| First Name or Business Name or School Name |
Left n Write Ltd
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| Headline |
Co-Owner of Left n Write Ltd, an online store for left-handed people based in Worcester UK
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| Experience |
My wife and I have been running our "left-handed" business for almost 29 years. It was looking for a pair of left-handed scissors for our youngest son, (left side dominant!) which inspired us to open our shop. My wife, Heather, was a Primary School teacher. I have run training workshops on helping left-handed children for over 25 years to a variety of educational settings.
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| Achievements |
Our first Training video was produced in 1999 and sent to all the Teacher Training Colleges by the Teacher Training Agency (TTA). The Chief Executive of the TTA said "An extremely useful resources both for the initial training and the continuing professional development of teachers. We found it very informative and thought-provoking. It raises some important concerns and will encourage teachers to recognise the left-handed issue"
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| About |
Mark and Heather Stewart (both right-handed) started their “Left-handed” journey in 1992 when their youngest son showed strong signs of being left-handed. In fact, he is left-eye dominant, left-handed and left-footed! With Heather being a Primary School teacher, they were immediately drawn to the educational side of being left-handed and found that there was minimal active help/training within the UK Education System. Along with their left-handed Member of Parliament (MP), Peter Luff, they spearheaded the campaign to improve teacher training in this area. A number of questions were raised in the House of Commons and a Teacher Training Agency-endorsed video was produced to help teachers and parents of left-handed children. This campaign continues with their current MP Robin Walker. They have co-written the “Left Hand Writing Skills” set of 3 Handwriting practise books for parents and Schools as well as designing a “Writewell” mat. In August 2017, they also co-authored their latest book titled “So You Think They’re Left Handed?”, an information and activity book with drawing and cutting exercises for children aged 3-5yrs. In July 2020, Mark was a founder member of the global group “LEFT-IN.org” the Left-handers Education Forum & Training International Network. In June 2021, they designed 2 brand new products “The Left-Handers’ Handwriting Stickers” and “The Left-Handers’ Handwriting Table Guide”. Mark has run training courses to such groups as Childminders, Early Years Practitioners, LEA training groups, Private and State schools over the past 25 years. He also ran one to the Paraprofessionals Annual Conference in Los Angeles in 2003. His training guidelines have been endorsed by the Department for Education and Skills and were incorporated into The National Literacy Strategy. He has featured on BBC TV ‘Really useful show’, BBC1’s Midlands Today, Radio 4’s ‘In Touch’ programme, Radio 5 Live, Radio Hereford & Worcester, Radio WM amongst many others. Their website address is www.leftshoponline.co.uk
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