We recently caught up (virtually of course!) with Ali Pennington, our approved Makaton Partner. We wanted to find out more about her offering and what makes her tick, here’s what she had to say –
Why do you do your job?
“I have supported Makaton users for over 20 years within primary education and have seen first hand how it can support children with their communication and independence, I thrive on supporting others to develop their skills and implement Makaton into their settings.”
Why should schools want to work with you?
“I have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the area of speech-language and communication especially supporting users within education, I offer bespoke training to schools alongside the traditional levels 1-4 training route, I draw on my many years of experience throughout training, sharing resources and practical ways of introducing/expanding the use of Makaton within settings. I also offer free post-training support. All training can be delivered online via Zoom.”
What are you most proud of in your career?
“Training to become a Makaton Tutor is one of my proudest moments, having supported children with speech, language and communication difficulties with the use of Makaton for so many years I am so proud to have built a successful business in the training sector in something I am so passionate about and now being able to share that passion with others by offering Makaton training is just fantastic!”
Do you have any testimonials from your current/past work?
“Ali’s training was excellent. Highly recommend doing this. She made it fun and also meaningful to the work we do at Dimensions. Thank you Ali.” Helen, Dimensions UK
“I have really enjoyed completing Level 1 and 2 training with Ali. I’ve learnt alongside two lovely groups of people and had a brilliant tutor! Thank you, Ali, for sharing your knowledge and experiences, and for your support and enthusiasm ” Michelle – Nursery Teacher, Berkshire
“I had a lovely morning meeting like-minded people and learning some new skills I can implement in my setting. Ali is a wonderful teacher who took her time to make sure we understood the content and how to correctly use the signs. She also put us at ease and made the whole thing a very comfortable and enjoyable experience, especially with it being all online. I would highly recommend.” Rachel, Forest school leader
“Such a lovely training, Ali is so kind and made us feel relaxed and was patient with me trying to work out each sign. Would definitely recommend to everyone! I learnt lots of new signs and feel so much more confident now for when I’m using Makaton within settings. Thank you!” Eleanor, university student
“I have completed all 3 levels with Ali and have attended an Outdoor Practitioners session, I can definitely say that each session was fantastically and expertly delivered. Being able to expand your repertoire of Makaton is highly rewarding and I would recommend that this is the tutor to start/develop that journey with!” Elisa Neath, University student”Really enjoyed training with Ali this afternoon. Was unsure what to expect with it being done via zoom. But it was all made fun and was easy to interact with everyone in the session. Excited to put it all into practice and keen to learn more. Thank you!” Hannah, Lollipop’s Pre-school
Would you like us to share any links to your work?
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDPqoS_ORzi-Va3NtkjLcpA
For more information regarding Makaton and booking a session with Ali, contact us.