Liverpool secondary pushes for more dyslexia awareness
by Educate Magazine October 3, 2016 · All News / Secondary School News
St Margaret’s Academy (SMA) in Liverpool is taking part in a week-long programme of activities to mark Dyslexia Awareness Week.
The national awareness week, which starts today (Monday 3), aims to raise awareness of dyslexia and prompt people to think about the ‘hidden disability’.
Working with national charity Dyslexia Action, SMA have a full itinerary of events lined up this week to support students, parents and staff in developing various strategies to support those affected by dyslexia in a bid to remove any barriers to learning.
A highlight of the week is set to be a ‘market place’ event taking place on Thursday, which will bring together a host of professionals to offer advice to parents and pupils who want to learn more about how they can support those with learning differences.
Katie Pritchard, special educational needs co-ordinator at SMA, says: “Within our school community we strive to offer a learning environment which is inclusive and supportive of all of our pupils. Dyslexia is the most common learning difference, affecting one in ten in the UK, and this week we really want to reduce stigma and emphasise that having a learning difference should not hold you back in whatever you aim to do in life.
“This is set to be an exciting week for dyslexia awareness both nationally and in our local community. I hope that parents, students, and staff will come together this week to find out how they can support children with difficulties with literacy, numeracy and, of course, special learning difficulties, both in school and at home.”
Special educational needs co-ordinator’s (SENDCo’s) from across the city’s secondary schools have been invited along to share and develop ideas at Thursday’s event, which hopes to reach out to the community around SMA.
Participating organisations include The Careers Service, Liverpool John Moores University, the Educational Psychology Service, as well as publishers of dyslexia friendly fiction and non-fiction books, Barrington Stoke, and Allerton Dyslexia Support.
