Profile

I am a Psychology graduate with an MA (Distinction) in Writing. Conscientious, empathetic, and with excellent communication skills,I haveexperience in a wide variety of working environments. My proven track record of strong organisational, administrative skills, customer relation building and negotiation skills has brought value to each of my roles in the workplace. As a freelance journalistI am keen to put my experience and knowledge to use within the wider community.

Experience

Learner Support Assistant, City College, SheffieldSeptember 2015-present

  • Functional skills, IT andclassroom support using appropriate techniques with students who have learning/behavioural challenges.
  • One to one work, note-taking, health and hygiene support.
  • Reading/supporting in exams. Record student progress. Work closely with SEND team
  • Maintain safe and healthy environment.

Lunch Club Manager, St Mary’s Bramall Lane, SheffieldJan 2010- present

  • Co-ordinate regular trips, special events, transport and entertainment for 60+ weekly attendees between ages of 65 and 95.
  • Attend to budgets, administration and funding applications. Document activities, produce quarterly schedule and newsletter.
  • Recruit and manage volunteers, coordinate staff training, meetings andrisk assessments.
  • Liaise with Sheffield City Council, Social Workers, other professional bodies, families, carers and staff at St Mary’s.

Creative Writing Tutor, Meersbrook Bank School, SheffieldMarch 2014-April 2015

  • Weekly sessions with small group of Y6 pupils. I prepare and deliver the sessions, focusing on the key elements of writing, exploring different forms, making a space to experiment with ideas. The pupils work individually and in a group with an end goal of producingdisplays and a school writing and graphic publication.

Freelance Journalist, Heeley Voice, SheffieldJune 2009-present

  • Regular feature writing, interviews and photographs for a Sheffield magazine. My proposals are often arts-focused though I cover a range of contemporary issues in the local community.

ESOL Teacher, REEP, Carver Street, SheffieldJan 2008-April 2009

  • Planning and delivering lessons in English as a Second Language (ESOL) to groups of adults, and individuals, with different nationalities, often refugees or asylum seekers,from beginner to proficiency levels.

Senior Network Engineer, UUNet/WCOM, NetherlandsJan 1999-June 2003

  • Monitor, troubleshoot, maintain the European network. Deploy and decommission equipment. Global rollouts, up/downgrades.

PC Support Technician, ESOC, GermanyJan 1998-Jan 1999

  • Support of Microsoft and mail applications, operating systems, printer and scanners. Software builds, installs and upgrades.

Conformance Testing Engineer, Cazenove, LondonJune 1996-August 1997

  • Testing stockbrokers’ hardware and software platforms.

TEFL teacher Schools in London and SpainJan 1992-Sep 1993

  • Preparing and delivering English lessons to a wide range of nationalities, ages and skill sets.

Social Care Worker, Hounslow Council, LondonJan 1988-Dec 1991

  • Keywork with clients who had physical/learning disabilities, mental health issues. Event organization, timetabling, budgeting.

Education

MA (Distinction) Writing, Sheffield Hallam UniversityJan 2012-June2015

Modules included: short story, script and ‘What is Contemporary?’ For my full MA I completed a collection of short stories. I also edited the Hallam yearly anthology, ‘Matter’, and worked as editor and proofreader for the MA Newsletter.

Furniture Production L2, Sheffield CollegeSep 2010-June2011

I learnt: hand and machinery skills, furniture design, technical drawing. I made a spice rack, a table and a bedside table with a drawer.

Feature Writing Diploma (Distinction), London School of JournalismJune 2009

I learnt to write: good copy, news and in-depth features, profiles, reports and reviews.

TEFL, York House, Barcelona, Spain1991

Course included: lesson plans, developing teaching materials, language awareness and evaluation.

BSc (HONS) Psychology, Surrey University1985-1989

Modules included: cognitive, developmental, behavioural and social psychology, sex and gender, and race.

Skillsand Achievements

Client Focussed

As a PC Support Technician at ESOC I was the first line of support to all customers. I provided clear consistent advice dealing professionally with each issue on an individual basis. I often needed to prioritise calls and I worked over the phone, via email and face to face with clients,focusing on prompt problem solving and resolution and delivering high quality results in the required timeframes.

Communication

With my MA, feature writing, and writing of: reports, lesson plans, funding applications, newsletters and technical reports, my written communication skills and attention to detail are finely tuned. And the substantial amount of time I have spent with people with disabilities, the elderly and people whose first language is not English, has helped develop my oral (and aural) communication skills; active listening, and speaking clearly and to the point.

Organisation

My writing - MA and feature - is largely unsupervised work, which must be absolutely accurate. Previous TESOL and journalism work required working to strict deadlines. I have learnt to multi-task and plan ahead, therefore predicting any clash of deadlines and ensuring time is made to carry out each job effectively. At Hallam University I edited the termly newsletter and sub-edited the yearly anthology. I am currently Sheffield editor of an arts and culture magazine.

Initiative

Aspart of a newly created small team at St Mary’s we needed to play to each other’s strengths and weaknesses so spent time getting to know each other in order to share out objectives as best suited to individual skill sets. Having been set a few goals by our manager we developed our own strategy for success, working practices and promoted the community outreach of St Mary’s. We worked creatively towards our challenges, gave and received constructive feedback, and set high expectations, yet maintained flexibility when circumstances frequently changed with regards to budget or received information.

Leadership

As lunch club manager I endeavour to provide an environment where my team of volunteers are committed to a customer-focused environment. I provide advice and guidance to customers, on practical and personal matters and negotiate on their behalf with key workers, other professional bodies and at times friends and family. I optimise the different skills and experiences individuals have brought to the organisation. I encourage team decisions and make time to listen to ideas from others.

Interests and Achievements

I am working on my first collection of short stories and have had a number of them published in anthologies and magazines. I have a photography business, selling on-line and exhibiting in galleries. I particularly enjoy portraiture.I am an oral history volunteer in a local hospice where I also teach creative writing.

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