Testimonials

“Nicola is a pretty amazing lady in my opinion. My son has often been viewed as difficult at school because of his Dyslexia; all too often he's got frustrated with literacy & written work. It's been difficult to know how best to help him. When I came across Nicola, I warned her that my son might not accept a tutor at home but I need not have worried. From the first lesson my son had, he was fully engaged & he now eagerly awaits the next! Her style is so much fun that my son doesn't think he is doing any work. For example Nicola recently set up a treasure hunt in the garden; my son had to find the clues she had placed around & work out their order so that he could recount a story. In doing this my son was able to just "click" with the whole writing your own story concept he had been unable to follow at school. Slowly but surely Nicola is winning my son over & its such a relief to come across someone who gets how he thinks..”

- Maria M, Horsell

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“Nicola is excellent! My daughter is gaining confidence in her maths skills week on week by interacting and playing games! it's lovely to hear her laughing and enjoying herself while she is learning!”

- Lucy C, Staines

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A very charismatic lady, who has instantly been loved by my daughter! She is installing confidence and knowledge, in a fun and capturing way!
Would highly recommend.

- Natalie S, Rowtown

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Nicola has been our steady support with our son over the last years. She has a calm approach and always manages to get the best out of him. With tons of experience she is always happy to advice and support.

My son is always looking forward to her lessons, if I announce school work with mum it’s meltdown time, Nicola comes though the door and anything is possible.

Nicola has become his fallback for any issues and hurdles he has in maths along the way and she helps him to get over the hurdles in a way that I can’t, her patience and understanding of little minds is very reassuring.

- K.K. Egham

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In the summer of 2018 I finally made the brave decision and bit the bullet to home school my twin boy’s (aged 12 at the time) They had already done a year at secondary school and although not the school’s fault, they were at least 2 years behind in maths and a year in English and  generally under performing.

It was either leave them at school to have a day of fun!! Or get them up to scratch in their education!

I spent lots of time researching tutors as I knew I would need help schooling the boys and after speaking to a friend whose daughter was home schooled I came to know Nicola.

After talking on the phone to Nicola for over half an hour I knew then she would be the perfect tutor for my boys! Her positivity, her attitude to learning and understanding what children need to learn was so refreshing and I knew then it was just what we needed to move forward with the boys learning.

We are now 14 months on and the boys are doing great! We are working at the level where they should be and in actual fact slightly ahead in English and spellings! Nicola makes learning fun and they look forward to the lessons so much they have asked for her to come more often!

The change in the boys attitude to learning has done a 360 degree turn and it’s all down to Nicola. She is always on the end of the Phone when they need help (or me too!!) and nothing is a problem.

I love the fact that Nicola includes fun projects for the boys including woodwork, art, and even making gingerbread houses at Christmas time around her house. This summer she even took some of her students fishing as a PHSE lesson they all had a great day.

We would be lost without Nicola and knowing the boys are enjoying learning at last is such a great thing for a parent. I would recommend Nicola to anyone she is an asset to our family and she would be to yours too.

Thanks Nicola, you really are the best.

- Debbie Wraysbury

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I am extremely happy to give a reference for Nicola Walsh. 

My family have had the pleasure of knowing Nicola for over 10 years. In this time, Nicola has taught our dyslexic and dyscalculia son on and off from the age of 6 and most importantly though his GCSE years.

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Nicola is trustworthy, conscientious but most importantly understands all the learning styles and adapts to the individual needs of the child. Including the use of some interesting gadgets, water pistols, cooking and games, always to make the lesson fun and interactive. As well as text books and computers.

Nicola is also available to the family for advice and support when engaging with your child’s school, presenting solutions and also navigating around the education system.

Nicola’s approach to teaching is very refreshing and not anything that will be received within a classroom whilst teaching each child strategies to then be able to use at school.

I would not hesitate to recommend Nicola.

- Alison Mcmilan Walton

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After knowing Nicola for over five years she has taught all three of my children at one point or another.
When mainstream school and various teaching agencies had not worked for my eldest son I had almost given up on furthering his education until we met Nicola.
She gave my son a happy and successful way of learning I thought was impossible, he’s attitude completely changed and learning was no longer a chore.
Nicolas approach is kind, patient, enthusiastic, and always encouraging but at the same time very professional, and is always setting new goals to keep lessons fresh and fun.
She is simply amazing and I cannot recommend her highly enough!.
I feel extremely lucky and very grateful to have found Nicola as she really has achieved what I thought was impossible.

- Jolene Tierney New Haw

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If anyone is looking for a tutor I can’t recommend Nicola enough, not only is she’s so lovely she always goes the extra mile with all the children. She makes her lessons fun as well as being educational. She was fantastic encouraging Olivia to go to college, which she is loving xx

- Charlie Vineall Staines

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Nicola really helped my eldest son (7) with his phonics and writing and he passed his SATS as a result. She is now helping him adapt to a new school and also with my younger son (5) with his phonics. They both enjoy her sessions and respond so well to her.

- Horsell Joanna Hodges

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Very great service bought my children on in leaps and bounds.

- Emma Smith

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Nicola helped my son with his phonics every week after he seemed to be struggling to keep up at school. He looked forward to those sessions so much that he was always disappointed when holidays came around. She is very patient, teaches in a fun way, and helped him to get to the point where he could pass his SATs in year 2. Thank you

-Lisa Bryant

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I would highly recommend Orchard Training. Nicola was a godsend when my son and I needed help after my son was overwhelmed by a transition into university life. Nicola acted (and still does) as a mentor to my son (and indirectly to me). She knew exactly what to say, what to do and how to get us all back on track as a family. My son is now in his second year at university and Nicola's involvement was paramount in this. We can never thank her enough for this. She is an amazing person: kind, compassionate, knowledgeable and positive.

-Elaine Clark

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My son has been home schooled by a lovely lady called Nicola we started in January this year. He has learnt so much in this time. He has connected so well with Nicola, they talk all the time. Nicola, in our eyes, is a wonderful lady. She will do everything in her power to make us happy and that’s what it’s all about. A happy child enjoying what he is doing. Nicola, you are our hero. So happy for you to be in our lives. If anyone is thinking about home schooling please check out Orchard Training. I highly recommend Nicola, I don’t no what I would have done if I didn’t find you xx

Sharron Ashford

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Nicola clearly understands the different difficulty's someone may experience with learning. She not only adapts the methods but makes them fun and interesting. She has a natural ability to engage with the student in a non patronising way that they freely open up knowing they are not being judged and she is open minded enough to see things from many angles. Her calm presence mixed with humour is so enlightening. Highly recommend Nicola
- Elaine Muggeridge 

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In a relatively short time, Nicola has supported my son not only to improve his ability to solve maths problems but also to understand that he has the ability to learn. When taught in a way he can learn. This has helped him tease out exactly where the problems at school lay rather than attributing his lack of success to his own lack of ability.

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It is such a relief to see him enjoy learning and gain confidence in himself.

 

Cathy Sandsund

Mother of a dyslexic with DCD in Year 6

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We found Nicola when our daughter was unable to attend school after the lockdowns due to feelings of severe anxiety and depression. It felt like finding a Fairy God Mother in our hour of need. Nicola very sensitively and patiently gained trust and began the process of getting an appropriate re-engagement with education. She paced our daughter just right for what she was able to cope with at the time. Nicola intuitively knew when to work on mental well-being and preserve curriculum work for a better time. She successfully brought the light back to our daughter’s eyes and very compassionately understood the nuances of getting her to a safe and well place. 

Nicola was able to advise us in stepping down from parental authority and travelling beside our child on this challenging journey which has facilitated our relationship to heal in the process. After about nine months in the safe hands of Nicola our daughter felt ready to try returning to her previous school. This move has been successful and she is thriving. Nicola was pivotal in the pathway to recovery for our daughter and us as a family. We look back at that very scary year with so much gratitude for Nicola, in how she carefully navigated us all through it.
Mrs C. Sunbury. 

 

Nicola has been absolutely amazing with my daughter, she has really enjoyed her days spent learning. Could not recommend Nicola enough ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kelly, Sunbury

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