that he could adopt independently. The report was appended to the EHCP application, which was subsequently approved. Sarah was an essential contributor to the ongoing support plan, and I have no hesitation in recommending her to educational institutions or other parents of children with more complex needs.
