Qualified teacher (QTS) · Former SENCO · SEN tutor
Hello, I'm Sophie.
I'm Sophie Winby, a speech and communication specialist. I help young people find their voice — to speak up, be understood, and stop being the quietest person in the room.
Fully qualified teacher (QTS)
The same standard required to teach in any state school. Most tutors don't have it.
PGCE in Secondary Drama
Goldsmiths, University of London. A full teaching qualification, not a tutoring certificate.
Former SENCO
Responsible for the provision, the paperwork and the evidence behind it. It's why I know what schools and local authorities need in writing.
Former Head of Drama
Hampstead Fine Arts College — two years leading the department, in a school with a large proportion of SEN pupils.
Speech and drama specialist
Helping children speak up, be understood, and survive getting it wrong in front of someone. For a child who's gone quiet, that's where everything starts.
LAMDA examiner
I teach LAMDA and I mark it — so I know exactly what a Distinction requires.
My background
Why I do this
I trained as a drama teacher, and I expected to spend my career on plays and performance. What I actually found, in a school where a large proportion of pupils had special educational needs, was something else entirely.
I kept meeting bright children who had quietly decided they were the stupid one. Not because anyone had told them, but because they’d spent years being slowest at the things school measures most. The subject was never really the problem. Being willing to try in front of someone was.
Taking on the SENCO role for the lower school showed me the other half of it: how much depends on paperwork, evidence and someone being prepared to write things down properly. I saw how often families were let down by a form that never got filled in. Now I teach those same children one to one: children whose reading and spelling never match what they can do, autistic children who need lessons to be predictable, children with ADHD who lose marks they had already earned and children who can no longer walk through the school gates.
I teach the way I do because I’ve watched what happens when a child finds their voice first. Everything else gets easier.
How I got here
BA (Hons) English and Drama
Goldsmiths, University of London
Where the two threads of everything I now teach came together: how language works on the page, and how it works out loud.
PGCE in Secondary Drama — Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
Goldsmiths, University of London
A full teaching qualification, not a tutoring certificate. QTS is the same standard required to teach in a state school.
Teacher of Drama
Leigh Stationers’ Academy — two years
My first teaching post after qualifying, and where I first started working closely with pupils who needed something different from what a classroom of thirty could offer.
Teacher, then Head of Drama
Hampstead Fine Arts College — four years
A school where a large proportion of pupils had special educational needs, including two years leading the department. SEN wasn’t the exception in my classroom — it was the norm.
SENCO, lower school
Hampstead Fine Arts College
Responsible for the provision, the paperwork and the evidence behind it. This is where I learned what schools and local authorities actually need to see in writing.
LAMDA tutor and examiner
London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art
I teach LAMDA and I mark it. Having sat on both sides of the table, I know exactly what’s being looked for — and what a Distinction actually requires.
Specialist SEN tutor
Now — online, across the UK
One to one with the children I spent my classroom years wishing I could give a whole hour to. No roster, no handovers — every child works with me.
Qualifications and training
Teaching qualifications
- BA (Hons) English and Drama, Goldsmiths, University of London
- PGCE in Secondary Drama, Goldsmiths, University of London
- Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
- LAMDA tutor and examiner
SEN and safeguarding training
- Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Autism
- ADHD: Sensory Regulation in the Classroom
- Safeguarding Level 2, updated annually
- Enhanced DBS, verified through the Update Service
Results
Every figure below comes from my own students’ results, and I keep the records behind them.
Improved by at least one grade
Every student I’ve taught to exam
Achieved grade 4–8 in GCSE English Language
Grade 4 is a standard pass
Distinction rate across LAMDA candidates
Marked by an external examiner
Students taught
Across LAMDA, GCSE and SEN tuition
GCSE English Language grades achieved
All students I have taught to GCSE English Language exam.
- Grade 81
- Grade 72
- Grade 63
- Grade 51
- Grade 41
Grade 4 counts as a standard pass and is what most sixth forms and colleges ask for. Every student reached at least that.
What happens next
From first call to a 12-week course, taught by me.
A free call
Just you and me, before your child meets me at all. You tell me what’s been happening, what school says, and what you’re hoping for. I’ll tell you how I’d approach it. No cost, no obligation.
A trial lesson
One hour with your child, taught by me and planned around everything you’ve told me on the call. Afterwards you get a written summary of what I noticed — their strengths, the gaps, and what I’d work on first. Yours to keep either way.
Their course
A 12-week course built entirely around your child — their needs, their goals, and what they actually want to get better at. You’ll see exactly what we’re covering and where it’s heading. Written from scratch for them. Nothing off a shelf.
Twelve weeks with me
Every lesson is taught by me personally — same tutor, same time, every week. No roster, no handovers, no starting again with someone new. A short note after each session so you can watch the progress happen. Twelve weeks is long enough to change how a child feels about learning.
Let's talk about your child
The first step is always a conversation. Tell me a little about your child, share any reports or plans you'd like me to read, and we'll take it from there. No pressure, no obligation.
I teach every lesson myself, so I take a limited number of students at a time. If you’d like a place this term, it’s worth getting in touch now.