Hi blog readers hope you are all well
I recently wrote to the Scottish government regarding the Dyslexia Pathways CIC Schools dyslexia mentoring scheme which I thought might be of interest to all my readers but in particular to those in Scotland.
I have to point out I am grinding no political axe here. Indeed I voted for independence and for the SNP at the last general election.
I just thought the information in this letter would be useful to all them parents of dyslexic kids at school here in Scotland.
I also thought it would start a conversation about what is happening in other countries. But more importantly initiate a discussion about parents of dyslexic kids going to schools in Scotland
Thank you for
your e-mail and attachments of 10 March 2015 to Rt Hon Nicola Sturgeon
MSP, First Minister
of Scotland, about a proposal for a dyslexia-focussed schools mentoring scheme.
I thought it would be useful if I outlined
what support the Scottish Government has in place to support dyslexics.
Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning)
(Scotland) Act 2004, as amended, education authorities are required to
identify, meet and keep under review the additional
support needs of all their pupils and to tailor provision according to their
individual circumstances.
The Act also provides parents with the right to be
involved in decision making.
To ensure this happens, the Act introduced a range of
mechanisms for dealing with disagreements. These
include: -Mediation is a voluntary process
during which a neutral third person (a mediator) helps those involved in a
disagreement or dispute to work towards an agreement that is acceptable to
everyone involved; and. Independent Adjudication which is carried out by an
independent third party (an adjudicator) who considers the facts of the case
and makes recommendations to the education authority.
The Scottish Government funds a number of organisations
to ensure that parents get the help and support they need, these include:
Enquire - a
national, independent, advice and information service
for the families of
children who require
extra help at school. Enquire has developed a number
of resources aimed at helping parents navigate
the system, including advice on resolving disagreements with education
authorities regarding the provision of
educational support.
Their help line number
is 0845-123-2303; and they also published a guide
for parents' on additional support for learning
which can be accessed at: www.enquire.org.uk/publications/parents-guide; and
Govan Law Centre's Education Law Unit -
give advice and support to parents on points
of education law, including
mediation and independent adjudication.
You
can contact Govan Law Centre on 0141-445-1955; or visit their
website at:
You may be aware that Education
Scotland produced
a report called Making Sense:
Education for Children and Young People with Dyslexia in
Scotland and
this report was the outcome
of an independent review of
education for children and young
people who have dyslexia
which has been carried
out on behalf of the Scottish Government.
The review covered the
experiences of learners
in primary, secondary and
special schools.
It also looked
into the
provision made by local authorities and at
the programmes of initial teacher
education currently offered
by universities in Scotland.
The report includes
the following
findings and recommendations:
• Local authorities
are improving
services for supporting learners
with dyslexia.
• Primary, secondary and special schools
are generally making
good provision for children
and young people with additional support
needs,
including dyslexia but this
needs to be more consistent.
• Professional learning
opportunities related to
provision for those
with dyslexia is variable and
should be increased.
• The Scottish
Government Literacy
Action Plan is committed to working
with Dyslexia Scotland to
address literacy difficulties
and it is
now providing a
focus on early intervention to help children
to develop these
skills.
• Teachers,
support staff, learners and parents
should
have access to up-to-date
practical advice and guidance
on dyslexia.
• Initial teacher education
and postgraduate awards and courses should
give a high
priority to
developing
knowledge and skills in
relation to dyslexia and
additional support needs.
• Schools, local authorities
and national partners should
take action to improve the quality
of educational outcomes for children
and young people with dyslexia.
• The availability
and use of reliable information on
children and
young people's needs,
development and
achievement should be
improved.
The Scottish Government
response to the report was published
on 27 June 2014, which
accepted all of the report's
recommendations.
Dyslexia Scotland
is based in Stirling and is both a registered
Scottish charity
(SC000951) and
a company limited by guarantee
(No. SC 153321). Dyslexia Scotland delivers a
range of support and services as identified
by, and on behalf of, dyslexic
people in Scotland.
These include:
National Telephone
Helpline;
National tutor list
and training for tutors;
Supporting Projects
for the Scottish Government
and other partners; Website; Adult
Network; Annual Conference,
Workshops and Training
events; and a variety of local
services provided through
local branches.
The Scottish Government
provided Dyslexia Scotland with £39,000 in 2009/10 to develop the Dyslexia
Toolkit and a further £10,000 in 2010/11 to run a
series of seminars across the country to raise awareness and understanding of
the resource. We previously provided Dyslexia Scotland with £3,000 annually to
maintain the Toolkit. In 2011/12 and 2012/13, we increased
this by £500 to allow Dyslexia Scotland to run
awareness sessions at the Scottish Learning Festival.
Sir Jackie Stewart and the Cabinet Secretary for Education
and Lifelong Learning launched the online Toolkit in
June 2010. The original version of the Toolkit was for teachers to help them
with the assessment of literacy difficulties and dyslexia.
In 2011/12, Dyslexia Scotland added further resources on
how to support dyslexic pupils so that it is now the 'Addressing Dyslexia'
Toolkit.
The £40,000 funding was used to review and update material on
the Toolkit to reflect lessons learned during implementation and any
new legal requirements;
add new materials on support; consider opportunities for the
Toolkit to be more accessible for teachers; and develop a section for local
authorities on how to best implement the Toolkit.
The enhanced Toolkit was launched by the Minister for Learning,
Science and Scotland's
Languages at the Scottish Learning Festival in September 2012.
Dyslexia Scotland was awarded with increased funding of £100,000 for 2013-14. This will be used
to:
• explore options for the Dyslexia Friendly Schools
project to be rolled out across Scotland;
• explore the
possibility of creating a dyslexia toolkit for adults/employers;
• maintain
the Dyslexia Toolkit and promote its impact in
Initial Teacher
Education and professional learning; and
• provide advice, support and
information to young people, parents, adults and supporters.
Dyslexia Scotland was awarded with increased funding of £100,000 for 2014-15. This will be used
to:
• maintain the Dyslexia
Toolkit and promote its impact in Initial Teacher Education and
professional learning;
• Take forward recommendations related to the Toolkit
arising from the Education
Scotland report, Making sense:
education for children and young people with dyslexia in Scotland; and
• provide advice, support and information to young people,
parents, adults and supporters.
which is tasked with carrying out the recommendations of the Report. Officials
have noted your correspondence and it is useful to know that there are positive
proposals out there.
Ta for reading and apologies for the length of this blog
