I had an ambition to create an even playing field for all children to succeed. The motivation for this came from my childhood. At a young age I experienced a shift in circumstances at home, going from a life of plenty to struggle. Feeling hungry was not uncommon. I worked hard to succeed and knew the journey would be harder for some of my family who were dyslexic. I could see how easy it would be to fall behind. This sparked a life-long ambition to improve the life chances. Like most teachers, it is what makes me truly happy.
The idea for colour coding started from conversations with my mother, who was Austrian, and her German speaking friends. They talked about the idiosyncrasies of the English language and why so many ways of spelling the same sound made it complicated. I thought about how I used colour in maths to help me learn and how this could be used in language.
I later went to work in research, then in teaching and eventually got to build and test out this idea. I have been blessed by the enthusiasm of the people around me who helped bring this system to life.
Seeing the improvement in results, confidence and enjoyment in learning in schools is a dream come true. We can teach the way children learn. Becoming validated by the DfE was an important milestone. Now we are on a mission to change the world!