Who We Are

  • What is Dyslexia?

    Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty (Spld) which affects the acquisition of fluent literacy skills.

    Dyslexia has many features, both positive and challenging. It occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels. As we know from some of the greatest thinkers and entrepreneurs, it can be a creative strength and a source of unique innovative thinking.

  • Welcoming place that engages each child.

    The Bloomfield Learning Centre has been helping children with dyslexia since 1973.
    Since becoming a charity in 1993, we have assessed more than 2,000 children and taught 3,000 to read. We are proud to claim many successful Londoners amongst our alumni, teachers, journalists, computer scientists and engineers.
  • What is our Mission?

    • Teach Young People to Read

      To give all our pupils the chance to achieve their potential

    • Keep Children in School

      To equip them with the literacy skills they need to cope in the classroom

    • Instil Confidence and Self-Esteem

      To show all they can succeed. They can pass their GCSEs and progress to higher education

    • Diagnose academic strengths and weaknesses

      Assess all those referred to us; provide DSA reports for exam concessions and work place assessments for young adults

    • Support Parents

      To listen and discuss. To support parents in school meetings and in their applications to schools and for EHC Plans

    • Spread Dyslexia Awareness

      By welcoming visitors to the Centre and the provision of dyslexia-awareness training

    • Jason Monaghan
      Administration and Finance Manager
    • Jane Orr
      Head teacher
    • Stamatia Ntetsika
      BEd, QTS, MA (SpLD)(OCR 7) AMBDA APC (Patoss)

      Stamatia’s dream as a child had always been to become a teacher and it came true when she gained her Bachelor’s degree in Primary Education from Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece. During the last two years of her undergraduate studies, she received training in Therapeutic Horse Riding and got impressed by the beneficial aspects of horse riding for pupils with special needs.

      She strongly believes that every child deserves at least one adult who believes in them. Her dream is to help her pupils reach their full potential. She knows that to be a good teacher, one also needs to be a good student. That’s why she decided to come to London and earn a MA degree in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) from UCL. She is an Associate Member of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA), a Professional Member of Patoss and holds an Assessment Practising Certificate from Patoss. She is currently enrolled in a L5 course for Dyscalculia organised by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA).

      Stamatia’s favourite inspirational quote: “If a child cannot learn in the way we teach, we must teach in a way the child can learn” by Ignacio Estrada

    • Ellen Whelan
      BA(Hons) PGCE MA (Spld)(OCR 7) AMBDA APC (Patoss)

      Ellen gained a Master’s with distinction in Specific Learning Difficulties from UCL’s London Institute of Education in 2013, having retrained from her role as a French and Spanish teacher.

      She joined the Bloomfield Learning Centre in 2014 and has conducted over 500 specialist assessments in all age ranges. She has worked as a marker on the UCL level 7 specialist assessor program and recently took the role of Assessment Consultant at Bloomfield.

      She is also registered with Student Finance England as a one-to-one specialist study skills and strategies tutor with ten years of experience supporting undergraduate/ postgraduate students in a range of subject areas.

      Ellen has a particular interest in ADHD and is a mother of three neurodiverse grown-up children. She loves to travel to unusual destinations with her husband and channels her abundant energy into long walks and a daily 10k run.

    • Rosey McCracken
      MA RSA PGCE Dip Spld(OCR 7) MSc APC (Patoss)

      As an artist with dyspraxia, Rosey is particularly sensitive to students struggling with co-occuring learning difficulties.

      She has enjoyed a long and varied career in specialist teaching and assessing. She completed dyslexia training at the Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre in 1998 and joined the Bloomfield Learning Centre in 1999.

      Since that time, she has worked in a variety of part-time teaching roles, both at the Bloomfield and elsewhere. Having spent several years teaching 6-18 year olds with a range of specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and autistic spectrum disorder, she has now chosen to specialize in assessment and study skills.

      Rosey currently works at Greenwich University and the Royal College of Art. She was awarded her MSc in psychology in 2014 and is currently researching for a PHD.

    • Sarah Bevan
      BSc PGCE Dip SpLD(OCR 7) (Hornsby) AMBDA SpLD APC (Patoss)

      Sarah is an experienced and empathetic assessor. She is a mentor for PATOSS (the Professional Association of Teaching of Specific Learning Difficulties) helping train newly qualified assessors.

      Sarah qualified as a dyslexia teacher in 2001 with a diploma in Spld from the world renowned Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre.

      Following a long career in primary and literacy teaching, she joined the Bloomfield team in 2003.

      She has carried out in excess of 600 specialist teacher assessments, for students aged between 6 and 20 years. Her assessments have been used for diagnosis, to inform teaching plans, to support applications for exam access arrangements, to support DSA applications and as evidence for Local Education Authority Education panels awarding Education and Health Care plans (EHCPs).

    • Lucy Taylor
      BA(Hons) RSA Dip. Spld(OCR 7) (Hornsby) APC (Patoss)

      Lucy is a dynamic and innovative literacy teacher with a background in Teaching English as a Second Language and Adult Literacy.

      She completed her dyslexia qualification at the Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre, extending her knowledge at Bath Spa University where she advanced her assessment skills on the specialist dyslexia course, The Effective Assessment Report. She also qualified as a Sounds-Write teacher, a highly effective synthetic phonics programme.

      Lucy joined the team at the Bloomfield in 2012. As well as providing individual multi-sensory tuition for children and young adults, she plays a leading role in the Bloomfield “out-reach” service providing literacy, study skills, screening and full assessments in a number of London schools.

    • Hema Desai
      BA Hlth Sc Sp Path (Hons) Dip SpLD (OCR 7) APC (PATOSS)

      Hema qualified as a speech and language therapist at Charles Sturt University in Australia. Whilst working as a speech therapist she became increasingly aware that children with speech delay often go on to struggle with the acquisition of literacy.

      With this in mind, she went on to qualify as a specialist dyslexia teacher achieving OCR level 7 in teaching and assessing learners with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties.

      Hema has worked in a range of settings, including Fairley House School in London, where she was the Lead Speech and Language Therapist and a specialist teacher/assessor. She has also been involved with tutoring educational professionals completing their Level 5 diploma in Spld.

      Hema joined the Bloomfield team in 2016.

    • Jane Cousins
      BA (QTS), National Award for SENCo Accreditation, Dip SpLD (OCR Level 7), APC (Patoss) CELTA

      Having been a Primary School Teacher for 20 years and SENCo for 12 years, Jane trained as a Specialist Teacher and achieved the OCR level 7 in teaching and assessing learners with dyslexia in December 2018. 

      In her teaching career, Jane has taught children across the Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2 and lower Key Stage 3.  She has also utilised her CELTA qualification working as an English teacher in The International Taiwanese School of Malaysia.  For the past five years she has focussed on teaching children with specific learning difficulties.

      As a Senior Leader and SENCo, she has worked tirelessly to ensure that children’s needs are identified as early as possible and support has been put in place.

      Jane joined The Bloomfield Learning Centre in January 2019 as a Specialist Teacher and Assessor, specialising in the primary age range.

       

    • Harriet Palmer
      BA(Hons), PGCE, OCR Dip SpLD

      Harriet was a primary school teacher for several years before training as a specialist teacher at the Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre in 1998. There she gained the OCR level 7 qualification in teaching and assessing learners with dyslexia. Since then she has taught at two London dyslexia centres and the charity London Action Trust, where she worked with young offenders and ex offenders with dyslexia. Harriet has taught part time at the Bloomfield Learning Centre since 2018. She really enjoys watching students make progress and start to gain confidence through 1-1 lessons. Harriet is a member of Patoss

    • Stamatia Ntetsika
      BEd, QTS, MA (SpLD)(OCR 7) AMBDA APC (Patoss)

      Stamatia’s dream as a child had always been to become a teacher and it came true when she gained her Bachelor’s degree in Primary Education from Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece. During the last two years of her undergraduate studies, she received training in Therapeutic Horse Riding and got impressed by the beneficial aspects of horse riding for pupils with special needs.

      She strongly believes that every child deserves at least one adult who believes in them. Her dream is to help her pupils reach their full potential. She knows that to be a good teacher, one also needs to be a good student. That’s why she decided to come to London and earn a MA degree in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) from UCL. She is an Associate Member of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA), a Professional Member of Patoss and holds an Assessment Practising Certificate from Patoss. She is currently enrolled in a L5 course for Dyscalculia organised by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA).

      Stamatia’s favourite inspirational quote: “If a child cannot learn in the way we teach, we must teach in a way the child can learn” by Ignacio Estrada

    • Zoe Solanki
      BSc (Hons), PGCE, OCR 5 Dip (SpLD), OCR 7 Dip (SpLD)
      Originally a Science teacher Zoe retrained as a Specialist Teacher and Assessor, graduating with an OCR Level 7 Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties.
      She joined Bloomfield in 2021 having previously worked in a number of different settings. She is also a qualified Sounds-Write teacher, a highly effective synthetics programme.
    • Ellen Whelan
      BA(Hons) PGCE MA (Spld)(OCR 7) AMBDA APC (Patoss)

      Ellen gained a Master’s with distinction in Specific Learning Difficulties from UCL’s London Institute of Education in 2013, having retrained from her role as a French and Spanish teacher.

      She joined the Bloomfield Learning Centre in 2014 and has conducted over 500 specialist assessments in all age ranges. She has worked as a marker on the UCL level 7 specialist assessor program and recently took the role of Assessment Consultant at Bloomfield.

      She is also registered with Student Finance England as a one-to-one specialist study skills and strategies tutor with ten years of experience supporting undergraduate/ postgraduate students in a range of subject areas.

      Ellen has a particular interest in ADHD and is a mother of three neurodiverse grown-up children. She loves to travel to unusual destinations with her husband and channels her abundant energy into long walks and a daily 10k run.

    • Sarah Horner
      BA(Hons) PGCE Dip SpLD(OCR 7) AMBDA

      Initially a primary teacher, Sarah has worked as a specialist teacher for many years. She initially trained with the Hornsby International Dyslexia Association and subsequently with the Greenwich STEP team to gain the OCR Level 7 SpLD qualification.
      Sarah currently combines teaching at the Bloomfield Learning Centre with working in a primary school as a specialist teacher and lead in Phonics and Spelling. She also trains teachers and teaching assistants in the Sounds-Write linguistic phonics programme and develops and delivers further professional development for teachers using the programme.

    • Anne Middleton
      BA(Hons) PGCE Dip SpLD AMBDA
    • Lucy Taylor
      BA(Hons) RSA Dip. Spld(OCR 7) (Hornsby) APC (Patoss)

      Lucy is a dynamic and innovative literacy teacher with a background in Teaching English as a Second Language and Adult Literacy.

      She completed her dyslexia qualification at the Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre, extending her knowledge at Bath Spa University where she advanced her assessment skills on the specialist dyslexia course, The Effective Assessment Report. She also qualified as a Sounds-Write teacher, a highly effective synthetic phonics programme.

      Lucy joined the team at the Bloomfield in 2012. As well as providing individual multi-sensory tuition for children and young adults, she plays a leading role in the Bloomfield “out-reach” service providing literacy, study skills, screening and full assessments in a number of London schools.

    • Jane Cousins
      BA (QTS), National Award for SENCo Accreditation, Dip SpLD (OCR Level 7), APC (Patoss) CELTA

      Having been a Primary School Teacher for 20 years and SENCo for 12 years, Jane trained as a Specialist Teacher and achieved the OCR level 7 in teaching and assessing learners with dyslexia in December 2018. 

      In her teaching career, Jane has taught children across the Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2 and lower Key Stage 3.  She has also utilised her CELTA qualification working as an English teacher in The International Taiwanese School of Malaysia.  For the past five years she has focussed on teaching children with specific learning difficulties.

      As a Senior Leader and SENCo, she has worked tirelessly to ensure that children’s needs are identified as early as possible and support has been put in place.

      Jane joined The Bloomfield Learning Centre in January 2019 as a Specialist Teacher and Assessor, specialising in the primary age range.