This Is Guernsey

By Anna Brehaut

GUERNSEY is leading the way when it comes to offering dyslexic children the best education.

A new scheme to train secondary school teachers is being launched by the Dyslexia Day Centre and the Education Department in January.

Centre staff member Alison Barnett (pictured) will pass on to teachers effective techniques to support and recognise specific literacy disability.

The voluntary sessions will last an hour a week for 12 weeks and teachers will be trained to a high standard so that they can work with pupils with special needs. The centre will then continue to offer support to the schools.

‘If teachers aren’t aware of the techniques there is a chance children with dyslexia will miss vital parts of their education,’ she said.

It takes three years and £30,000 to train one teacher in the Dyslexia Institute Literacy Programme in the UK.

‘Many of the children come to us with a lack of confidence, believing they are not capable of more. Learning to cope and seeing their achievements gives them back their confidence,’ said Mrs Barnett.

The centre has been running for 21 years and has helped 1,700 children and adults.

Chairman Mike O’Hara said the programme, funded by the Lloyds TSB Foundation and Investec, was a more sustainable way of supporting students.

‘We have been looking at how we can take the next step and believe getting into the secondary schools is just that,’ he said.

The centre needs to raise £150,000 to fund the first three years of the project. £50,000 has already been donated to cover the costs of the first year.

There are only a handful of communities in the UK which have implemented such an initiative.

Director of education Derek Neale said: ‘This is a wonderful opportunity for our teachers to further their understanding of educating special needs students and learn particular techniques that have proven to be very successful.’

He said any parent of a child with dyslexia would understand how difficult it was for their needs to be addressed.

‘For children to learn they need to feel they are making progress and sometimes children who have specific needs such as dyslexia give up rather than continue to learn.’

Education minister Deputy Carol Steere said it would give teachers a better understanding of the problems faced by pupils with dyslexia.

‘Being able to offer this extra service means we can continue to achieve what we have in the primary sector,’ she said.

Many dyslexic children are now taught in schools by one of six specialist teachers with the help of Education and class teachers.

Teachers from the centre see their students twice a week for at least an hour.

Article posted on 2nd December, 2008 - 2.29pm