1

Dyslexia Friendly

Schools Explored:

A Narrative Inquiry of International Schools

Margaret A. Stewart

December 2010

2

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................................3

Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................5

Introduction ...........................................................................................................................7

Methodology ........................................................................................................................10

Key Learning ......................................................................................................................13

Summary of Findings ..........................................................................................................74

Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................98

Recommendations ...............................................................................................................102

Appendices ..........................................................................................................................108

References ............................................................................................................................112

3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to the following schools and staff for allowing me to visit their school:

Yew Chung International School of Beijing and Maureen Anderson the Special

Educational Needs Coordinator for hosting me in Beijing, arranging for visits to

other schools and taking good care of me during my visit.

Western Academy of Beijing (Secondary) and Bruce McNalty and team.

Care for Children School of Beijing and Meryl Bailey the School Manager.

Jo Richardson Community College, Essex and Catherine Ellis the Student

Development Department Assessment Co-ordinator and being so

accommodating especially with the date changes. A big thank you to Kirstie

Smith the Student Development Teacher for also doing a great job of hosting me

and showing me around.

Fairley House School Junior Department in London and Patricia Snowden

(Registrar and Secretary) for communication and organisation prior to my visit,

Anne Osborn (Head), Maria Angelakis for allowing me to observe her lesson and

other staff at the school for being so accommodating especially with the change

of dates, and finally Patricia Austin (Secretary Junior School) for supporting me

with further enquiries.

Calder House, Wiltshire including Andrew Day (Headmaster) and Sandy

Agombar (Founder) and also for accommodating a change of date.

Red Rose School in Blackpool and John Savage, the Director of Learning

Support.

Bro Myrddin School in Carmarthen and Caroline Walton the Special Education

Needs Teacher.

Queen Elizabeth High School, Carmarthen and Vicki Brook the Specialist

Dyslexia Teacher.

Penweddig Community School in Aberystwyth and Demelza Jenkins, the Additional

Needs Teacher and Dyslexia Teacher and Shan Bergmanski, the Special Educational

Needs Coordinator.

Penglais School in Aberystwyth and Liz Ball, the Additional Learning Needs

Coordinator.

Carr-Junior School in York and Joanne Robinson.

Wheldrake School in York and Andrew Buttery the Special Educational Needs

Coordinator.

4

Thank you also to the following people:

My husband Noel for supporting my trip.

My family and friends for their encouragement.

Anne Crawford the Special Educational Needs Consultant, Inclusion

Development Service for the City of York for organising my visits to the schools

in York and driving me there. Thank you Anne for the tour of York and making

me feel so welcome. Thank you also to Josie Clarke the Inclusion Development

Teacher.

Michael Davies Trustee Prosiect Dyslecsia Cymru/Welsh dyslexia Project,

Ceredigion, Wales for organising my visit to Welsh schools, organising my

accommodation and being my chauffer. Thanks also to his lovely wife Sandra

for making me feel so welcome.

Barbara Horsfall Turner a member of Prosiect Dyslecsia Cymru/Welsh dyslexia

Project, Ceredigion, Wales for kindly taking me to the Aberysthwyth schools.

Merly Gravell the Leader of the Carmarthenshire County Council, and Gywnne

Woolridge the Executive Board Member for Education and Childrens‟ Services

for meeting with me.

Viv Thomas the Advisory Teacher in Carmarthen for sharing information with

me.

Eifion Evans the Director of Education, Ceredigion County Hall for meeting

with me.

Guy Pope-Mayell Trustee of Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand for support

and information, also Cathy Andrew and Raewyn Saunders from Canterbury for

supplying information.

Rangitikei Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour Cluster Management

Committee, including my colleague Mary-Anne Brice and my employing school

Principal Brya Dixon for their amazing support.

5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In April and May of 2009 I visited schools in Beijing, England and Wales, investigating how

they catered for students with dyslexia. The schools varied from international schools, public

primary and secondary schools to private specialist schools. Each school had their own

unique characteristics, but a number of common themes emerged that I am able to discuss in

this report. I am now feeling more confident in utilising the knowledge gained in my own

practice and also to share my knowledge with other teachers.

I used a narrative inquiry approach to seek the information from each school, providing a

number of questions to them but allowing them to retain ownership of the process. My report

is written in a narrative form, aiming for easy reading and describes each school visited, the

philosophies and methodologies used in relation to teaching students with dyslexia often

comparing and contrasting this with my experiences in New Zealand. The common themes

are then summarised and this is followed by recommendations that may have implications for

educators in New Zealand.

A brief summary of the recommendations made to the Ministry of Education to help students

with dyslexia to reach their potential are to:

Establish a cohesive national level plan to develop teacher knowledge and

understanding of teaching students with dyslexia; how to identify students with

dyslexia; and use strategies that are proven to be effective.

Ensure that a whole school approach is used to create a dyslexia friendly school

environment.

Provide the necessary training to specialist teachers to help implement this plan.

6

Provide more specialists to support the diverse needs of students of all ages including

Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists and Physiotherapists.

Make available Educational Psychologists for diagnosing students with dyslexia and

making recommendations to help them reach their potential.

Work collaboratively with other stakeholders.

Support parents to understand dyslexia and support their child.

7

INTRODUCTION

I am a Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) and with my colleague,

work across twelve schools in the Rangitikei RTLB Cluster. RTLB are itinerant

specialist teachers who work collaboratively with teachers to support students in years

one to ten with learning and behavioural difficulties.

I applied for both a Ministry of Education Sabbatical and the Winston Churchill Fellowship

to help develop my knowledge and skills in the area of dyslexia that would enhance my own

professional practice and that of other educators in New Zealand by undertaking an

international tour of schools investigating how schools cater for students with dyslexia. I

was very fortunate to be awarded both.

The reason that gave rise to me requesting these awards requires some explanation. In April

2007, the Ministry of Education (MOE) formally recognised dyslexia and made a

commitment to placing more emphasis on assisting students with dyslexia (Ministry of

Education, 2007). When this announcement was made, I was serving as a Regional Co-

ordinator on the New Zealand Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour Association

(NZRTLBA). Although this announcement was welcomed by RTLB, the challenge has

always been the lack of formal training on dyslexia within the New Zealand education sector.

The Ministry of Education (n.d.) describes dyslexia in the “Team Up” parent brochure in the

following way:

Dyslexia is a term used to describe a range of persistent difficulties with reading and

writing, and often including spelling, numeracy or musical notation. Students with

8

dyslexia do not make expected progress in these areas in spite of good teaching and

the type of extra support that would be helpful for most other children. (p.1)

In response to the MOE announcement, I initiated the establishment of a Dyslexia Working

Party (DWP) on the NZRTLBA National Executive and subsequently chaired the group, with

the aim of providing foundation knowledge of dyslexia to our members.

In 2008, the DWP produced what was termed an electronic Dyslexia Toolkit and

electronically distributed it to all 550 members nationwide to help them build the much

needed foundation knowledge of dyslexia. Subsequently, the MOE called upon three

members of the DWP to collaborate on the production of the teacher resource booklet "About

Dyslexia” (Ministry of Education, 2008). Members of the NZRTLBA continue to collaborate

with the MOE, the Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand (DF) and the New Zealand Specific

Learning Difficulties Federation (SPELD) as well as other main stakeholders.

A national survey to all NZRTLB Association members was undertaken in 2009 with the

intention of evaluating the relevancy of the Dyslexia Toolkit and ascertaining the professional

development needs of RTLB in this area. One third of all members responded (240 RTLB)

and the results indicated that the Dyslexia Toolkit was very timely, relevant and helpful.

RTLB indicated that they were moderately confident in identifying students with dyslexia,

implementing strategies for students and supporting teachers of students with dyslexia,

however, they were less confident in supporting schools to become “dyslexia friendly”.

(Stewart, 2009)

9

Reid (2004) describes how the term “dyslexia friendly” was created by Neil MacKay a

decade ago while working in Wales for the British Dyslexia Association undertaking training.

It was from here that the term and a whole school approach was developed which then went

on to form the basis of further developments in schools around the world. (p. 88).

I saw an opportunity to gain first hand, face to face experience of teaching students with

dyslexia by visiting schools that recognised and catered for students with dyslexia and this

obviously led me overseas. The aim was to help inform and guide my professional practice

and the experience may also be advantageous to my RTLB colleagues and therefore New

Zealand teachers and students with dyslexia.

10

METHODOLOGY

Given this investigation was practical in nature, I set about locating a wide range of schools

that either identified themselves as being dyslexia friendly, specialising in teaching students

with dyslexia or had systems and processes in place to identify and cater for students with

dyslexia. The schools were identified from a number of sources including internet searches,

recommendations from the New Zealand Dyslexia Foundation and recommendations from

other teaching colleagues.

Once these were sourced, contact was made with the schools via email outlining my

intentions, providing the key questions and requesting their support. I was able to obtain a

number of positive responses prior to making the applications for the project. More

communication with the schools followed via email and this was followed by telephone as

the plan evolved.

I used the following key questions as a guide to my investigation.

How are students with dyslexia identified?

What assessment tools are used?

What teaching methods and programmes are used?

What support services and resources are available and how are these accessed?

How is progress measured?

How are the partnerships between educators and parents fostered?

What policies and practices are employed by dyslexia friendly schools?

What are the different educational settings that cater for students with dyslexia?

Seek evidence of the relationship between language and dyslexia.

11

Most of the people contacted were able to support my project but for a few the timing of the

pending visits did not suit.

I used a narrative inquiry methodology in this study and have chosen to also use this style in

my reporting. A narrative inquiry approach operates on the premise that “people lead storied

lives and that it is the process of storying and restorying that is learning.” (Bishop & Glynn,

1999, p. 177). This approach enabled me to act as learner not a researcher and afforded the

teachers at the schools to share with me what they felt comfortable sharing and helped me

quickly build relationships with the people I met. Thus, the key questions became a guide

only. Although each school was provided with the questions prior to my visit, my approach

was to let the schools determine what and how they shared the information about their

schools with me. The down side of this was that I did not always obtain the information I

was seeking but the learning was more enriching for this approach.

Using this approach also helped me to be attentive and mindful of the setting I was currently

in. Most often, the settings I found myself in were very new experiences for me and as such,

I was not always aware of the appropriate cultural (or other) considerations. I had to respect

the people, their ways of doing things and the fact that schools are very busy and complex

environments.

In this report, I have reflected on my learning experiences by:

a) Describing the schools I visited and the information shared, with examples and

photographs. Schools were individually represented as they were not easily

12

represented collectively due to the variance across the schools especially as they were

from three different countries.

b) Summarised my findings by responding to the key questions.

c) Concluded with an overview of the experience.

d) Outlining some suggested recommendations which may have implications for New

Zealand educators including RTLB.

13

KEY LEARNING

“Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.”

(Winston Churchill n.d.)

School Visits

I travelled alone on my investigative tour and visited thirteen schools in total. Refer to

Appendix 1 for travel itinerary.

Each school responded to my visit in different ways and I accepted whatever they had in

store for me. On the most part, I was taken on a guided tour of the school, while key

aspects of the school‟s philosophies, methodologies and resources were highlighted. This

usually followed with an opportunity to meet with a key member of staff to find out more.

At two specialist schools, I was able to observe a lesson and in the other specialist school, I

was asked to participate in a lesson. This afforded me the opportunity to engage with the

students. In Wales and York, I was fortunate in being able to meet with people who

worked in Leadership roles, such as Advisory Teachers, Inclusive Development Officers

and other officials within the Local Authority such as the Directors of Education and other

Leaders to discuss aspects at the systemic level.

I begin by describing each of the schools‟ unique environments, outlining the key elements

from each visit, including their philosophies and methodologies in teaching students with

dyslexia.

14

CHINA

Yew Chung International School of Beijing

The first school I visited was Yew Chung International School

(YCIS) of Beijing opened in 1995 and is located in the Chaoyang

District. It caters for students 2 to 18 years with an Early Childhood

Education, Primary and Secondary sections located on the one

campus.

The Yew Chung website describes the school in the following way:

“YCIS is committed to offering a global education characterised by:

A fully rounded and balanced education which nurtures the whole child:

academically, socially and spiritually;

An emphasis on academic excellence, dual language acquisition and the tools for

success in a globalised world;

A bilingual and multicultural learning environment which fosters respect for diversity;

A supportive and nurturing school life which seeks to produce confident, balanced

and socially responsible individuals.” (Yew Chung International School of Beijing,

2010).

The school has a unique co-teaching model operating

across the Early Childhood and Primary sections, with

one Chinese and one Western teacher sharing

responsibility for the education of the students in their

class. They work collaboratively to ensure their

Figure 1: Yew Chung

School of Beijing

Figure 2: Chinese Teacher teaching literacy.

15

students develop both English and Chinese languages and learn about both cultures. The

cross-cultural collaboration with teachers also extends to the leadership of the school with

two Co-Principals, one Western and one Chinese.

YCIS follows a National Curriculum for England and has a strong character education

programme. Support is in place for students who have English as an additional language.

To assist with providing the most appropriate developmentally

appropriate curriculum to all students, the school has employed a

full time Special Educational Needs (SEN) teacher; Maureen

Anderson.

Maureen is a New Zealander and a trained and experienced

Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB).

Maureen has established a successful Learning Support room

where students, parents and teachers are always made

welcome. Her experiences in the New Zealand special education sector, has enabled her to

establish a model that reflects a New Zealand support model. This of course is also overlaid

with school wide philosophies, some of which are based on an English education system and

others that reflect the people from a multicultural background.

Figure 4: Students come to

YCIS from around the world as

parents choose to work and live

in Beijing.

Figure 3: Students engaging in a “Chinese

Day” experiencing the culture of a

traditional Chinese School.

Figure 5: Maureen works one on one with

a student in her room.

16

Access to the SEN Service is usually made via a formal referral but informal access is also

available if parents, teachers and sometimes students wish to discuss their needs. Maureen

also works collaboratively with the teachers in the classrooms and undertakes assessments as

necessary. Sometimes she works one on one with individual students or withdraws small

groups of students on a set programme individualised for the student for a short period of

time.

Students are often identified by their previous school as having dyslexia. If there are

concerns about a student that has not been previously identified, the teachers can make a

referral to the SEN teacher for further investigation. The investigations usually include

observations, interviews with the teachers, parents and sometimes the student as well as

following up with appropriate assessments and screening tests.

If dyslexia is highlighted, a referral to an Educational Psychologist may be recommended

following discussion with staff and parents. The parents are required to pay for this service.

Secondary students are more likely to be recommended to undertake this step in order to

determine if special conditions for internal assessments and external examinations are

necessary.

Maureen discussed a recent referral to her that outlined the processes used in the school. The

referral was made for support for a Year 12 boy by one of his teachers who had some

knowledge in the area of dyslexia. The concerns this teacher held were not necessarily

shared by his other teachers who considered him to be lazy. The key issue identified was that

the boy was very articulate orally and that he demonstrated good capability in class during

oral work but when he attempted to convey this knowledge in written form, it was

17

“completely jumbled.” By this, the teacher meant that the word order was in the wrong

order, the grammar was mixed and his ideas did not flow.

The teacher went on to describe how she undertook to further explore this boy‟s needs and

asked him to dictate an essay to her. He was able to deliver a perfectly acceptable essay. His

thoughts were ordered; he provided full information and spoke with correct grammar.

The teacher and the boy then had a conversation about his learning and he was able to convey

that the words jumped around the page when he reads or writes. He was stunned by the

teacher‟s understanding of his needs and commented, “It‟s as if the teacher was reading my

mind!” It was at this point that she knew a referral was essential if he was to get have the

support he needed to be a successful learner.

Maureen set about data gathering. This included observations, checklists, screening tools and

discussions with the teachers, the student and the family. An interesting observation was

made, that despite the reading and handwriting difficulties the boy was having in English, he

was able to write Chinese characters with precision. His Chinese teacher commented that his

ability was the best in the class. This appeared to the teachers to be a contradiction and gave

rise to the debate; was the boy less dyslexic in Chinese? Although this question was not

answered, it did highlight a topic of research on the relationships between a logographic

language system such as Chinese and an alphabetic language system such as English. This is

discussed in the summary.

18

Once all the data was gathered it was clear that a referral to a Psychologist was required. He

was referred to a Clinical Health Psychologist and a diagnosis of dyslexia was made using the

information supplied and the American Psychiatric Association DSMIV.

The Psychologist‟s report also offered a number of recommendations including:

Psychotherapeutic intervention to help with self-esteem, mood and emotional issues

caused by the constant challenges he has faced over the extent of his education.

Learning support at school with the help of a specialist trained in working with students

with dyslexia.

A scribe for examinations, as well as additional time so he was able to be given equal

opportunity to display his true potential.

Education and support for teachers and for the family to help understand his needs and

how to best support him.

Shortly after the report was received, an Individual Education Plan was made which

considered all of the recommendations. Maureen was able to work alongside the teachers to

help support the student in his classes. This support included help with implementing

dyslexia friendly strategies such as using visual strategies and using the computer as a writing

tool. As well as the inclusive approaches, the boy was able to participate in a computer based

phonological awareness programme in the SEN room.

The student was very grateful for all support he was receiving from the school and described

how he was making good academic progress and had developed more self confidence. The

special conditions for exams were accepted by the International Baccalaureate which enabled

him to demonstrate his skills and reach his potential.

19

YCIS offered a varied curriculum including a sound music curriculum programme which I

thought would help students with dyslexia to find their strengths and use them. I was

fortunate to be able to observe an assembly in the secondary section and was stunned by the

musical and creative talent of the students. The orchestra presented numerous pieces

composed by the students themselves.

There were a number of very different features of the YCIS environment when comparing it

with New Zealand schools:

1. The neighbourhood that surrounds YCIS appeared to be relatively traditional Chinese

urban living with markets and living accommodation located in narrow alleyways

known as “hutong”. However, it was pointed out to me that this environment was

rapidly changing to apartment living.

2. The school was fortified with high walls and guarded

metal gates. As a visitor to the school, I had to go

through a rigorous security process before gaining

access. The explanation for this was that there were a

number of children attending the school with

international diplomat parents.

Figure 7: Children share their chips

outside one of the shops. Figure 8: I stop for a photo on the

way to YCIS in front of a row of the

bicycles used for all sorts of

transportation.

Figure 9: One of the bustling hutongs.

Figure 10: The international

teachers live in modern apartments

close by the school.

20

3. Many students were collected by chauffer driven

limousines.

4. Once admission was approved to enter the school,

each person had their temperature taken to prevent

the spread of infections. This was started in 2009

after the outbreak of the Swine Flu.

5. The winter climate in Beijing requires the school to have an enclosed play area for the

Early Childhood and Primary students. These spaces are also used when there is a

high pollution risk. If the pollution risk is too great, the school may be closed.

Western Academy of Beijing High School

During my stay in Beijing, I was fortunate to be also taken to

two other international schools in the Chaoyang District by

Maureen Anderson. The first of which was the Western

Academy of Beijing (WAB) High School. As well as the

High School, there was also an Early Childhood Centre and

Middle School located on a different site. At the time of my visit, there were approximately

500 students enrolled representing 52 nationalities but most students were Korean. The

students were mostly children of international business professionals, but there were also

children of celebrities and dignitaries such as ambassadors.

Figure 11: Temperature time inside

the school gates.

Figure 13: Enclosed area for play. Figure 12: The school built a mini

golf green on the roof of the school

which staff, visitors and students

enjoy.

Figure 14: Western Academy of

Beijing High School entrance

21

The school had a very modern design and this also reflected

on some of the modern approaches used in the school.

Students were fortunate to have a conservatory style roof

which let a lot of natural light into the building and

protected them from the pollution and harsh winter weather.

There was a large canteen as well as various seating options around the school, including

comfortable lounge chairs. The building was equipped with the latest technology.

Just like the students in the school, the staff were also multi-

ethnic. The Learning Support Centre (LSC) is responsible for

supporting students with special needs and has three teachers;

Tanya Farrol (Head of Learning Support) Matthew Wertz and

Bruce McNalty. There was also a Chinese liaison person

available for support to the LSC staff.

Bruce, an Australian, took me on a tour of the school and informed me about the operation of

the LSC. The LSC operates with an inclusive philosophy, supporting students to achieve

their potential within their own class. There are three main forms of support offered to

students who are having difficulty accessing the curriculum.

The first and most favoured option is in class support where the LSC teacher attends core

classes and offers the students support as necessary. The second level of support is one on

one or small group withdrawal from the regular class to undertake a specific programme,

intervention or obtain some coaching. Finally, there is a learning support programme which

Figure 15: Inside the school building

there were many walk ways running

through the middle of the building

to each level.

Figure 16: Bruce McNalty (left)

Matthew Wertz and myself in

their office.

22

is used to support students who would benefit from reinforcement of concepts and skills

learnt in their regular class or would benefit from coaching and support in organisational and

time management skills. If a student required full time support, the parents would have to

fund this and if the level of support required for a student was greater than the resources

provided, the student would not be able to enrol at the school.

All referrals to the LSC are discussed at a meeting with the Child Study Team. This team

may consist of the team or grade level leader, the homeroom teacher, curriculum leaders,

counsellors, the nurse and possibly the principal but would depend on each student being

discussed. At the meeting a course of action is decided, which may include observations by

the LSC teacher and discussions with the student. Class teachers may be asked to use a set of

differentiated teaching and learning strategies that are designed to improve the outcomes for

students. Students may have to undergo further assessments with the staff from LSC or if

necessary from an outside specialist. If an outside specialist is used, the parents would need

to fund this.

An Individualised Education Plan would follow. This would outline all the strengths and

needs as well as goals and the support the student needed. The LSC would monitor the

progress. Tracking progress is made easy with access to “Power School” a computerised data

base which holds all information on the students and is accessible to all relevant staff

instantaneously.

Students with dyslexia are usually identified before reaching the high school either from their

previous school in their home country or from the WAB Middle School and be referred to the

23

LSC for support. A transition plan would be made which would include a special orientation

and opportunity to attend some classes before admission.

At times, students have not been identified previously and come to the attention of their

teachers or counsellor and occasionally a parent or a student themself expresses some

concerns. A referral is then made to the LCS for investigation. Occasionally referrals to the

LSC are received from professionals outside of the school.

Following the Child Study Team meeting, if a consensus is reached, it would then be

discussed with parents. If there was an indication of dyslexia, they would make

recommendations for a referral to a specialist e.g. Educational Psychologist. This is not

covered in the US$25000 annual school fee, so parents would have to fund this.

Bruce pointed out that sometimes there is a challenge that arises when a student is suspected

of having dyslexia or any special need, as some parents have difficulty with accepting there

are differences or challenges with their child. In some cultures, Bruce points out; there is a

real stigma about having students with challenges. At times, this becomes a barrier to

obtaining a diagnosis and accessing the appropriate support and resourcing. For example the

parents may not accept the challenges their child is facing and insist on them selecting

inappropriate courses based on what they want their child to do, not acknowledging their

specific needs or considering their strengths and interests. This potentially could lead to

unnecessary stress for the student and in some cases failure. The LSC teachers work hard to

overcome this situation.

24

Once a formal diagnosis of dyslexia is made, the same support structures that are in place for

all students with special needs are applicable to the students with dyslexia. Students with

dyslexia would usually have the support of the LSC teacher in their core class, providing on

the spot adaptation to the work and offering extra teaching. The students would have

modified learning objectives as instructed by the IEP. During the lesson the LSC teacher

would often type up the outline of the lesson content including the homework and this would

be emailed to the student. This may be via key notes or by the use of mind maps. This

ensures the students get all the information they need in a format that they can refer to easily.

The students may also participate in some specialised withdrawal programmes. In this

situation, the subject teacher would provide the content of the work for the student a week in

advance and highlight any areas of specialist support required that cannot be covered in the

regular class environment. An example of this level of support could be that the student is

required to go on work experience and may require some coaching on social, communication

skills and work on some key vocabulary or literacy skills required for the work, prior to

undertaking the work experience. The LSC staff monitor progress of the students during

their work experience by visiting the workplace.

A bonus for the students with dyslexia in this school is that all students use wireless laptops

in the school, therefore they are not singled out if they required the use of assistive

technology and in fact to a greater extent the high use of technology aids many students with

challenges in communicating in written form. However sometimes this is not enough and so

a key aspect of the LSC teacher‟s work is to prepare the necessary documentation to apply for

special assessment provisions for formal exams such as using a reader or writer. Sometimes,

other specialist assistive technology is also required such as the use of a talking pen.

25

Careers and Guidance Counselling for the students on the LSC roll is an additional support

offered by the team. They often assist with placement into alternative programmes or

courses. Some of these are overseas specialist courses in the student‟s area of interest e.g. a

hospitality school in Europe. A Transition to Work programme is also run by the LSC and

helps students to gain valuable work experience.

Care for Children Special Needs School

The last of the schools visited in Beijing was run by the

Care for Children Centre, which is a National Foster Care

Project. The Centre hosts the Care for Children Special

Education Needs School (CfCS) and is also a training centre

and a Family Services Clinic. It also acts as a resource for

local community, hosting clubs, sports events and support

programmes.

Care for Children is a British charity operation in China to

relieve hardship, distress and sickness in abandoned and

orphaned children with cooperation with the Chinese national and local authorities. The

Foster Care Project operates across China in partnership with local authorities to place

children into local families as an alternative to institutional care.

In 2007 the National Foster Care Project established a centre in Beijing to operate as a

national research and training facility. In the same year, a nationwide research project

highlighted a major issue, i.e. that many of the children also had special needs. This led to

the establishment of the CfCS and the Family Services Clinic.

Figure 17: Care for Children Special

Needs School and Clinic.

Figure 18: The area surrounding Care

for Children School is known as the

Beijing Riviera.

26

CfCS is unique in that it offers educational programmes especially tailored to meet the needs

of children with learning differences. This is also the case for the Family Services Clinic

which is an assessment and support service for children with developmental needs. This

clinic is also utilised by the International Schools in Beijing.

Both of these have become models for replication across the country. CfCS is a non profit

school with all surplus funds being channelled into the Foster Care Project.

CfCS provides a quality individualized and multidisciplinary curriculum to expatriate

children with special needs. It is the only Special Education Needs School in Beijing for

expatriate children. Cultural and academic diversity of the students is celebrated and they

work hard to help each child grow to meet their potential.

The school offers the following programmes and support:

Early Intervention for students aged between one and six years old.

Day classes for students from 6 years and up with significant learning difficulties as

well as providing support for their families.

A Transition Class and Advocacy Service that provides an interim educational

environment and support service for students who are waiting for admission to a

mainstream international school in Beijing or who may need extra support via a dual

enrolment with CfCS and their own school.

A Community Centre for the locals.

(Bailey, n.d. p. 6.)

27

I conducted an interview with the School Manager Meryl Bailey and later attended a Board

of Advisors Meeting. Present at the meeting were Principals of some of the International

Schools in Beijing, Maureen Anderson and Sir Robert Glover OBE (Founder and Director).

The team of seven therapists and seven teachers employed at the Centre work both with the

students in the school, and also in other international schools in Beijing. Currently the roll is

14 but the staff also support students at the International Schools in Beijing. Referrals can be

made to the school by parents or teachers at the International Schools.

There is a clear process of service that the school operates on. This begins with a screening

meeting to identify the needs and then the appropriate intervention begins. Therapy may be

either at the Centre or the therapist will go into the school. The aim is for the students to stay

in their current school so sometimes students will have a dual programme from both the

CfCS and their own school.

A Targeted Case Manager (TCM) is a licensed social worker that provides a comprehensive

service that includes facilitating and coordinating therapeutic, academic and supportive care

for the child.

Psycho-educational services are available in response to concern about a student‟s learning,

behaviour or psychological wellbeing, with the purpose of obtaining information that enables

parents and professionals to decide if they need extra support including for example,

individualised education plans, adjustments for test-taking at school, behavioural plans or

counselling.

28

All students are local and come to day school for either a full or half day. Sometimes therapy

is continued at home or other activities are provided. The students come from the local

international schools but they also offer support to the local and national Chinese special

needs communities.

Students and staff represent a wide range of ethnic groups. As far as the staff are concerned,

this can pose some challenges because of the different backgrounds and models trained in and

used. Some countries have no provisions for special needs.

The school operates from the English curriculum and English is the language of

communication as well as the use of American Sign Language for the non communicative

students. Therapists are all English speaking which can create communication challenges

but the school is moving towards offering Chinese speaking therapists. Translators are used

at times to help with communicating with parents if necessary.

CfCs works hard to foster the parent and educator partnership but as with Yew Chung

International School and Western Academy of Beijing, CfCS acknowledges that one of

barriers with parents is in acknowledging that their child has a special need. Meryl outlined

that in local Chinese schools there is little or no accommodation made for students with

special needs. If anything was modified, it would likely to be the same curriculum but

repeated at a slower pace rather than full adaptation. There would be no extra teacher

assistance and class numbers are generally high.

CfCS has a strong review and monitoring processes in place. The Individualised Education

Plan (IEP) ensures parents expectations are considered, the priorities and the needs are

29

acknowledged and goals are set. They undertake regular assessments, provide questionnaires

and have end of cycle reviews. If the student is attending the clinic for therapy, the family

and therapists liaise on a regular basis. There is also a Lead Worker if necessary, to deal with

a multi disciplinary group.

Next year the school is offering training for teachers and TAs who will then go out to their

local Chinese schools and offer the model of special needs to their schools.

The school receives a number of referrals for dyslexia testing but Meryl estimated that 50%

are not dyslexic, they merely require modifications or low level interventions to help

overcome some of the difficulties.

At present there is no specialist staff in the area of dyslexia as there is not currently enough

referrals for students with dyslexia to warrant it as yet. So at present, they are not able to

make a formal diagnosis but the team work in collaboration with the schools and the

Learning Support Departments to discuss the needs. Sometimes the students they support

have dyslexia as an additional need to other special needs. Teachers utilise their own

adaptive practices from their own knowledge base to best cater for their needs. The school is

considering training one teacher in the area of dyslexia. A specialist dyslexia assessor would

then be able to identify and diagnose those students.

30

ENGLAND

Jo Richardson Community School

Jo Richardson Community School is a secondary

school located in the London Borough of Barking and

Dagenham, Essex, Greater London and the school is

run by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

Education Committee.

I was hosted by Kirstie Smith with whom I had

previously met at one of my cluster schools a number

of years earlier when she worked as the Special Needs

Coordinator. Kirstie was on a working overseas

experience and worked in the school as a Student

Development Teacher. Kirstie is seen here with a few

of the students she supports in the Student Development room.

My visit to Jo Richardson Community School consisted of a tour of the Special Needs

Department, meeting all the relevant staff and an interview with Catherine (Cathy) Ellis who

is the Assessment Co-ordinator for the Student

Development Department. Cathy works three days a

week at the school focusing on assessments for students

who are experiencing difficulties. Due to her limited

time, her data gathering is solely focused on formal

Figure 19: I am seated outside Jo Richardson

Community School.

Figure 20: Kirstie always has healthy

snacks for the hungry teenagers and takes

a special interest in their overall

wellbeing.

Figure 21: Cathy Ellis (right) and I pose

for a photograph with June Osland

(librarian).

31

assessments rather than being complemented with observations therefore other staff support

Cathy‟s work.

The purpose of the assessments are either diagnostic or are conducted to provide the best

opportunity for students to succeed during exams. Most students are already identified as

having a need on entry to the school but Cathy commented that Jo Richardson Community

School does attempt to meet the needs of students with moderate needs not just those with

obvious high needs.

A large portion of Cathy‟s work is dedicated to satisfy the stringent Exam Board. Cathy is

responsible for gathering the evidence of a need for students who need special conditions or

considerations during formal assessments and exams. The school usually has between 30 and

35 students each year who qualify for this. Cathy gathers the data, makes the applications to

the Board and then has to follow the very strict guidelines by monitoring and recording the

evidence. Students who hold a Statement of Special Educational Need are required to be

closely monitored and full records kept of their provision of service and the outcomes.

Cathy described how a Statement of Special Educational Need outlines the students‟ personal

details, contains advice from: parents, educational sector, medical, psychological, social

services and others. It sets out the child‟s special educational needs which call for special

educational provision. The background of needs and provision is outlined and a summary of

needs described.

The provisions are specified as objectives and the resources surplus to the school‟s budget for

special educational needs are outlined. The special provisions might include modifications to

32

the curriculum and other specific details essential for the student to access the curriculum and

achieve their objectives. The Statement is a legal document and entitles students to support

and resources via the Local Educational Authority.

In the past, Cathy explained, there were teams of specialists that would go out to manage

caseloads working with students either on a one-to-one or one-to-two basis. This system was

too expensive and not sustainable, so now only students who have „exceptional needs‟ are

now serviced in this way. This has meant that students who previously held a Statement of

Special Educational Needs status were honoured however, for most students with dyslexia, it

was considered that they could be best supported using the resources from within the school.

It is Cathy‟s experience that the categories most often given to students with dyslexia now are

School Action Plus or School Action. School Action, means that the student‟s educational

needs can be met within the school and School Action Plus means that the school can mostly

meet the needs of the student or the school may require some outside support.

Cathy described how most primary schools would have access to a teacher who have

knowledge or a qualification on dyslexia with the assistance of a paraprofessional e.g.

Advisory Teachers who would support the schools. However, now there is a move towards

inclusive in school support. She hastens to add that this varies across the schools. The

Advisory Service would be called upon to mediate between school and home.

Although Cathy commented that each school should have someone trained in dyslexia, this is

not always the reality. Teachers who are supporting students with dyslexia may have a post

graduate qualification in a specialist area but it may not be in dyslexia although some

33

teachers are trained in general special education needs. She commented that there are many

tertiary facilities offering training in dyslexia in United Kingdom.

The diagnosis of dyslexia sits within both the education and medical sectors. There is a

Special Education Need (SEN) Code of Practice that you must follow. Cathy pointed out that

it is important that assessment tools are selected for their purpose, are age appropriate (i.e. not

near the ceiling level) relevant to what you want to know and helpful.

Cathy went on to say that sometimes, standardised tests are used in United Kingdom for

identification purposes for funding or special considerations but are not always helpful or

relevant for planning the interventions.

Jo Richardson Community School offers a comprehensive approach to students with dyslexia

mainly due to Cathy and other staff who are qualified in dyslexia and provides a good

example of provision of service in a mainstream secondary school.

There were a couple of very clear differences about Jo

Richardson Community School:

1. It was explained to me that the school was built on

the Castel Green which was a park or green space area

and as such the school was required to operate as a resource for the community. The

library located in the school complex is a community library and fully utilised by the

school.

Figure 22: The entrance to the

community library and cafe.

34

2. The school has its own Police Constable. He watched over

the pedestrian crossing after school, chatted with the

students, building relationships and monitoring their

behaviour as they left the school. He was relatively young

himself and the students responded positively to him and his

presence at the school. I understood that this initiative was

established to help prevent violence in the school after a number of violent incidences

and it also helped improve the community and police relationships. By all accounts,

it was working well.

Fairley House School

Fairley House School is a privately owned co-educational specialist

school for students aged five to 14 years. It was founded in 1982

and provides for students with specific learning difficulties such as

dyslexia and dyspraxia. The school is an independent school

subjected to Independent Schools Inspections and is also a training

centre for teachers of students with specific learning difficulties.

Fairley House is also a registered charity.

The Junior Department is located in a former Victorian Infant School in the south London

Borough of Lambeth and the Senior Department is located separately in another region of

London. The school building is small by New Zealand standards but I was impressed with

how resourceful they were with their limited space.

Figure 23: I had a chat with

the school police Constable.

Figure 24: Fairley House

school building.

35

There is no playground at Fairley House Junior Department but they have a fully equipped

therapy room which has multiple uses including a large area for students to play. It also has a

lovely relaxation and alternative learning courtyard which therapists use at times and is also a

place for students to relax. This area is a luxury in the city.

The school also makes full use of the public park over the

back of the school.

At the time of my visit, the roll stood at 47 with 12 of these

holding a Statement of Special Educational Need which

allowed them to be fully funded by the Local Educational

Authority to attend the school.

I was informed that historically the roll has typically been dominated by males but they are

tending to get more girls now. This was considered to be an identification issue, with more

males presenting with problems as females tended to sustain more on task behaviour. In the

school, boys are catered for their need for more movement in class. Students come from a

wide area of London and travel for over an hour. The school does not operate a bus so it is

up to parents to utilise the local bus services.

The school provides a comprehensive education to students, working closely with the Local

Authorities and parents with the aim of returning them to their local mainstream school

within two to three years. Fairley House School “acts as a bridge to mainstream education.”

(Fairley House, 2009). There are four class teachers in the Junior School, all with

qualifications in teaching students specific learning difficulties. Students in the Junior

School also have access to specialist teachers such as music, design technology, science etc

Figure 25: The courtyard.

36

from the Senior Department. Seven Speech Language Therapists (SLT) are employed by the

school and work with the students on receptive and expressive language as well as

phonological awareness (listening to the sounds in words, rhyming, clapping syllables, and

alliterations, segmenting and blending sounds in words), attention, listening and auditory

memory. Students also need to learn good social communication and interaction so the SLTs

also coach on having eye contact, non-verbal communication such as body language, how to

initiate and maintain a conversation, and making friends.

Four Occupational Therapists (OT) are also employed by the school and work on visual

perception skills for example: visual memory, spatial relationships, visual discrimination,

and figure-ground. They also work on visual motor integration such as copying accuracy and

handwriting. Sensory motor skills like body awareness, balance, motor planning,

coordination and bilateral skills are also worked on by the OTs. Fine motor skills such as

writing, colouring, cutting and pencil control as well as gross motor skills like ball skills,

jumping, hopping and skipping are worked on. The OTs also coach students on functional

aspects such as dressing and using a knife and fork. All of which can be real challenges for

some of their students.

To support the teachers and offer practical assistance to the students, there are two full time

Teaching Assistants and one Classroom Assistant employed at the Junior Department.

All prospective students are invited to a two day visit to the school. This enables the students

and parents to see if Fairley House is the right choice for them and enables the school to

determine the suitability or compatibility of the student to the school. Students are often

already identified as having dyslexia before enrolling. During the two day visit, the school

37

undertakes to complete a battery of assessments to help form a comprehensive picture of the

child‟s strengths, needs and recommended areas for development.

Formal assessments are conducted by the Occupational Therapist, the Speech Language

Therapist and the Educational Psychologist. The Educational Psychologist is Jacqueline

Murray who is also the Principal of the school. She would conduct all the psychological

assessments. The students are also observed in the context of an age appropriate class and

during play. The information gathered helps to determine the individual strengths and needs

of the students in a range of contexts.

A case conference with the team of professionals follows the two day assessment. This is run

by either Jacqueline Murray or the SENCO and offers the team the chance to collate all the

assessment data and discuss the suitability of student for placement at the school. A student

with a general developmental delay or one with emotional or behavioural difficulties would

not be accepted into the school. The outcome of the case conference is then discussed with

the parents. The information collated also helps inform the team in preparation for an

Individual Education Plan (IEP).

The school considers they have a good home school partnership. Staff liaise with parents

regularly both formally in the IEP meetings held once a term as well as through the home and

school diaries. Personal contact via telephone or email is also an important form of

communication. An active parent association operates which supports the school with fund

raising and professional evenings. Training programmes for educators from other schools

and parents from outside of the school community are also run by the school.

38

The teachers and therapists work together to provide the students with a comprehensive

education. A carefully thought out timetable operates to maximise learning opportunities.

Specialist programmes are interwoven into the daily programme. Students are grouped

according to their ability for core curriculum areas. This has proven to be effective. As well

as the core curriculum subjects, students are engaged in a wide range of curriculum including

art, music and drama. Working as a team allows the school to provide a trans-disciplinary

approach which enables a multi-modality approach to be used that helps students to learn.

SLTs and OTs offer intensive support throughout the day. Some students are withdrawn into

small groups for specialist teaching but this is usually undertaken outside of the core

curriculum. Some of the intensive work undertaken by the OT and SLT include:

Motor Skills

In these lessons the Occupational Therapists work with the children to develop basic

movement skills such as balance, motor co-ordination, bilateral skills and sequencing.

Auditory Memory

Games and activities are used which help students develop strategies to retain and recall

verbal information.

Social Skills

Students are coached on social skills necessary to interact appropriately with their peers,

such as turn-taking, sharing, listening to others, understand and interpreting emotions,

understanding and using non-verbal communication, developing conversational skills,

negotiation skills and situational social understanding.

Circle of Friends

This is an approach used to enable students to communicate, provide social skills support

to their peers and to engage in problem solving.

39

Learning Styles are considered in teaching and learning. Students appeared to know their

Learning Style and the differences in the way they and their peers learn. The students

appeared to be explicitly taught and then reinforced them, thus enhancing self regulation and

self efficacy.

Teachers also work with small groups for language, phonological awareness and motor

maths. Verbal and communication skills are developed in the language groups. Some

examples are: comprehension of verbal concepts, ability to follow instructions,

understanding of vocabulary and grammar, structure of sentences, telling stories and finding

the right words when talking.

In the phonological awareness groups, students work on identifying and generating rhyme,

identifying syllables and hearing and identifying the sounds in words. Phonological skills are

essential pre-requisites for successful literacy acquisition.

In the motor maths groups, students use motor movement strategies to aid the learning of

maths concepts. In other words, they use their whole bodies and other motor movements.

For example, when learning geometric shapes, the students make the shapes with their whole

bodies by lying on the floor and linking up with their peers.

Fairley House had a comprehensive approach to the strategies that work best used for

students with dyslexia and they were integrated into all aspects of the day. Progress is

carefully monitored and programmes are modified according to the individual needs of the

students.

40

Symbols or visual cues are used extensively in the school to support learning in all areas.

Some examples of visual cues are:

Daily visual timetables. These are used to help students understand and predict the

routines of the day. They also help students to organise themselves. Often

organisation is a difficult area as is sequencing and memory for students with

dyslexia.

Narrative prompts. These are visual prompts that are provided to students to help

them generate and organise their ideas and thoughts verbally that in turn help them

with their story telling and writing.

Other similar visual prompts are used to teach and support students with vocabulary

development and grammar.

Semantic webs. Students are taught to use semantic webs such as mind maps to help

with memory retention and they also enable students

to represent ideas with keywords and pictures rather

than with full sentences.

Computers and interactive whiteboards are used in

the lessons.

Social and communication skill teaching also use visual cues to support the learning:

Sentifix is a visual, colour-coded system to help students to structure their verbal and

written sentences. This appeared to be similar to a structure used in New Zealand

called Colourful Semantics.

A mat with picture symbols called “Talking Mats” are used to help students to

participate and to express their opinions or convey important information to others

while also reinforcing an awareness of themselves as learners. It appeared that these

were a similar to developing a learner profile. e.g. “Things that help me.” “Things

Figure 26: Many lessons utilise

technology.

41

that make learning difficult” “Things that are OK”. Students and teachers openly

discussed the way they learn best and this was observed during the maths lesson.

Behavioural and Communication Skills strongly rely on visual support:

Makaton sign language is an alternative and supplementary form of communication.

It appeared to be used with the picture cues and the hand signing. Makaton signs are

also used as social, behavioural, attention and listening cues e.g. the sign for “wait”

hand up for “stop”.

Visual reward systems are used to help develop good attention and listening

behaviours. One example is the Good Working Ladder. Students are able to see

themselves progressing up the ladder.

Alphabet strips also help students with their writing. They act as a visual cue for the

letters of the alphabet and also act as a line guide for handwriting as they have many

transparent coloured strips running in parallel lines.

Another support that helps students with their handwriting is the

handwriting scheme they use. All students are explicitly taught

a cursive style of handwriting by the OT and reinforced in the

classroom. Pencil grip, joining up the letters in the correct

method and size is all explicitly taught and reinforced. It may

mean that some students are re-taught handwriting using this

method but it improves fluency, speed and helps with correct

letter formation and orientation. Good posture when writing is also emphasised. All

students have sloping desks that fit their size. A poem is used to remind students of the

correct posture and pencil grip. “One, two, three, four, are my feet flat on the floor? Five,

Figure 27: A poster reminding

of the correct way to do

handwriting is on display.

42

six, seven, eight, Is my back up nice and straight? Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, Is my pencil

correctly held?”

Students continue to use pencils until they have reached a high standard of writing. Finger

exercises called “Finger Gym” are part of the normal routine to help develop manual

dexterity and pencil control. To further support this, some students require extra equipment

to help them sit and attend better in the classroom or hold their pencils correctly for example,

a wobbly cushioned seat and a pencil grip.

“How to keep my brain engine running” is a visual cue of a

speedometer attached to the student‟s desk. It is designed for

students to become independent in managing their own activity

and attention levels in the classroom.

Social Stories are created to help students understand different

social situations to they can respond appropriately.

“Walk the Word” is an approach used to help students to learn new curriculum vocabulary

more effectively by looking at the sound properties of new words, what they mean, and how

to use them in a sentence. My interpretation of this technique is that it is consistent with a

sound memory improving strategy because it covers processing information in terms of

meaning by creating a narrative with the sentence (often relating to their own experience and

therefore contextualising the word) linking to language with the phonics and creating an

interactive mental image. (Matlin, 2005).

Figure 28: This boy is seated on

one of the sloping tables,

designed for correct posture.

On his desk he has the “Keep

My Engine Running” visual cue.

43

I observed the Year 3 teacher Maria Angelakis teaching a mathematics lesson. She

demonstrated how the multi-sensory and step by step approaches used by Fairley House

come together. Some of the aspects highlighted were:

Use of equipment (concrete) used in a variety of ways to ensure each student gained

understanding of the mathematics concept of the four times table.

Exploring the vocabulary used including all the different names for multiplying e.g.

times and lots of and these were also evident in posters around the room.

Students were encouraged to utilise their strengths and share their strategies for

working out the equations and all were valued.

The teacher used a symbol and an action to reinforce the symbol or sign used for

writing multiplication equations by making an „x‟ shape with the two fore fingers in

front of the face, saying the „times‟/‟lots of‟ or „multiply‟ symbols is a “kiss shape”

and then she raised her hands up to her face and gave the „x‟ shape an exaggerated

kiss with a loud smack of the lips, thus reinforcing the name and the shape of the sign.

Students were then exposed to a semi-concrete approach, using visual representations

of the equipment e.g. drawing of sweets with a story problem to reinforce the concept,

through to dots to represent the items on a small whiteboard followed by the written

numerical equation.

Each student was encouraged to reflect on their learning style and discuss which

strategy works best for them.

At the end of the lesson and before the break, the teacher encouraged the use of positive

affirmations by chanting to the students and they repeated, “I‟m a superstar, I‟m a brain box,

I can do it!”

44

The Head of Fairley House Junior School, Ann Osborn believes that the success of the school

is their very experienced and highly dedicated team who work together with the same

philosophy and what I observed certainly reinforced the benefits of this.

Calder House

Calder House School is set in the beautiful

countryside of Colerne in Wiltshire. It is a small co-

educational independent specialist day school for

children aged between 5 and 13 where children with

dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia and other language difficulties learn the skills they need to

fulfil their potential.

The Headmaster Andrew Day hosted my visit. He kindly provided an

overview of the philosophy and day to day programmes run in the school,

followed by a tour of the school and provided me with a chance to engage

in a lesson and talk with some of the specialist staff. Andrew also

introduced me to one of the founders of the school, Sandy Agombar who

outlined the history of Calder House and an overview of the philosophies used.

Calder House was originally established in London by Sandy and her husband Colin

Agombar. Sandy explained how she had undertaken training on dyslexia in order to help

support her son and later set up the original school which is still going strong in South

London. Coincidently, the model was based on the same model used by Fairley House and I

did see similarities.

Figure 29: Calder House School yard

and the farm house.

Figure 30: Andrew

Day

45

When Colin and Sandy moved to Colerne, the property

was a working farm and it was converted in to a school in

1995. Again, this school has managed to maximise every

available space. The school has retained many of the

original features as shown in the photograph.

When the school opened, there were just four students with Sandy teaching them and from

then on, Sandy comments “It has gone from strength to strength”. All teachers are trained in

dyslexia. They also employ Teaching Assistants who also undergo training in dyslexia if

they do not already have it.

Calder House offers a whole-school approach to specialist education, tailor made to meet the

individual needs of the students. Students integrate back into the mainstream schools after a

period of up to two years specialist support. Calder House is approved by the Secretary of

State for Education under Education Act 1996 S347 (1) and is a member of British Dyslexia

Association and has an excellent track record, comments Andrew.

At the time of my visit there were 35 students, of which ten held a Statement of Special

Educational Need with six being fully funded by the Local Educational Authority. Each class

had up to eight students in it. Andrew discussed that the challenge for students and their

families is that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain Statements of Special

Educational Needs from the Local Authorities.

Andrew discussed an example of the challenges one family was facing in getting the support

they needed for their child. A tribunal hearing was underway and this process involved the

Figure 31: The original cow stall dividing

an area for the library.

46

employment of an independent panel. He commented that the cost of the tribunal hearing

could provide the student with three years at this school. Three Local Authorities served this

area and operated differently. This caused some difficulties with consistency.

To be accepted into the school, students need to have dyslexia or dyspraxia as assessed or

diagnosed and not have global delays. Although the school was based on the Fairley House

model they are now accepting students with a wider range of needs. Prospective students are

invited to attend the school for a day. During this time, the morning is spent with another

student, following through their day. In the afternoon, they undergo a formal assessment

with a specialist teacher.

During the day, the physiotherapist and the SLT on staff observe the student and get an

understanding of their needs. Then all the professionals meet to see if the students are a good

match the ethos of the school.

Each year level group is divided up into skill level grouping for maths and literacy. The day

is broken up into six 35 minute lessons in the morning to help with keeping students on task:

one each of: spelling, reading, writing and one or two for maths and then one or two for sub-

skills sessions.

The sub-skills are things like memory, physio or speech language sessions etc or whatever

the students need. Each student has an individualised timetable. They move around the

school each period. A colour coding system was used on the timetable to help students with

their organisation. The colours represented the place they needed to be e.g. classroom

„green‟ had green floors, classroom „blue‟ had blue floors and the corresponding colours

47

were on their timetable. I saw a student making a transition, using this system and he was

able to cross check successfully, preventing him from being late to the next lesson and

improving independence. Andrew commented that the colour coding strategy has been

highly successful.

The covered outdoor area

is used as a play and

lunch area as well as a

physiotherapy space. All

equipment has been

carefully selected to assist in the physical development of the students e.g. crawling through

things etc.

After a tour of the school, I was able to sit in on a literacy class. The students read from their

high interest text to the teacher. One student that read to me also asked me to work with him

on his phonics programme. He was very proud of his progress in the book. Other students

shared their written language work.

Each student was expected to use cursive handwriting and do it evenly and neatly with the

correct formation the same as for Fairley House. Apparently they focus on accuracy, size

and shape and then fluency follows. They are taught the cursive writing in the sub-skill

lessons by the physiotherapist and it is then used and reinforced throughout the day. Students

use pencil until they get their “pen licence”.

Figures 32 and 33: The physiotherapy equipment and sheltered play area.

48

In the samples of work I saw, it did indicate that the cursive writing was highly successful in

helping the students overcome their dyslexic and dysgraphic difficulties. It would appear that

initially this method takes a lot longer to do successfully but this may have been

overshadowed by the fact that all the students were working on it so everyone‟s pace was

slow and steady and the results in legibility were evident. I noted that this was something to

investigate further.

The students willingly shared their progress with me and how happy they were at the school.

They said they were not teased as they had been in their previous schools and everyone

understands their needs and caters for them at Calder House. One boy explained that he was

going through a transition period to enter the local Community Agricultural College and the

school was being very supportive, ensuring his success. If it was not for Fairley House, I got

the impression from him that he would not have expected he would succeed academically and

now he has a good chance to pursue his passion of farming while achieving academic merits.

The use of a wide range of strategies known to support students with dyslexia was evident

and the similarities with Fairley House were clearly observed however, the school was also

using new ideas and personalising their practice to meet the particular needs of their students.

By explicitly teaching these strategies, the students were able to understand themselves as

learners and helped to develop independent learning that they needed to learn at the school

and more relevantly at their mainstream school when they returned to their local school at the

end of two years.

Andrew Day discussed an example of the success of the school and their approaches.

Recently, all past pupils were invited back to the school during Dyslexia Week. This proved

49

to be a very successful time, with many success stories to be told by past pupils but two that

come to mind for Andrew are one who has a PhD and another who is a carpenter. The

student who has become a qualified carpenter was one of the students involved in renovation

work of lifting the barn roof and re-erecting it when he was a student at the school and this

practical involvement started a love of carpentry. With the encouragement from the school,

his dreams were met. All the past pupils indicated they wanted to join in the next Dyslexia

Week.

Red Rose School

Red Rose School is private school specialist school

catering for students from seven to 16 years with

dyslexia and opened in 1997. It is located in St

Annes-on-the-Sea, Lancashire, England, directly

across the road from the Blackpool coast. The school

is housed in what were previously two residential homes. It is the only specialist dyslexia

school in the North West of England making it a valuable resource.

The roll was 51 at the time of my visit with the youngest being 11 years old. Class sizes are

kept to up to ten students with one teacher and at least one teaching assistant for each class.

All but one of those students had a Statement of Special Educational Need which means that

the local Education Authority funded their attendance as there is no other facility suitable for

them in their local area and as such, all but one student travelled to school in a taxi or van for

up to two hours a day.

Figure 34: Red Rose School.

50

Dr Sionah Lannen is the Head Teacher and Educational Psychologist and her husband Colin

Lannen is the Principal. Dr Gavin Reid is also affiliated to the school as Director. Dr Reid is

a leading authority on dyslexia and author of numerous books on dyslexia and naturally they

use a number of his books, resources and assessment tools.

Dr Lannen and Mr Lannen were away overseas while I

was there, so John Savage, the Director of Learning

Support hosted me. It is his responsibility to oversee

the Statement reviews and offer extra support to the

students when needed and he is also teaches music

technology.

The school was fairly quiet on the day of my visit as many were on a school trip that day, as

it was heading towards the end of the school term. Interestingly, John explained that two

New Zealand students who had previously attended the school for a few years as their family

considered they were not having their needs met in New Zealand. They have since returned

to New Zealand. At that comment, I was reminded of a tour of New Zealand Dr and Mr

Lannen and Dr Reid had made about eight to ten years ago during which they presented

seminars on dyslexia. I attended one of these seminars and at the time, I thought how

wonderful it would be to visit this school. Now visiting it, I realised I had achieved my

dream! I wondered if it was also this tour of New Zealand that had prompted the family to

move and enrol their children in the school.

Red Rose School operates on a child centred and hands on approach. All staff are trained in

teaching students with dyslexia. The school supports this training and has a proven track

Figure 35: John Savage the Director of

Learning Support.

51

record for providing a good service to students with dyslexia and the Local Educational

Authority is now referring more students to the school.

One of the intriguing aspects of the school is their commitment to offering a wide range of

experiences for the students across a wide field, helping to develop a range of talents and

creativity. John commented that this is something the mainstream schools may not be able to

offer to their students with dyslexia.

The timetable followed a similar structure to that of Fairley House and Calder House schools.

Four days a week the mornings are spent on literacy and numeracy as well as skills such as

memory and listening and the afternoons are for other subjects and is called “carousel”.

Students are spilt up from their regular class and attend a variety of subjects like textiles,

science, music, music technology, computers, art, etc and also they are part of a project called

Comenius school partnership.

The Comenius Project is supported by the British Council, the national agency for the

Comenius Erasmus Education and Youth in Action Programmes. As participants in this

project, the school is linked to other schools in Europe e.g. Germany, Belgium and Slovenia.

Participating students visit the other schools to perform and share their work. At the time of

my visit the students were working on circus skills such as juggling and acrobatics. On a

recent trip to Germany the students participated in a photography project. This is a good

example of encouraging students with dyslexia to develop and use a wide range of talents and

at the same time have fun, all the while, working on skills they may use in the future. I

thought, this model was great and the students appeared to be very enthusiastic about it. The

circus skills may well have helped students to undertake fun body and brain stimulating

52

exercises helping the brain and body to work together cohesively by learning juggling and

balancing or being a clown! I can visualise their imaginations going wild and creating a

really amazing circus act.

On the fifth day of the week, it is more flexible and this is a day when they have physical

education. They are fortunate to have the beach just across the road so that is a great

resource. They also hire a “street dance” teacher, another innovative idea!

Students are encouraged and supported in undertaking

units of work that build into qualifications in steps and

progress into future career options. This method suits the

students as it helps to place the work into manageable

chunks and prevents them becoming overwhelmed.

Undertaking the units helps the students and staff to build and maintain positive relationships.

The units also help to develop life and work skills. On the day I visited, some of the senior

girls were being taught nail technician skills that would work towards a beauty therapist

qualification. The teacher and teaching assistant were also participating. This highlighted

how important it is at the school for building and maintaining staff and student relationships.

One teacher commented, “It is the number one thing. We become like a family.” (Karen).

Relationships with parents is also important and they are encouraged to be involved in all

aspects of the school at the informal level as well as the formal aspects such as the progress

evenings held twice a year and are also participants in the IEP meetings. The challenge for

some parents is the distance between their home and the school.

Figure 36: Students and teachers

working on nail technician

qualifications.

53

Students who enrol at the school usually have a Statement of Educational Need and therefore

arrive with a full assessment report and recommendations. This means that Dr Lannen

usually only has to update the assessments up to three times a year, enabling them to monitor

and respond appropriately to the needs via an IEP process. Teachers undertake the majority

of assessments as the students feel more relaxed about this and informs their planning and

teaching.

Technology is embraced at the school. There is

consistent use of interactive white boards in lessons and

computer assisted programmes are also used. Most

students are computer literate. Typing programmes are

used that are recommended for students with dyslexia.

Sometimes the students need extra assistive technology

such as text talking programmes. There is no hesitation in using interactive computer games

to help develop balance and coordination such as skateboarding and interactive dance mat.

Interestingly the school researched the impact of interactive computer games on reading

development and found the interactive games had a positive impact on reading development.

Carol, one of the teachers I spoke to, commented that she uses a wide range of strategies and

resources to personalise the work for each student. Sometimes she accesses resource material

from the school resources and at other times, she

makes use of downloadable material on the internet

and makes them into student workbooks.

Figure 37: Boys playing with the

interactive games.

Figure 38: Students working in their study

cubicle.

54

Students are have individualised learning spaces which help maintain their focus and keeps

their books organised. On the wall of the learning station, they have a set of goals relevant to

them with target points for each one achieved.

I had a conversation with a senior student who told me he had dyslexia and also Aspergers

Syndrome. He liked being at the school because he felt he has learned a lot and is much

calmer at Red Rose School. He is no longer having angry outbursts as he had in his previous

school (I think he described them as “set- tos”). The teacher commented that he has come a

long way academically and socially. When he first arrived he had not had a good experience

of school. He was failing and had a lot of bullying. The boy asked me a number of questions

about New Zealand schools and was concerned when he heard there were no specialist

schools for students with dyslexia as he felt the students would not be helped and would be

bullied.

The progress of this boy was openly discussed by the teacher. Previously the boy would not

relate to teachers or other students as he was very distrusting of others (feeling he had been

let down a lot in the past). Slowly over time, the boy built a relationship with his teacher and

this slowly developed to include other teachers. The relationship he had with this teacher had

developed via music and in particular the electric guitar. The guitar was very therapeutic for

the boy and he was now an accomplished player. The boy commented to me that if he gets

frustrated he just plays the guitar. This was an example of working to a strength or interest

and delivering a curriculum that was very much child centred, which is a philosophy of the

school.

55

City of York

It was a great privilege to meet Anne Crawford who is

the Special Educational Needs Consultant for the

Inclusion Development Service, City of York. Anne

introduced me to her colleague Josie Clarke, the

Inclusion Development Officer and they both outlined

their work to help create inclusive schools.

For students with dyslexia they have provided a programme that enables schools to become

“Dyslexia Friendly”. Schools undertake a self-evaluation checklist for a Dyslexia Friendly

School which helps them audit their educational provision to students with dyslexia and then

they can request the support of the Inclusion Development Team. The team sets up an initial

meeting with the school where an action plan is drawn up and training times are agreed. The

Inclusion team provide the training and then the school continues to work towards meeting

the standards with ongoing support. When the school is ready, a verification visit takes place

and if successful, the school will be awarded a Dyslexia Friendly School status award and a

formal presentation is made. The self evaluation tool is then used to help schools monitor

their progress.

Anne also organised two school visits for me in York.

Figure 39: Anne Crawford outside

Wheldrake School.

56

Wheldrake School

Wheldrake School is located in the village of Wheldrake

on the outskirts of York. It has a roll of 202 students ranging

in ages from four (Foundation class) to 11 years. I met

Andrew Buttery the Special Education Needs Coordinator

who took me on a tour of the school.

Wheldrake School was the first school in York County to be awarded the Dyslexia Friendly

School Award. Andrew highlighted the various strategies

that have been implemented across the school to help

support students with dyslexia. He commented that since

implementing the Dyslexia Friendly initiatives, there has

been an improvement in achievement for students with

dyslexia and for all students. The key, he states, is

explicitly teaching the standards and concepts across the whole school. Each class uses the

same strategies but there is a progression through the class levels and each skill dovetails.

There was a strong emphasis on visual prompts.

Some examples of the strategies and the progressions:

Days of the week, months of the year and seasons

on display in each class. By the time the students

get to the senior room they are still displayed but

they are also teaching them a second language.

This is essential as students with dyslexia often

Figure 40: Andrew Buttery

Figure 41: The Dyslexia Friendly School

Certificate holds pride of place in the foyer

of the school.

Figure 42: Days of the week and seasons

displays for the seniors were also in

French.

57

have difficulty with sequencing things including time periods.

Writing objectives are explicitly taught from a matrix of skills that carefully break up

the skills into manageable chunks. One example is under the acronym V.C.O.P.

This stands for vocabulary, connectives

(conjunctions), openers, and punctuation and

is used to help raise standards in writing. I

noticed this in at least three other schools

and was curious about who had developed this. On my return from my trip I

investigated where this came from and it appeared that Ros Wilson (2010) from

Andrell Education developed this dyslexia friendly framework.

Figure 43: V.C.O.P. poster.

Figure 45: An example of how the connectives were

displayed for juniors. Figure 46: An example of how the connectives

were displayed for the seniors.

Figure 44: “VCOP Super Heroes” on

display with characters representing each

aspect e.g. Violet Vocab.

58

This type of thing highlights a number of dyslexia friendly strategies, all of which help

students with dyslexia to process the information and remember it and use it as a self-

checking tool.

1. Breaking concepts up into chunks.

2. Using acronyms.

3. Providing visual cues.

Each of the key elements or matrix of skills have

been levelled so students know what they are

working on and what they need to do to move up to

the next level. Each teacher has personalised the

V.C.O.P. acronym into visuals and represented with

a „character‟ such as the “V Cop” or “Super Heroes, “who help you to engage your

reader” such as “Violet Vocab” “Captain Connectives” and “Doctor Punctuation”.

These appeal to the students and help them remember the concept. Each class

highlights the appropriate level to work on but each individual student works at their

own level. An example of progression for connectives (conjunctions) is; a new

entrant may be encouraged to use „and‟ as a connective and this was reinforced with

“Bob the Builder” (as he builds sentences) but once that is achieved, they will be

encouraged to use a range of connectives such as „but‟, „so‟, „then‟, „because‟ and

„when‟. The older students would be expected to be using an even a wider range of

connectives such as „in addition to‟, „contrary to‟ etc. These are made into visual

displays and referred to during teaching. As each class follows the same process, they

are built on throughout the school, ensuring continuity.

Figure 47: A pyramid of the VCOP

sits on senior students‟ desks.

59

Vocabulary extension and study is encouraged not only in literacy but also in

numeracy and across the curriculum.

Students write in pencil until they have passed their “Pen

Licence”. As with other schools, cursive writing is used.

Computer technology is used in a range of ways. The

teachers use an interactive whiteboard in many different

ways including having the books being read, presented on the board for students to

follow along. One advantage of this is that different

coloured backgrounds and letters can be selected to

reduce eye strain and assist with the students tracking

from left to right. Words can also be highlighted.

Students in the senior classes had full use of an electronic dictionary and thesaurus.

A “File of Facts” for students who need extra support is produced in a small folder. It

highlights all the information a teacher needs to know about the student with headings

such as “Things I need and teachers need to know.” These are especially helpful for

transitions. The Year 5 students are actively engaged in the creation of these folders

and help them to understand themselves as learners.

Figure 48: Prompts for

mathematics symbols with key

vocabulary. Figure 49: mathematical terms

described.

Figure 50: Pen Licence

Poster.

Figure 51: An example of a

spellchecker or word bank.

60

Carr Junior School

At Carr Junior School, I was hosted by Joanne

Robinson a Teaching Assistant who worked with

Jill Walpole the Special Needs Coordinator.

Unfortunately Jill was away sick on the day of my visit. Joanne explained that they were

working towards the Dyslexia Friendly School Award and therefore I did see a consistent

approach being used with Wheldrake School and other specialist schools I had visited

previously.

The school uses the City of York Inclusion Service for

screening and identification of students with dyslexia and

support with strategies and programmes. Through the

process the school is now undertaking, students with

dyslexia are being identified, their needs being met and

information is being shared with parents. The “File of Facts” folder is also used at this school

and is a helpful communication tool.

I noticed the V.C.O.P. (Wilson, 2010) was also used in is

school.

Joanne outlined some of the consistent approaches currently being implemented in the

school. All classes had number lines, alphabets, visual timetables and complex speed sounds

displayed in their class and students and teachers used these consistently.

Figure 52: Carr Junior School.

Figure 53: Anne Crawford (left) talks to

Jill Walpole.

Figure 54: Another example of VCOP.

61

There was a consistent handwriting scheme used that

helped students with legibility, fluency and speed of

writing. Again, this was a cursive or linking script

style of writing. For the students who had difficulty

with reversing letters there were visual aids to help

remember.

Technology was again used to support students with dyslexia including interactive

whiteboards. A number of programmes were loaded on to it for example Speech Language

Therapist programmes.

Teachers are asked to use Ebor font on the computer when making worksheets etc as it is

more dyslexia friendly.

Famous people who were or are known to be dyslexic

were highlighted in a poster to help with self esteem. I

note that Winston Churchill featured on many of the

posters I saw.

Joanne commented that staff were receiving training on dyslexia at present and also pointed

out some of the extra support her and other teaching assistants provided. This was usually a

continuation and reinforcement of the class work and if necessary some small group work on

other programmes such as spelling interventions, speech programmes and phonics.

Figure 55: A good visual reminder for

students who reverse letters.

Figure 56: Poster of famous people

with dyslexia.

62

Carr Junior School appeared to be well on their way to obtaining a Dyslexia Friendly School

Certificate. I noted again how a whole school approach was very beneficial.

WALES

I meet Michael Davies Chief Executive of the Prosiect

Dyslecsia Cymru (Welsh Dyslexia Project) and he kindly

escorted me around Carmarthenshire in the south west of

Wales and Ceredigion further north on the west coast. The

Welsh Dyslexia Project is a Registered Charity that offers:

Training.

Individual support.

Information and resources.

Software to help dyslexia individuals and parents.

Regular conferences.

E-learning courses on dyslexia for parents, careers, learning assistants and others.

Local parent support groups.

Workshops.

Free Support Helpline.

Carmarthen was my first stop where I was fortunate to lunch

with the Leader of the Carmarthenshire County Council,

Merly Gravell and Gywnne Woolridge the Executive Board

Member for Education and Children‟s Services in the County

offices. Later I also met with Viv Thomas the Advisory

Figure 57: Michael Davies and his

wife Sandra outside their home.

Figure 58: Carmarthenshire

County Offices stand next to the

ruins of a castle of which the walls

can be seen in the foreground of the

photo.

63

Teacher. They were all able to inform me of the systematic changes they were currently

undergoing within the County.

The Carmarthenshire County Council and are in the process of developing a comprehensive a

set of guidelines and a handbook for supporting

students with dyslexia which fits within the context of

their Inclusion Strategy and aims to build the capability

of schools and teachers in better meeting the needs of the

students with dyslexic difficulties.

The County has consulted with the Welsh Assembly Government. The guidelines are

informed by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA). They have adopted the BDA definition

of dyslexia and have utilised the information contained in the BDA Achieving Dyslexia

Friendly School resource to create a locally relevant resource that recognises the strong

Welsh ethos in the county that warrants the use of bi-lingual resources and assessments.

A collaborative whole school approach is endorsed with students, parents, schools and other

professionals working together for positive outcomes. Their core values are:

Child-centred teaching.

Partnerships with parents and other professionals.

Whole school approach.

Using a developmental approach; teaching students at the correct level. This requires

differentiation in the classroom.

It is the inclusive classroom practices that have the biggest impact on progress.

Figure 59: Viv Thomas is pictured here

with me.

64

A shift in focus from diagnosis to responding to the needs. However, there is an

acknowledgement that at times a diagnosis may help in identifying the primary needs

of the student and inform the appropriate interventions.

A shift in focus from the „experts‟ only supporting the students, to ownership being

grounded in the school with support from the professionals such as the Advisory

Teacher for Dyslexia.

Therefore, identification and intervention should take place within the schools in

collaboration with the student and parents. If necessary, support by way of training, extra

assessments, resources or advice can be accessed from a range of professionals including an

Educational Psychologist, Pupil Progress Officer, Advisory Teachers or other professionals

such as a Speech Language Therapist.

To support this focus on building school and teacher capability a number of initiatives have

been adopted including a Self Evaluation Checklist which schools use to identify their

capability in this area and plan for improvement. This then leads to a Carmarthenshire

Dyslexia Quality Mark.

A Working Party was established to help implement this work. They collaborated with the

BDA, the Welsh Dyslexia Project and other key professionals. This group recognised the

need to provide training to the schools and this has been provided to each school in the

County along with a bi-lingual handbook and a battery of County diagnostic assessments.

If the schools require further support, they are now required to identify the students with

dyslexia difficulties, gather the relevant data and make a referral to the Advisory Group. The

shift from student focus to building school capability has provided an opportunity for the

65

Dyslexia Advisory Teacher to provide an efficient and equitable service to the 140 schools in

the County. Previously this was not possible.

The biggest challenge facing the Welsh medium schools in the County is that there are no

assessments or resources in the Welsh language, leading to difficulties in accurate and timely

identification. I was informed that on the most part, students are taught in Welsh until they

are about seven or eight years old, undertaking English language screening tests at seven or

eight years old when the students‟ first language is Welsh is problematic. This is currently

being addressed by the Carmarthenshire County. They are working on developing a bi-

lingual dyslexia screening test but it is a costly exercise to undertake standardisation and

translation. The Welsh Dyslexia Project is hoping to obtain funding to support this work and

to help create resources in Welsh but recognise this is a big challenge.

At the meeting, this difficulty was the main topic of conversation and favourably led to Meryl

Gravell the Leader of the Carmarthenshire County Council suggesting a plan to help locate

the funds necessary. The plan she outlined would require the collaboration of other Counties.

Michael Davies indicated that this was a great move forward.

Ysgol Gyfun Bro Myrddin

Bro Myrddin Welsh Comprehensive School

Bro Myrddin is a Welsh medium Comprehensive

School in Carmarthen. A comprehensive school is a

secondary school starting at Year 7 (ages 11 to 18)

with a roll of approximately 900 students. I was told

that the school‟s name is linked to a Welsh legend of Merlin the Wizard.

Figure 60: Bro Myrddin School

66

I met Caroline Walton the Special Education Needs Teacher who is also

a specialist dyslexia teacher who works out of the Dyslexia Unit. She has

key responsibility for the special education services in the school and has

approximately 130 students on the special needs roll.

Requests for Caroline‟s support comes from a range of sources e.g.

parents, students, teachers, departments etc but for students with dyslexia

they are sometimes already identified at their primary school. Sometimes

they are identified during the screening process on school entry.

Older students with mild dyslexia who have previously managed alright, sometimes seek

advice and support when they realise they are not managing with the greater workload, higher

level of organisation, the timeframes and the exams during the senior years. Caroline

commented that a diagnosis of dyslexia is helpful for the students so they understand what

the problem is and helps ease their stress. A big benefit in the assessments is identification of

the students‟ strengths and weaknesses as these can be considered in developing appropriate

programmes.

Beyond the Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings that are held for students, partnerships

with parents are encouraged with their open door policy and the annual parent evenings.

Parents sometimes ring Caroline up with their concerns, to request support or make enquiries.

Caroline coordinates a range of support for the students. Students who have a Statement of

Special Educational Need are entitled to a Learning Support Assistant but for others the

students sometimes have the support of a Teacher Aide in the classroom if they have

Figure 61: A wooden

carved „Merlin the

Wizard‟ stands in the

square.

67

qualified for the School Action Plus level of servicing. The School Action Plus students may

also get advice or support from specialists outside of the school.

I noticed that Bro Myrddin School also had posters on the wall of famous people with

dyslexia to help raise the self esteem of students with dyslexia and other students also and

make them all aware that dyslexia is not a barrier to success.

One of the strategies I picked up during my discussion with Caroline

was a type of “reminder of routine” flip file. This was created for all

the major events in the school outlining what the students are to

expect on these special days. It was probably a strategy mostly used

for students on the autistic spectrum but could also be used for

students with dyslexia who often have memory and organisation problems. The flip file had

the title of the event with a visual picture to remind and cue the student in and the information

contained was short and succinct with only the essential pieces of information represented.

The students who required this type of support would be able to discuss the pending event

and the expectations and responsibilities and routines of the day with Caroline or one of her

staff. I liked the way this was able to be reused each year with only a date to accompany it if

necessary. I assumed this was available in English and Welsh versions.

Each curriculum department was charged with the responsibility of accommodating for the

students with special educational needs by providing small group teaching. These groups

changed according to the needs. Caroline commented that these small groups were not

always suitable for some students with dyslexia. She needs to monitor this and provide the

Figure 62: Reminder flip

file.

68

appropriate support for them in class. Sometimes this entails providing a scribe for class

work and in exams.

Caroline also raised the lack of Welsh resources and assessment tools as a big challenge. She

thought that the most likely place for developing the Welsh assessment tools would be the

Dyslexia unit at Bangor University but was concerned that they may not have the funding to

continue.

Queen Elizabeth High School

Ysgol Uwchradd Y Frenhines Elisabeth

Queen Elizabeth School is a comprehensive bi-lingual

school with a specific dyslexia unit. The roll is over 1000

students with 30 students with a Statement of Special

Educational Need but there are no students with dyslexia holding this level of resourcing,

they are resourced from within the school but with some support from the Advisory Team

(School Action and School Action Plus Statement levels).

I met Vicki Brook who is the Specialist Dyslexia Teacher at the school. She reiterated the

same as other schools I had visited in England that it has become more difficult to obtain this

level of resourcing now for students with dyslexia but it varies across the Counties. Vicki

acknowledged the Carmarthen County‟s work on dyslexia but also pointed out that there is

variation across Counties, creating inequity issues for students but she hastens to add that

they are working on a consistent definition.

Figure 63: Queen Elizabeth High

School.

69

Vicki is based in the Dyslexia Unit. She ensures the

students with dyslexia are supported in their

mainstream classes by building teacher awareness and

capability. She believes “This is the way forward.”

Sometimes the students come to the Unit for extra

teaching and support. Students often worked on

computer programmes such as which typing tutors or phonics and memory programmes

while others were getting extra support for their class work. The students commented that

like the support they get in the unit.

When Vicki is not in the unit she is supporting and monitoring the students in their classes

and helps to build teacher awareness of dyslexia both informally and with professional

development.

Students are usually identified as having a need from their primary school but sometimes they

are identified in the entry assessments or later. For students who come from a Welsh medium

school, to an English medium school like this one, there a challenges in identifying the core

issue, given the change in language. I thought that the challenges of a student changing

schools from one language to another is sometimes faced in New Zealand when students

leave a Maori medium school and enter an English medium

school.

Again there was a strong emphasis on building self esteem

with the recognition of local and international successful

people who also have dyslexia.

Figure 64: Vicki sits alongside some

students who were working on computer

assisted programmes.

Figure 65: Another poster of famous

people with dyslexia.

70

Following Carmarthen we made our way north to Aberystwyth in the County of Ceredigion

on the mid-west coast of Wales where I was guided by Barbara Horsfall-Turner, also from

the Welsh Dyslexia Project. In Aberystwyth, I visited two secondary schools and then had

lunch with Eifion Evans, Ceredigion County Director of Education and Community Services

Department. This was a casual affair but the main topic of conversation being the challenges

for the Welsh people to retain their language.

Ysgol Penglais

Penglais School

Penglais is an English medium comprehensive school with a roll

of approximately 1500 students in Aberystwyth. I met Liz Ball,

the Additional Learning Needs Coordinator. She discussed the

role of the Dyslexia Centre and the support offered to the students

and teachers.

Students with dyslexia are usually identified from their previous school but they are also

identified via other in school assessments and teacher observations. Referrals can be

informal or formal via the curriculum department heads.

Liz explained that there has recently been a shift in the national policy for provision of

service to students with special needs to being an in school and in class responsibility. This

was definitely being reinforced in all the schools I was visiting. Therefore the Special

Education Needs staff are now supporting class teachers to identify students experiencing

difficulties and respond to the pupils‟ diverse needs with the provision of the most

appropriate learning within the class. Sometimes this means that the teacher has to provide

Figure 66: Barbara Horsfall-

Turner (left) and Liz Ball.

71

an adapted curriculum. Each curriculum department has a responsibility to cater for students‟

needs and sometimes this will involve some small group teaching. All year seven, eight and

nine levels have smaller class sizes to help students who are experiencing difficulties. To

help teachers with the changes, the Additional Educational Needs teaching staff have

produced a helpful guide for staff. Some staff have specialist dyslexia training.

Despite the focus of teaching students within the class, the Dyslexia Centre still offers

additional support for students for small group teaching or other extra support from the staff.

Some students work on computer assisted learning programmes for spelling, phonics,

memory skills, comprehension etc as well as typing tutors.

As well as this, teachers make up worksheets and games

to help support students e.g. bingo cards for vocabulary or word recognition and spelling. At

times the teachers may also use a commercial phonics skills programme and students work

through this at their own pace. Liz commented that the teaching in the Dyslexia Centre is a

cumulative, multi-sensory structured phonological programme for both reading and spelling.

Students are also supported by other provisions in the school such as the Basic Skills Centre

and the Pastoral Care staff who offer mentoring and behavioural support if necessary.

Figure 68: The student in the photograph

loved to use the interactive whiteboard as

he liked the movement it offered.

Figure 67: Two students being supported

by one of the Dyslexia Centre teachers.

Barbara Horsfall-Turner looks on.

72

Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penwiddig

Penweddig Community Secondary School

Penwiddig School is a Welsh medium secondary

school with a roll of approximately 700 students also

located in Aberystwyth. Much like Jo Richardson

Community School, the building is leased by the

school. It has a Dyslexia Centre that has been running

for a couple of years. I met Demelza Jenkins who is the

Additional Needs Teacher and Dyslexia Teacher and

Shan Bergmanski the Special Needs Coordinator.

The systems and procedures at Penwiddig, were similar

to that of Penglais School being in the same County however, being a Welsh medium school

posed similar challenges to that of Bro Myrddin School.

Demelza has had experience teaching in the primary level and considers that secondary

schools are better resourced for students with dyslexia than primary schools where she found

it was difficult to get support for students. She thought at times, parents had to fight for the

children to get what they needed. Demelza described how she was previously employed as

an itinerant teacher who supported primary school students with dyslexia for two and half

hours a week. She commented that this was an inefficient way to do offer support as she may

end up only getting 30 minutes per students. Working in the secondary sector she is able to

utilise her knowledge more efficiently by offering support to the teachers and the students

without wasting time travelling around the county.

Figure 69: Penweddig Community School.

Figure 70: Left to right: Shan

Bergmanski, Barbara Horsfall-Turner,

me, Demelza Jenkins.

73

Students are again; usually identified as having dyslexia prior to entry to the secondary

school but sometimes they are picked up here also. There is a strong primary to secondary

transition system in place that sees Shan visiting the primary schools where she obtains the

necessary information including the best strategies to use for the students.

Some of the challenges outlined in discussions in the other Welsh schools were echoed in this

school also in regard to the recognition of the Welsh language. The assessments being used

are in English but students are taught exclusively in Welsh until they are eight years old.

Again, a big concern is the lack of Welsh resources but there is also concern about the

inconsistency and lack of a cohesive approach across Wales as each County works

independently and is developing their own Welsh resources and translating the resources and

assessment tools rather than collaborating on this. The County has a set criterion and all

students who meet the criteria for support entitles them to that level of funding.

Another challenge that Demelza outlined was that taking students out of class to attend extra

teaching in the Dyslexia Centre, poses a challenge for students with dyslexia at the secondary

level as they miss their core lessons.

Penweddig Community Secondary School offers a great service to their students with

dyslexia.

74

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit

down and listen.” (Winston Churchill, n.d.)

I have summarised my findings under the key questions.

What are the different educational settings that cater for students with dyslexia?

I visited thirteen schools in all:

Beijing China: Yew Chung International School, Western Academy of Beijing, Care

for Children School.

England: Jo Richardson Community College, Fairley House, Calder House, Red

Rose School, Wheldrake School, Carr Junior School.

Wales: Bro Myrddin School, Queen Elizabeth High School, Penglais School,

Penwiddig Community Secondary School.

The schools had a wide range of educational settings from international schools, mainstream

public schools, to specialist dyslexia schools across a range of age levels. Nine of the schools

were taught in the English language, two were Welsh language speaking schools and two

were bi-lingual (Welsh/English and Chinese/English). All schools catered for students with

dyslexia in some way. Refer to Table 1 (Appendix 2) for the key features of the schools that

I visited.

75

What support services and resources are available and how are these accessed?

I targeted schools that were recognised as catering for students with dyslexia, therefore the

schools were indeed well resourced with personnel and other resources, especially compared

to New Zealand schools.

In nine of the thirteen schools I visited, students with dyslexia had the support of qualified

teachers who understood dyslexia and the academic, social and emotional challenges the

students with dyslexia often faced. In all other schools there were qualified special needs

teachers employed to support these students and all schools had access to other dyslexia

specialists if not employed by the school.

The comprehensive and secondary schools all had a special support unit that supported

students with special needs including those with dyslexia. In Wales, all the comprehensive

and secondary schools had a dyslexia unit as well as a special needs or learning support unit

that was able to provide even more comprehensive support. As well as this the students also

had access to other support people such as school counsellors.

The students I spoke to discussed how they used and appreciated the support they received

and that they found going to the specialist units helpful. The students in the specialist schools

commented that they would not like attending a mainstream school as they felt different and

their needs were not met and they had concerns for other students who were not as fortunate

as themselves i.e. being in a specialist school for dyslexia students.

76

According to the information I obtained from dyslexia trained teachers, the British Dyslexia

Association (BDA) aims to see that all schools have a fully qualified specialist dyslexia

teacher (to post graduate level) in the schools.

The specialist schools had access to a wide range of specialists such as educational

psychologists, occupational therapists and speech language therapists on site. They

undertook formal assessments, provided therapy, offered advice and support and worked

collaboratively with the teachers to provide a comprehensive education to the students. One

school was also a dyslexia training facility.

The schools that did not specialise in teaching students with dyslexia all had access to

educational psychologists, occupational therapists, speech language therapists and all the

schools in England and Wales also had access to dyslexia advisors across all age ranges,

funded by the Local Educational Authorities, however in the International Schools the

parents had to pay for the services.

Schools who worked on a dyslexia friendly school framework were supported through the

process by trained advisors or consultants and this helped to build teacher and school

capability in educating students with dyslexia and according to the accounts of the teachers I

spoke to, also helped them to cater better for all learners.

Many of the schools I visited also had the support of dyslexia support groups. One that was

mentioned was Dyslexia Action and in Wales, the schools I visited in Wales were supported

by Prosiect Dyslecsia Cymru (Welsh Dyslexia Project) of which Michael Davies, a Trustee

77

was my host. The Welsh Dyslexia Project is a Registered Charity that offers training, help

and advice to parents, information and resources.

The level of support and resourcing offered depends greatly on the level of student need

identified and the subsequent funding status linked to student. The provision of specialist

teachers and other professionals all vary greatly even within one country. In the international

schools, the parents are required to fund the assessments and may have to fund any extra

support required. In the specialist dyslexia schools, most students are funded to attend the

school by the Local Educational Authority because they have a high need, hold a Statement

of Special Educational Need and their local school is unable to provide the appropriate

education for them. For a smaller number of students, parents choose to send their children

to these schools and fund their children to receive their education in these specialist schools.

It is my understanding that schools are advised by a set of guidelines based on the British

Dyslexia Association recommendation to create a dyslexia friendly school environment and

each Local Education Authority has set about personalising this to suit their own community.

Although schools are working towards an inclusive philosophy, it seems that in England, it is

recognised by some Local Educational Authorities that for some students a specialist dyslexia

school may be the best placement for students if their local school is not able to provide an

appropriate education for them. In this case, full funding may be provided.

It would appear from my investigations that most students in England and Wales, who are

diagnosed with dyslexia now days, are less likely to be holding a Statement of Special

Educational Need which would entitle them to receive full funding and more likely that the

78

student would be granted a status of School Action or School Action Plus. School Action

means the school is capable of providing all the resourcing and educational needs the student

requires with the support of either a qualified member of staff. School Action Plus means

that the school provides most of the resourcing and educational needs with some outside

support, resourcing or accommodations via a referral to one of the qualified dyslexia

advisors.

How are students with dyslexia identified? What assessment tools are used?

Students with dyslexia are usually identified by their class teachers in primary school firstly

using standard achievement monitoring and then more specific screening or assessment as

well as professional judgement to respond to an identified need or lack of progress.

There are a wide range of checklists and screening tools available to teachers most of which

are also accessible in New Zealand. The tools used for diagnosis were all conducted by

Educational Psychologists or similarly qualified professionals. It is acknowledged that early

identification is essential and this may be made easier because the schools either have

qualified dyslexia teachers on staff or they have access to dyslexia advisors.

A barrier to early or accurate identification and provision of service was raised in Wales. The

issue raised by many teachers is that Welsh language is not fully acknowledged. They felt

that first language Welsh students were not recognised or catered for well enough because the

diagnostic assessments and a lot of resources or programmes available in English, are not

available in Welsh. This is obviously a problem when the language medium of the school is

Welsh and the students‟ first language is Welsh. “The language with which the person feels

most comfortable (often the first language) or the language in which literacy has to be

79

acquired (may be second language)” is the language that tests should be conducted in.

(Everatt, 2009, slide 23).

To provide some background, it is my understanding that students in the schools I visited in

Wales conduct all their schooling in Welsh up until they are about seven years old and then it

depends on which school they are in as to how much Welsh language teaching is continued if

at all. In the English medium schools for instance, the language of learning switches to

English at this time. In a bi-lingual school, the students are then taught in both Welsh and

English and in a Welsh medium school, they would obviously continue in Welsh.

This gave me an insight into the challenges faced by an English run education system in

another language medium. The voiced opinions about the lack of consideration for the Welsh

language was a surprise to me as I expected to see examples of bi-lingual approaches and

considerations that could be useful examples in New Zealand for our bi-lingual or Maori

medium schools. Obviously, this concern was also held by the Welsh Local Educational

Authorities I visited and they were finding solutions to this.

On discussing this issue with Michael Davies of the WDP and other Welsh County Leaders,

it was pointed out that the WDP had developed both English and Welsh dyslexia screening

tests in collaboration with the Welsh Assembly Government and the University of Bangor

(who are specialists in dyslexia in Wales) and are undertaking more research and developing

more standardised tests in Welsh, so it is work in progress.

Michael also advised me that the National Assembly of Wales established a working party in

2007 to investigate dyslexia in Wales and the Welsh Dyslexia Project and other stakeholders

80

were consulted in this process. From this, there were a number of recommendations made

that aim to address some of the inconsistencies and inequalities, to provide Welsh language

screening, assessment tools and resources and to ensure there are adequate trained teachers

available among other things.

Although I collected a vast list of the screening assessment tools used in schools, I was not

able to reference all of them. However, I am able to say, many of them are available for

purchase to us in New Zealand and are able to be used by teachers although it is advisable

that the teacher undertaking them has knowledge of dyslexia to be able to interpret the

results, make the necessary recommendations and support them.

Some of the common components in assessments are:

Phoneme/grapheme

Single word reading

Reading comprehension

Spelling

Rapid Naming Test

Fine motor control

Handwriting legibility, fluency and speed.

Sequences

Memory (auditory and visual)

Writing

Mathematics

Digit span

Rhyme

Segmentation and blending

81

Phonemic awareness

The basis of the Educational Psychologist assessments were usually IQ based with a picture

vocabulary test.

How is progress measured?

There is a high level of accountability for the funding students receive with regular audits and

progress reports. The IEP process helps to ensure progress is maintained. Different levels of

resourcing required different levels of accountability for funding. Obviously the students

with the highest need and therefore the largest amount of funding attached have a high level

of monitoring and reporting.

How are the partnerships between educators and parents fostered?

The partnerships between educators and parents are fostered in all the schools I visited.

Parents were consistently seen as an integral part of their child‟s education and were involved

in the education of their students at an informal level and more formally at IEP meetings.

Reid (2004) outlines that revised Code of Practice (2001) is “one of the most important

pieces of legislation in England and Wales in relation to meeting the needs of children with

dyslexia” (p.95). This document states that if a student with dyslexia is not getting their

needs met they may have to have a Statement of Educational Need and it also acknowledges

parents as partners in the education of their children and legislated that Local Educational

Authorities establish a Parent Partnership Scheme (PPS) to support parents to “play an active

and informed role in their child‟s education.” (Reid, 2004, p. 98). Reid goes on to describe

some of the core roles of the PPS, which include working collaboratively with parents,

82

keeping them informed and offering training and support. They also assist parents to act as

advocates for their children by informing and influencing local SEN policies and practice.

What policies and practices are employed by “Dyslexia Friendly Schools”?

“Much can be learned from examining the practice and organisation in good and effective

dyslexia-friendly schools.” (Reid, 2004, p. 89). Neil MacKay (2006) explains how an

initiative developed by the British Dyslexia Association called the Dyslexia Friendly Quality

Mark has been established. The schools in York were operating under this system. Once a

Local Educational Authority has been approved, they can then accredit their own Dyslexia

Friendly Schools.

Neil MacKay (2006) describes a “dyslexia-friendly school” as one that “enhances the

learning of all” (p.8). In order to become a “dyslexia- friendly school” it is essential that

schools acknowledge:

That the approaches need to be used by every teacher, in every class, all the time

and are evident at the systems, policy and practice level. Students with dyslexia

can think differently to other students.

Students with dyslexia learn differently so it is essential to change the techniques,

methods of delivery and materials.

Learning styles is a very powerful tool to enhance learning.

Students with dyslexia can achieve so empower students to be successful.

Good assessment and monitoring is vital.

It is important to respond to the needs and interventions.

Adaptation of the curriculum may be required.

Work can be presented and assessed in many ways.

83

The vital role of parents in their children‟s education and actively involve them.

The social, emotional and intellectual needs of the student and help them build

confidence and a positive self esteem.

Utilise the strengths and minimise the weaknesses. (MacKay, 2006)

“Regardless of learning need, a majority of pupils seem to make better progress, stay on task

for longer and achieve better results when taught in a Dyslexia Friendly way.” (MacKay,

2006, p. 170).

What teaching methods and programmes are used?

A number of common philosophies, teaching methods, programmes or strategies were

consistently observed in both the specialist dyslexia schools and the other schools that I

visited. I have attempted to summarise some of the key elements.

Self Esteem

“Self-esteem is without doubt one of the influential factors in successful learning.”

(Reid, 2004, p. 70). One of the most common approaches observed to help build self

esteem that I observed was to highlight famous people or role models in the local,

national and international arena such as actors, singers, academics, sports people and

leaders and these were usually displayed on a wall chart in very prominent places. I

assumed that the students with dyslexia had some involvement in developing these

posters.

Students were informed about dyslexia including the challenges and gifts and what dyslexia

means to them. They were encouraged to use their gifts and talents. One example of

encouraging the development of gifts and talents and also exposing the students to new

experiences was the Comenius School Partnership project at Red Rose School where the

84

current creative and talent building project was circus skills. “People with dyslexia are

among the most creative and talented people in our society. Unfortunately, because of the

high degree of emphasis on linguistic skills, especially linguistic skills requiring auditory

discrimination and memory, it is sometimes difficult to recognize their great abilities.”

(Stowe, 2000, p. 316).

Students were also informed about their weakness and strengths and how to minimise the

impact of their weaknesses while utilising their strengths. Students were encouraged to

understand how they learn best. This was particularly evident in the specialist schools.

Many schools put a lot of energy into boosting the students‟ self esteem by ensuring success

and providing appropriate feedback and positive praise based on the learning task objectives.

In Fairley House, I witnessed the teacher leading a positive affirmation chant at the end of the

lesson. Circle of Friends process was also used in Fairley House. This encouraged the

students to communicate with their peers, engage in problems solving and social skills

activities and was a good example of a support system for students that helped students to

maintain a good self esteem.

Active parental involvement was encouraged in all the schools and this helped students to

have a good self esteem. In some schools, the teachers, parents and students created learner

profiles that outlined their strengths and weaknesses and how to overcome them or work with

them. Students were also involved in planning their own learning journey e.g. through

attendance at IEP meetings thus ensuring they were able to advocate for themselves.

85

According to Young and Browning (cited in Reid, 2004, p. 121) self-advocacy skills are

crucial and students with dyslexia need to be actively engaged in their learning and future

planning. They go on to recommend that students with dyslexia need to understand dyslexia

and what it means to them personally, understand the law and their rights (e.g. discrimination

laws) and be confident to ask for the help they need at school and in the work place as well as

being able to be actively involved in their learning and transitions they may face (cited in

Reid, 2004, p. 121).

Explicit Teaching

Teachers appeared to explicitly but succinctly outline the objectives and purpose for each

component of learning and then systematically teach the skills and processes by breaking

them up into learnable chunks, scaffolding the learning. Usually these steps were visually

represented with a story and pictures to help create more meaning for students. Some

examples are: using graphic organisers, teaching the vocabulary of the lessons and using

highly visual charts. Acronyms and mnemonics were used to help with memory.

Making links to previous learning was observed in the schools. This was sometimes via a

verbal link but was always supported with a lot of visual cues such as posters and charts.

Sometimes schools provided memory cards or summary notes with pictures for quick

reference.

Most schools ensured they supported students with organisational matters and taught study

skills. This was particularly evident in the schools where there was a support unit. Bro

Mryddin School had quick reference memory cards for school events that outlined all the

main points of the event and what was important to bring. I thought this was a very good

86

idea for all students as often students get told in advance a special event is going to happen

e.g. Pet Day but are not sure what their role is and what they need to be prepared for.

Red Rose School had cubicles for students to work in when they were doing independent

work helping them to stay on task and in these cubicles, the students‟ timetable, objectives

and all the necessary equipment was set up. Most schools coached memory skills usually

with the use of computer programmes.

Students were involved in their learning and helped to set and monitor their goals. Learning

was designed to be relevant to the individual student. There were high but realistic

expectations.

Multi-Sensory Teaching

“Multi-sensory is best. The more senses involved in learning, and the more ways that

information can be transformed into something else, the more permanent the learning.”

(MacKay, 2006, p. 70). I was informed by many schools that I visited, that teachers were

encouraged to use multi-sensory learning methods and I witnessed these being used to create

favourable learning environments for students with dyslexia. This helped them as it meant

students were not being delivered the curriculum using a single language based approach thus

encouraging more interaction with the curriculum leading to successful learning. A

comprehensive approach to multi-sensory teaching was observed at the specialist schools. A

good example is outlined in detail in the main body of the report (refer to Fairley House);

however I have outlined some of them here:

Contextualising new words “Walking the Word” by creating a personal narrative

with a new word, linking to phonics and creating a mental image of the word.

87

Also I think this involves literally walking the word by walking in the shape of the

letters.

Use of equipment to help the students experience/feel the lesson in a more realistic

and hands-on way.

Using whole body movements such as the example used at Fairley House e.g.

create the multiply sign with fingers crossed in front of the mouth, bringing to the

face and make kiss sound (smacking of the lips) while reinforcing the

mathematical sign for multiplication e.g. times, lots of etc.

Computers often offer a multi-sensory approach with visual representation, using

the keyboard or mouse offering movement and auditory feedback.

Allow students to communicate their learning or knowledge in various ways e.g.

posters or use the computer for presentations instead of an essay. Students could

also use video or other recording devices to share their knowledge.

“Presenting information on strips of paper or post-it notes opens up multi-sensory

opportunities across the range of learning preferences.” (MacKay, 2006, p. 99).

Colour

Teachers used colour extensively. Key aspects of learning were often highlighted in various

colours and sometimes interactive whiteboards were used in many ways to highlight key

words and utilised highlighters and coloured post –it notes to help keep the students‟ focus

and to make quick notes. The classroom was usually highly visual with colour used

purposefully in posters etc.

88

At Calder House, the students‟ individualised timetable was colour coded and the classroom

floors were coloured to match, alleviating confusion to the students who had difficulty

remembering where they should be. Other colour codes were sometimes used to help

students remember different components e.g. the structure of a sentence can be represented in

different colours; one colour for nouns, another for verbs etc.

Coloured overlays or rulers were used to help students focus on text and reduce eye strain.

Technology

There was extensive use of technology in the schools to support students with dyslexia.

Interactive whiteboards were used in many classrooms. Teachers often had the text the class

or group was reading on the whiteboard with each word being highlighted as it was discussed

or read. Teachers accessed a variety of programmes and support materials such as electronic

books and material from the internet and displayed them on the whiteboard along with

specific interactive curriculum specific programmes and games e.g. maths demonstrations

and games.

Computer interactive games were played in Red Rose School to improve balance and

coordination and a study the school undertook highlighted there was a positive impact on

reading development when using the interactive games.

Computer assisted learning programmes offered a wide range of specialist programmes

targeting students needs e.g. memory skills, phonics, listening skills and typing and word

processing skills to name a few.

89

Other technology was also used such as electronic hand held spell checkers (with dictionary

and thesaurus). Portable word processors were also used as a cheaper alternative to a laptop.

In some schools the use of laptops was the norm so the students with dyslexia did not feel

different.

Cell phones or personal devises were allowed to be used for a small number of students

(usually older ones) to help with planning and remembering names, contact details, timelines,

date and time, reminding of deadlines or appointments etc. Dictaphones or other recording

devices for recording notes and reminders to self and others, and other information were

encouraged in some secondary schools.

Handwriting

The specialist schools all taught cursive writing. According to Stowe (2000) cursive writing

addresses the issue of not knowing where to start, the confusion that the spaces between the

letters pose and thus improves fluency and legibility. She advocates that a cursive style is a

natural way to move the pencil from left to right and this helps with writing and reading

directionality. She also says the teaching of cursive writing is easier as the letters can be

grouped according to their formation. “It is generally accepted that all students with dyslexia

should be taught cursive writing.” (Stowe, 2000, p. 100).

According to Peterson (2010), the thing that differentiates cursive writing from printing is the

production process. While printing focuses on accuracy of the shape of the letters, cursive

focuses on the way they are formed (where to start, what way to go and they all join

seamlessly) and this helps with fluency because there is less work involved for the student as

they attempt to control spacing and size. There are six controlled movements necessary to

90

produce legible lowercase print forms but with cursive there are only three movements,

therefore, making the process easier.

Teachers insisted on the correct body posture and appropriate fitting desks and using the

correct pencil grip. Pencils were used until students gain control of the handwriting process

and at this stage a pen licence was presented. Students used gross motor movements to learn

the formation and directionality of the letters and also did warm up activities with their arms

and fingers prior to undertaking a period of writing. The handwriting lessons also included a

consistently used narrative that directed the students on the correct formation.

Students were encouraged to relearn their handwriting style as the schools had seen vast

improvements with the use of this style so they gave them time to learn it and develop

mastery.

Workbooks

I noted that the students in the specialist schools, often worked out of commercially produced

workbooks. On enquiring about this, I was told that the design and layout of the workbooks

suited the students. They were colourful, were not cluttered on the page, they had larger print

and shorter sentences. They appeared to be very structured and it appeared the students liked

this as it was considered „safe‟ as it did not change and was easy to follow. In other schools

teachers had made their own worksheets and had considered these aspects in designing them.

Font was an important consideration. At Carr Junior School in York, I was informed that

teachers use ebor font as it is more suited to students with dyslexia. I was not familiar with

this font however Reid and Green (2007) outline other fonts that are dyslexia friendly. They

are Times New Roman, Comic Sans and Century Gothic. As illustrated here, all three

91

fonts are in size 12 but there is a clear difference between them. Back at home, I asked a

student with dyslexia which one they preferred and it was Comic Sans as it was darker and

the letters were separate, without a funny letter „a‟. I concluded font selection is probably a

good thing to experiment with.

On Task

In Red Rose School, students had study cubicles which helped the students with

concentration. In Fairley House, the students were encouraged to self-monitor their „on task‟

time and to take regular breaks by using a visual cue like a speedometer on a car “Keep my

engine running”. Many schools had personal targets for students to aim for.

Games and activities helped to keep the students on task. Students who were using

computers, interactive whiteboards and electronic games all reported they helped them to stay

on task.

Visual timetables helped students know the day‟s schedule and this helped keep them on task.

Schools often found alternative study paths and qualifications for students which helped them

focus on their special interests, future careers or provided them with a new experience.

Multi-sensory teaching methods helped students to stay engaged in their lessons and to

remember them.

Phonics

Given that it is now generally accepted that dyslexia is the result of difficulties in the

phonological component of language (International Dyslexia Association, 2002 cited in

92

Shaywitz, 2003, p. 132) it stands to reason that schools put a lot of time into phonemic and

phonological awareness teaching. My experiences indicated that the junior students usually

received strong phonics instruction in their regular class programme and this is supplemented

with commercially produced teaching packages that the teacher implemented either in small

groups or individually. Often the individuals had support from a teaching assistant or a

teacher‟s aide. I noted that the programmes seen most often were also available and used in

New Zealand.

Of the many programmes being used, there was a huge variety of methodologies and I

concluded that it was best to do your own research on the methodology and evidence of

effectiveness on these programmes. The most obvious point here is that the programme

matches the need and therefore accurate assessment and monitoring is essential.

For students who had persistent difficulties, they were often offered extra teaching in small

groups or one on one with a qualified teacher and a teaching assistant. Computer

programmes were often used that targeted phonics, phonemic awareness, auditory processing

speed, working memory etc. Again, some of the more common programmes used are

available and in use in New Zealand. The computer assisted programmes appeared to be

highly motivating to the students. Teachers also supplemented these with their own made

resources.

Inclusion

There were many examples of a paradigm shift from the itinerant specialist teacher delivering

specialist services directly to the individual students across a number of schools within a

region to the specialist teachers helping schools to build their own knowledge and capability

93

on dyslexia within their school in recognition of the need to be more inclusive and efficient

with limited but valuable resources.

This is a model favoured in New Zealand with roles such as RTLB working in a collaborative

consultation model, offering support to teachers to help build their capability in teaching

students with learning or behavioural difficulties however the big difference is that New

Zealand teachers, literacy advisors and other specialists like Resource Teachers of Literacy

and RTLB have not been trained in dyslexia.

All of the schools were working towards inclusion, aiming to have the students taught in their

own community classrooms with their same age peers. The secondary schools with dyslexia

units aimed to have the students in their classroom with addition support, accommodations or

special provisions if necessary.

Even the specialist schools believe they have an inclusive philosophy because they cater for

the students‟ individual needs and they provide the best education possible for the student

with the aim of returning them to their local mainstream school or onto further study or work

after a period of up to two years therefore better equipping them to access an inclusive

education and be successful. Gavin Reid (2004) asked the Head Teacher of Red Rose School

Dr Sionah Lannen (the same school I visited) how inclusive could a small school for dyslexic

students be? “She indicated that small schools such as hers can be very inclusive and

actually embrace the community to participate in school activities.” (p.90). She also

commented that they help students to “develop confidence and acquire the literacy skills that

enable them to return to the mainstream and constructively participate in the mainstream

curriculum...” (p.90).

94

This philosophy aligns well with the New Zealand inclusion philosophy but highlights that

sometimes students do need more specialist help than is currently provided by classroom

teachers in New Zealand. The challenge for us in New Zealand is that there is no explicit

dyslexia training offered to teachers at pre-service and in-service levels to help them

understand the needs of students with dyslexia and offer support and the necessary

interventions. From where I am standing, there is a definite lack of suitably qualified

professionals in this area working in schools.

Whole School Approach

The specialist schools I had visited revealed the benefits of a consistent and intensive

educational programme approach across the whole school with all the necessary specialist

support staff on hand creating a multi-disciplinary approach. The students all had similar

needs and therefore were not seen to be different from their class mates. There appeared to

be a high level of self esteem in these schools. These schools had a family atmosphere,

achievable I would imagine due to the low student teacher ratios e.g. eight to ten students to

one teacher and often one teacher aide as well as a small whole school roll.

My experiences highlighted the success of a whole school approach to teaching students with

dyslexia in a mainstream school setting with many schools undertaking a professional

journey to ensure their school provides the best education possible to their students with

dyslexia.

It is often said that strategies that work for students with dyslexia also work for all students.

“Strategies for addressing Dyslexia in mainstream settings usually make teaching and

learning more effective for all pupils, including the more able and talented. Regardless of

95

learning need, a majority of pupils seem to make better progress, stay on task for longer and

achieve better results when taught in a Dyslexia Friendly way.” (MacKay, 2006, p. 170).

Seek any evidence of the relationship between language and dyslexia.

“The strongest consensus in the literature at present is that although manifestations of

dyslexia differ by language, the underlying causes of dyslexia are universal but the core

deficit may differ with orthographic consistency.” (Ministry of Education, n.d., p. 65)

Orthographic consistency is how the letters (graphemes) and the sounds (phonemes) match.

English has an inconsistent orthography as the letters and sounds do not always match

consistently making literacy challenging and is thought to make it difficult for students with

dyslexia. (Ministry of Education, n.d).

I was curious to see if there was any observable evidence of this in Wales and relate it back to

the New Zealand setting as it appeared to me that the Welsh language has a more consistent

orthographic transference. I was also curious to investigate dyslexia in China as the Chinese

language is a non-alphabetic logographic language using visual symbols to represent units of

meaning (morphemes) where as alphabetic languages such as English and Welsh have

phonemes representing units of speech and to see if there was any observable or

communicated difference in the incidence of dyslexia in these countries?

By way of background, it was previously thought that there was a low incidence of dyslexia

or that it did not exist in languages with a logographic language system such as Chinese

because logographic languages did not use an alphabetic language system such as English

which causes many challenges as it uses phonemes (individual letters of the alphabet being

96

converted to sounds) joined together to make a word e.g. seeing c, a, t and making the sounds

for those letters and then blending the phonemes e.g. k, aaaa, t = cat and this word has

meaning. (Shaywitz, 2003) instead logographic languages like Chinese use picture like

symbols that represent one word that holds meaning independently (Ministry of Education,

n.d.) for example 猫 = cat in simplified Chinese and 貓 = cat in traditional Chinese.

However, research is considering that the incidence of dyslexia is a lot higher than originally

thought in logographic languages (Ho et al., 2004 cited in Ministry of Education, n.d.).

Shaywitz, 2003 states “At one point it was thought that dyslexia affected only those who

spoke alphabetic languages, such as English and German, and that those who spoke

languages that are primarily logographic, such as Chinese and Japanese, were not at risk.

This assumption has been proved to be false. Researchers have found comparable prevalence

rates for dyslexia among American, Japanese, and Chinese children.” (p. 31).

Research in this area is limited but some tentative conclusions have been made in studies in

Beijing, Hong Kong and Taiwan (Chan & Siegel, 2001; Ho & Bryant, 1997; Huang &

Hanley, 1994; Siok & Fletcher, 2001, cited in Ministry of Education, n.d., p. 64) that dyslexia

in logographic languages is associated with multiple deficits with rapid naming being the

most dominant indicator, where as in English it is acknowledged that students with dyslexia

have phonological difficulties (Ministry of Education, n.d.; Stowe, 2000). Logographic

languages such as Chinese do require phonological decoding skills but in a different way or

at a later stage. (Ministry of Education, n.d.)

During my visits, the only indicator of dyslexia in another language other than English I was

able to observe was at Yew Chung International School with the boy who was diagnosed

97

with dyslexia. He had great difficulty writing in English but his execution of the Chinese

characters was impeccable. The people I met were not in a position to provide me with the

answers to my probe, rather (like myself) note it and make comment as an interesting

observation. I wondered if perhaps the boy did not yet need to use his phonological level

skills in his Chinese literacy rather he may have been just using the logographic skills

therefore, his dyslexia was not yet apparent and may manifest later in his Chinese language

acquisition.

The startling thing I learnt about dyslexia in the Welsh schools I visited was that although all

students learn Welsh in the first few years of schooling, the standardised tests administered

that could identify students having difficulty with literacy are all in English which puts the

students at a definite disadvantage. The disadvantage appeared to continue in the Welsh

medium schools as they did not have Welsh language appropriate diagnostic tests. With this

challenge, any attempt to compare the language relationship became problematic. It was

encouraging to know that work was well underway to address this issue and in some small

way I may have contributed to the progression of the work to get Welsh standardised tests

across Carmarthenshire after the meeting held there with the County Leader.

In hindsight the area of language and dyslexia was a macro question not a micro question, not

well suited to the narrative hands on approach I adopted although on the most part my

research has addressed my initial questions which have resulted in an enormous amount of

professional growth for me.

98

CONCLUSION

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is,

perhaps, the end of the beginning.” (Winston Churchill, n.d.)

I am very honoured that I was awarded the Ministry of Education Sabbatical and the

Winston Churchill Fellowship to undertake this study and I know that my experiences

have helped me to develop professionally. I have developed more self confidence and

have already made improvements in the quality of my work when supporting students

with learning and behavioural difficulties, their teachers and families.

Since my return, I have been using the knowledge gained in my casework, helping teachers to

use more dyslexia friendly strategies in the classroom and have established a collaborative

relationship between a SPELD Tutor, teacher, parent, student and myself. This involves

working together on strategies that are individually suited to the student. Each member of the

team brings their own strengths to the group. This type of work will be ongoing, helping to

create a greater understanding of students with dyslexia and be able to implement effective

practices to lift the literacy levels of students with dyslexia.

At the time of writing this report, I have shared my findings with a group of Special

Educational Needs Coordinators in my region and will be reporting to Te Ara Haunui RTLB

Region (Manawatu/Wanganui) group and the Rangitikei RTLB Cluster Schools at a date

suitable for them. I will also offer my findings to the Ministry of Education, SPELD NZ,

Dyslexia Foundation, Resource Teachers of Literacy (RTLit) and other interested groups.

My experiences and findings will also be made available to the NZRTLB Association for

consideration for their website, given RTLB identified that they would be happy to access

99

more information on dyslexia on the website (Stewart, 2009). It is also my intention to offer

a summary of my key findings at the 2011 NZRTLBA conference.

One of the bonuses of my learning journey is that I gained more insight into Sir Winston

Churchill himself. On my tour I visited Sir Winston Churchill‟ s home „Chartwell‟

which is set up like a museum of his life, I was able to gain greater awareness of him as

a family man, an artist, an inspiring orator and leader. I also reflected how fortunate I

was to obtain this award, seek knowledge and experience in the field of dyslexia when it

is often noted that Winston Churchill had difficulties with his speech and learning and is

sometimes referred to as being dyslexic (Stowe, 2000).

“A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles

and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.” (Winston

Churchill, n.d.)

I found that travelling alone was a very challenging yet rewarding experience. I had to be

very resourceful and vigilant however, I did not have to consult with anyone else providing

a great sense of freedom. I also found that people were more likely to engage in

conversations with me when I was alone, thus I met many interesting people and forged

new friendships from all over the globe. The value of sharing knowledge and experiences

with others, comparing our education system and lifestyle with that of other countries

cannot be underestimated. A downside was that I got lonely at times and did not always

have someone to share my experiences with however; this was made easier because I was

able to reconnect with family and friends in various locations around the world in between

school visits. I visited two of my adult children who live overseas and I was also

100

privileged to be able to retrace the steps of my ancestors in Yorkshire and meet some of

my father‟s family in other parts of England.

At the end of my trip I stayed with a friend in Bellingham near Seattle, Washington who

teaches in a Native American school and engaged in her class lessons. I was privileged to

be taken onto the Lummi Nation Reservation and to eat some ceremonial salmon given to

be by an elder. I was fascinated by the warm and friendly Lummi people I met and saw

many similarities to my experiences of Maori people and culture.

There will always be challenges and I did face a few. The first challenge became apparent

before I left. The planning and application process took place almost a year ahead of my tour

and this caused one clash with the proposed timetable. I had planned to visit schools in Hong

Kong as this was a good stop over point but the schools were on an Easter holiday break for

ten days at the time scheduled. This meant that I was able to take a short end- of- term break

before undertaking the research component of the tour.

The second and most significant challenge I faced was the volcanic eruption in Iceland that

caused world-wide disruption to air travel. I was located in Beijing at the time and so this

disruption extended my time there however, it did afford me the opportunity to work

alongside the staff at Yew Chung International School, and got to know many of the systems,

staff, students and families and thus building a stronger connection with the people and the

place. When the flights resumed I was fortunate to be able to continue with my plans

however, it did mean that I had to reschedule the first three school visits (which made things

very rushed and less convenient for the schools concerned) and miss out on some quality time

101

with my son but as Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Difficulties mastered are opportunities

won” (n.d.)

During the school visits, I had hoped to be able to more engaged with teachers and students

and obtain a sense of student voice but unfortunately, conversations with students was

somewhat limited and photographs and video recording of students and classroom practice

was on the most part not permissible due to strong privacy laws. I also did not have much

opportunity to be actively engaged in the class lessons as I would have liked but I made the

most of the opportunities that were provided to me.

Although the key questions were provided to the schools in advance, when I reached the

schools, it became apparent that not all staff charged with the responsibility of supporting me,

were made aware of the questions or the aim of my project, despite my best attempts at

communicating this. This did make me feel a little awkward at times but by using the

narrative inquiry research approach helped. I was able to observe more and talk less and gain

great insight into the people and places that I visited using the key questions as a prompt or

guide allowing the hosts to direct the experience.

This passive but purposeful approach, allowed me to build relationships with the people I was

meeting and be respectful of what they were telling or showing me. Sometimes this was not

what I expected but I looked at this as an opportunity that enabled me to be a participant in

the lives of the people that I met and for me to learn whatever they had in store for me, thus

my learning was the outcome of the interactions between people (Bishop & Glynn, 1999)

rather than the physical processes or materials. I concluded that this approach was very

relevant for this style of research.

102

RECOMMENDATIONS

“It is no use saying, „We are doing our best.‟ You have got to succeed in doing what

is necessary.” (Winston Churchill, n.d.)

I recommend to teachers, RTLit and RTLB that they use the information and examples

contained in this report to improve the outcomes for students with dyslexia.

The Ministry of Education‟s Deputy Secretary of Schooling Anne Jackson announced a

commitment to working collaboratively with schools, as well as people with expertise and

organisations such as the Dyslexia Foundation and other stakeholders to build understanding

of dyslexia in a New Zealand context and to strengthen the support for students. (Ministry of

Education, 2007). I agree that this collaboration is critical and recommend that the Ministry

of Education ensure they do indeed collaborate with many stakeholders. Another major

stakeholder that I believe is essential to the success of this collaboration is SPELD who has

worked in this area supporting students and their families for over three decades and are

currently undertaking a pilot initiative in collaboration with MOE, RTLB and SPELD to

provide a comprehensive education to students with dyslexia. The two main itinerant

specialist teachers; Resource Teachers of Literacy and Resource Teachers: Learning and

Behaviour, both roles support students, their teachers and families could offer the level of

advice and guidance witnessed in England and Wales and help build teacher capability. This

would only work however if there was a unified nationwide approach endorsed from the

MOE and professional development was offered to them. I also hope that the information

contained in this report may be of assistance.

103

Offering training to RTLit and RTLB makes good sense to me and they in turn can support

schools to develop more knowledge in this area and help students with dyslexia meet their

potential. It is stated in the teacher resource for teachers to seek further assistance from

RTLit or RTLB if difficulties persist after school level interventions (Ministry of Education,

2008) but this may not be as effective as it could be if these specialist teachers are also

limited in their knowledge of dyslexia, reinforcing the need for these teachers to have more

training in this area.

A third of all NZRTLB members who responded to a national survey in 2009, considered

themselves moderately confident in identifying students with dyslexia; implementing

strategies for students who may have dyslexia; supporting teachers of students who may have

dyslexia but they were less confident in being able to support the development of dyslexia

friendly schools, suggesting an area of professional development need. Eleven percent of the

respondents were SPELD trained but most RTLB think they need further training in the area

of dyslexia and expect the Ministry of Education will provide this (Stewart, 2009).

However, before any professional development is undertaken it is my strong recommendation

that the MOE develops a cohesive nationwide plan that builds on the current foundations. It

is at this point that I acknowledge the value of two resources produced by the Ministry of

Education brochure called “Breaking Down the Barriers” (n.d.) which is information for

parents and the teacher resource “About Dyslexia” (Ministry of Education, 2008) and

recommend parents and teachers use them. My findings are consistent with the

recommended approaches contained in these documents. I believe these documents are a

great start but the information contained in them needs to be presented to schools as a

professional development package or training workshop and it is also advisable that the MOE

104

are cognisant of the fact that parents need to understand dyslexia and so some parental

support and training would also be valuable.

I believe there is currently a great variance in the professional knowledge about dyslexia in

the wider educational sector and that is leading to variable responses to the needs. Therefore

I strongly recommend professional development for schools with a whole school approach.

The professional development could be targeted if the MOE developed a self review tool for

schools to use that would enable schools to audit their educational provision to students with

dyslexia, subsequently help them identify areas of professional development need and after

the necessary targeted professional development, schools could monitor their progress

towards being awarded a Dyslexia Friendly status which the MOE would need to establish

using the examples available in Britain.

The professional development would be best delivered workshops such as the Neil MacKay

workshops run by the Dyslexia Foundation. The MOE could do well to endorse and support

these workshops and the other work the Dyslexia Foundation is implementing in schools

across the country. In the training workshops it would be ideal to have some of the examples

of good practice to be demonstrated with real and specific examples they can use in their

classrooms and a clear pathway for obtaining extra specialist support. It is my opinion that it

is essential the MOE has a comprehensive approach to meeting the needs of students with

dyslexia or it may not be as effective. Again, if there are a group of specialist teachers

trained by the MOE, they could assist with this initiative and would ensure consistency of

practice, hopefully leading to better outcomes for students with dyslexia.

105

It is my opinion that currently there is a great variance in the identification process in New

Zealand and I believe it is vital that the MOE provide transparent identification and diagnosis

processes and supply or endorse screening and assessment tools specific to dyslexia for

teachers to use beyond the standard classroom assessments. There also needs to be an easier

and more equitable access to an educational psychologist for diagnosis purposes and

recommendations of appropriate interventions to be used if necessary and/or ensure RTLit

and RTLB with the appropriate knowledge and experience are supported to gain the

appropriate New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) grade level to

undertake such assessments, thus making it manageable as well as ensuring an ecological

approach is used.

It is my understanding that there are pending changes for the management of the RTLB

service and talk of RTLB taking on some specialised roles. If it is indeed the intention of the

MOE to do this, my recommendations would fit well with this.

I do not think there is enough support from other specialised professionals such as

occupational therapists, speech language therapists, physiotherapists and educational

psychologists especially for students older than eight years old and I believe it is the MOE‟s

responsibility to ensure these professionals are available to work collaboratively with families

and schools.

A list of recommended or commonly used teaching programmes or resources could be made

available on the MOE website so teachers could find the appropriate resources to match the

need.

106

The knowledge and experiences of the Dyslexia Foundation along with Neil MacKay,

SPELD NZ, the British Dyslexia Association, the Welsh Dyslexia Project and experienced

advisors such as Anne Crawford from York could be called upon to assist in the development

of this process as well as other New Zealand based teachers who have experience in this field

of which I would like to think that with my new found knowledge and experience overseas, I

may be one of these.

The Ministry of Education also highlights the need for the international findings to be

researched in a New Zealand setting (Ministry of Education, n.d) and I agree that there is a

need for research to be duplicated here and believe this should include research on dyslexia

with Maori students.

For anyone undertaking a research project such as this, I would recommend that they stay

longer at each place they visit to increase the opportunity for engagement. I would also

suggest that they explicitly request permission for photographs and video recording prior to

undertaking the tour.

To the Ministry of Education and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, I would like to

recommend that there is a supervisor available for the recipients to help not only with the

report writing but also for general support such as reflection and guidance. It may also be an

idea to establish alumni of past recipients.

107

“The length of this document defends it well against the risk of its being read.”

(Winston Churchill, n.d.)the

Thank you for all the support I have received and for your willingness to share my story.

Margaret Stewart

108

APPENDICES

Appendix 1

Travel Itinerary

Date

2010

Schools

2 April Hong Kong Arranged a tour of school but all schools in Hong Kong closed for Easter

holidays over the ten day period.

12 April

Beijing China

Yew Chung International School of Beijing:

13/4, 16/4, 17/4, 19/4, 20/4, 22/4, 23/4.

Care for Children School: 15/4.

Western Academy of Beijing. 15/4.

24 April Original flights to

leave on 19 April

cancelled due to

volcanic ash.

London

Jo Richardson Community School: 26/4.

Fairley House School Junior Department: 27/4.

29 April Wiltshire

Calder House School.

5 May

Carmarthen, Wales

Michael Davies Chief Executive Welsh Dyslexia Project/Prosiect

Dyslecsia Cymru

Ysgol Gyfun Bro Myrdddin.

Queen Elizabeth School.

Leader of the Carmarthenshire County Council Meryl Gravell and

Gwynne Woolridge Executive Board member for Education and

Children‟s Services.

Viv Thomas Education Authority Dyslexia Advisory Teacher.

6 May

Aberystwyth, Wales

Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig.

Penglais School.

14 May St Annes-on-the-Sea, Blackpool

Red Rose School.

17 May York

Anne Crawford – Inclusion Advisor: 18/5, 19/5.

Wheldrake School: 19/5.

Carr Junior School: 19/5.

28 May

Bellingham, Seattle Washington USA

Lummi Nation School: 3/6, 4/6, 5/6.

20 June Vancouver to Auckland

22 June Arrived home

109

Appendix 2 Table 1: Key Features of the Schools Visited

School

Ea

rly

Ch

ild

ho

od

Pri

ma

ry

Co

mp

reh

ensi

ve

Sec

on

da

ry

Language

Specialist

Dyslexia

School

Support

Unit

Trained Professionals

Employed by the School Access to Service outside of School

Special

Needs

Trained

Dyslexia

Trained

Other e.g.

Ed Psych,

OT, SLT

Special

Needs

Trained

Dyslexia

Trained

Other e.g.

Ed Psych,

OT, SLT

Yew Chung

International School of

Beijing

Yes Yes Yes Bi-lingual

English and

Chinese

Yes

Special

Needs Unit

Yes N/A ? Yes

parents pay.

Western Academy of

Beijing

Yes English Yes

Special

Needs Unit

Yes Yes N/A ? Yes

parents pay.

Care for Children

School, Beijing

Yes Yes Yes English Yes

Future aim

Yes

N/A ? Yes

if necessary

Jo Richardson

Community College,

London

Yes English Yes Special

Needs Unit

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Fairley House, London Yes English Yes NA Yes Yes Yes N/A N/A Yes

if necessary

110

School

Ea

rly

Ch

ild

ho

od

Pri

ma

ry

Co

mp

reh

ensi

ve

Sec

on

da

ry

Language

Specialist

Dyslexia

School

Support

Unit

Trained Professionals

Employed by the School Access to Service outside of School

Special

Needs

Trained

Dyslexia

Trained

Other e.g.

Ed Psych,

OT, SLT

Special

Needs

Trained

Dyslexia

Trained

Other e.g. Ed

Psych, OT,

SLT

Calder House, Wiltshire

Yes English Yes NA Yes Yes Yes N/A N/A Yes

if necessary

Red Rose School,

Lancashire

Yes English Yes NA Yes Yes Yes

Ed Psych.

Others?

N/A N/A Yes

– if

necessary

Wheldrake School, York Yes English Yes Yes

Inclusion

Advisors etc

Yes

Dyslexia

Advisors etc

Yes

Carr Junior School,

York

Yes English Yes Yes

Inclusion

Advisors etc

Yes

Dyslexia

Advisors etc

Yes

Bro Myrddin School,

Carmarthen, Wales

Yes Welsh Yes

Dyslexia

Unit

Yes Yes Yes

Inclusion

Advisors etc

Yes

Dyslexia

Advisors etc

Yes

111

School

Ea

rly

Ch

ild

ho

od

Pri

ma

ry

Co

mp

reh

ensi

ve

Sec

on

da

ry

Language

Specialist

Dyslexia

School

Support

Unit

Trained Professionals

Employed by the School Access to Service outside of School

Special

Needs

Trained

Dyslexia

Trained

Other e.g.

Ed Psych,

OT, SLT

Special

Needs

Trained

Dyslexia

Trained

Other e.g. Ed

Psych, OT,

SLT

Queen Elizabeth High

School, Carmarthen,

Wales

Yes Bi-Lingual

English and

Welsh

Yes

Dyslexia

Unit

Yes Yes Yes

Inclusion

Advisors etc

Yes

Dyslexia

Advisors etc

Yes

Penglais School,

Aberystwyth Wales

Yes English Yes

Dyslexia

Unit

Yes Yes Yes

Inclusion

Advisors etc

Yes

Dyslexia

Advisors etc

Yes

Penwiddig School,

Aberystwyth, Wales.

Yes Welsh Yes

Dyslexia

Unit

Yes Yes Yes

Inclusion

Advisors etc

Yes

Dyslexia

Advisors etc

Yes

112

REFERENCES

Bailey, M. (n.d.). The Care for Children Special Educational Needs School. [Brochure].

Beijing, China.

Bishop, R., & Glynn, T. (1999). Culture Counts: Changing power relations in education.

Palmerston North, New Zealand: The Dunmore Press.

Everatt, J. (2009, January). Dyslexia and language. Conference presentation at Dyslexia

Conference, Wellington, New Zealand.

Fairley House. (2009). Retrieved July, 17, 2009, from http://www.fairleyhouse.org.uk

MacKay, N. (2006). Removing dyslexia as a barrier to achievement. The dyslexia friendly

schools toolkit. (2nd

Edition.) Wakefield, United Kingdom: SEN Marketing.

Matlin, M.W. (2005). Cognition. 6th

Edition. John Wiley & Sons. United States of America.

Ministry of Education. (19 April, 2007). Ministry improves understanding of dyslexia. Media

Release. Retrieved May, 27, 2007, from http://www.mediacentre.minedu.govt.nz/media-

releases/2007/2007_007_1904.html

Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Literature Review: An international perspective on dyslexia.

Retrieved November, 1, 2007, from

http://www.tki.org.nz/r/literacy_numeracy/lit_dyslexia_e.php

113

Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Dyslexia: Breaking down the barriers. Team-Up [Brochure].

Also available on Ministry of Education website: Retrieved August, 4, 2010 from

http://www.minedu.govt.nz/parents/AllAges/UsefulInformation/Dyslexia

Ministry of Education. (December, 2008). About Dyslexia. Teacher Resource. Wellington,

New Zealand, 1-40.

Petersen Handwriting. (2010). What is it about cursive? Retrieved August, 2010 from

http://www.petersen-handwriting.com/Publications/PDF_versions/AdvantageCursiveRef.pdf

Reid, G. (2004). Dyslexia: A complete Guide for parents. West Sussex, England: John

Wiley & Sons.

Reid, G., & Green, S. (2007). 100 ideas for supporting pupils with dyslexia. London,

England: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming dyslexia. New York: Vintage Books.

Stewart, M.A. (May, 2009). Dyslexia Toolkit evaluation and needs analysis summary of

results. Unpublished report to New Zealand Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour

Association (NZRTLBA).

Stowe, C. M. (2000). How to reach and teach children and teens with dyslexia. San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

114

Wilson, R. (2010). Big Writing Initiative. Retrieved August, 2010, from

http://www.andrelleducation.co.uk

Winston Churchill (n.d.) Brainy Quote. Retrieved, October, 4, 2010, from

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/winston_churchill_html

Yew Chung International School of Beijing. (2010). Educational philosophy. Retrieved

August, 2010, from http://www.jcis-bj.com/AboutUs/EducationalPhilosophy.stm