October 5^th to 11^th was Dyslexia Awareness Week.

• Teachers were given posters to display, celebrating the incredible achievements of famous people with dyslexia, and proving that a learning difference needn’t be a barrier to success. The British Dyslexia Association has used the week to highlight the power of dyslexia ‘to create’; with 10-15% of the population having dyslexia, the contribution, made by dyslexic individuals to the UK is to be celebrated. Thank-you Stephen Hawking, John Lennon, Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Cath Kidston (to name a few!).
• Once known simply as ‘word blindness’, we now know that dyslexia does not just affect the ability to read and spell, but can also cause difficulty with organisation, sequencing and memory. Whilst these difficulties can make school a challenge, our understanding of dyslexia means that there is a great deal of support available to school children, nowadays. This week has seen teachers sharing good practice of strategies that can really make a difference to pupils with dyslexia. Allowing pupils to photograph their homework tasks on the board, providing templates so pupils know how to structure a piece of writing, allowing processing time when asking a pupil a question, are just some of the strategies that can help to build confidence in learning.
• My personal mission, as a learning support teacher is to empower my pupils to take risks; dyslexia is not an excuse for not rising to a challenge! At King’s, our expectations for pupils with Dyslexia are the same as for pupils without Dyslexia: we want them all to reach their potential. As a new member of staff, I am delighted to be working in a dyslexia-friendly school and to be working with your sons and daughters to help them become…whatever they want to become. Roll over, Richard Branson, Keira Knightly and Ben Fogle.

Rebecca Dixon - Learning Support Teacher