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Catch Up® could not function without our fantastic team of Accredited Trainers, who deliver courses every term. They travel far and wide, working with passion and enthusiasm.
Lynne Startin has been a very valued member of the team since 2010, working first as a trainer for Catch Up® Numeracy and then for Catch Up® Literacy too!
She began her teaching career over 30 years ago, and worked very successfully with both primary and lower secondary students. Interestingly, this included working as a home economics and then a design technology teacher! Her love for maths soon took hold, which led Lynne to become a maths advisory teacher for Powys LA, where she worked for 13 years! During this time, Lynne thoroughly enjoyed supporting schools, and delivering training in all aspects of the maths curriculum from Foundation Phase to KS3. Lynne discovered Catch Up® during this time, and we’re so glad that she did! We feel very lucky that she wanted to become a ‘Catch Up® Accredited Trainer’.
Lynne remembers when she first became aware of the Catch Up® interventions. “We were involved in the trial for the newly developed Catch Up® Numeracy. All those years back, it was wonderful to see the support assistants so enthused with the intervention, and it is equally wonderful to continue to see this enthusiasm in training today. Mathematics has been my passion for many years; something that has not decreased. One of my aims continues to be to spread a love for the subject.”
Lynne is based in the centre of the country, but travels all over the UK on behalf of Catch Up®! She regularly delivers the training courses at our Regional Training Centre in Leeds, but has also travelled to Powys, Manchester, Crewe and Liverpool for us over the last few months! She fits all this around her very busy life. She told us, “When I am not training for Catch Up®, I enjoy literature, particularly the poetry of World War 1. However, I can usually be found looking after and riding my ponies. I have been riding since I was 11, have worked with horses in a professional capacity and still see them as a major part of my life. I ride on a daily basis, and have been successful showing my ponies. As well as the ‘ups’, there have been some ‘downs’, however! I spent four days in hospital last autumn after a bad fall!” We really missed Lynne when she was out of action, but are pleased to say she recovered completely and is firmly back in the ‘Catch Up® saddle’!
She thoroughly enjoys meeting trainees and delivering training for both interventions. Lynne says that the best things about the Catch Up® training are, “Seeing trainees make sense of maths through the Catch Up® components, and hearing how doors are opening for learners to the wonderful opportunities reading can present.” She also has a tip! “Keep it realistic…these do work in an everyday school situation.”
Lynne often reports on the positive response she encounters in the training room, and the passion from attendees to make a difference to the students. She told us, “There have been some memorable incidents whilst training, and in true ‘thinking skills’ format I will use the plus, minus, interesting strategy! One memorable ‘plus’ was at the end of a session when all the room gave me a round of applause, which I found very touching. It has not always been this straightforward, however, and one ‘minus’ at another course was the deafening racket caused by a downpour on the roof. The storm lasted for over 10 minutes, and, even with my teacher developed loud voice, I could not compete! We all ended up just laughing, it was so noisy, what else could we do? A first for me, and probably my most interesting experience, was the school group who decided that the training was a rare opportunity for an afternoon out, and had organised themselves with a picnic! They had a large selection of savouries and cakes on their table, but, I must say, they were very generous and we all joined in!”
The life of a Catch Up® trainer is certainly varied, and could never be considered boring, but it is always rewarding.
Catch Up® is the working name of The Caxton Trust, a not-for-profit charity registered in England and Wales (1072425) and Scotland (SC047557) as well as a company limited by guarantee (03476510). Catch Up is a registered trademark.
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