Say No to Failure
Xtraordinary People has united the leading dyslexia charities and Patoss in supporting this campaign. As a result, XP has won backing from Government to fund an initiative, No to Failure. The preliminary evaluation has demonstrated the link between children failing and dyslexia. 55 per cent of children who fail their Standard Assessment Tests (SATS) are at risk of dyslexia or specific learning difficulties (SpLD). For full Evaluation Report :Download report
The No to Failure Interim Evaluation Report showed
- 1,341 pupils were screened in Years 3 and 7 in 20 schools across three different local authorities in England.
- 21% of pupils screened using a variety of psychometric tests were found to be at risk of dyslexia/SpLD.
- The percentage of children found to be at risk was very similar in all three LEAs, even though they differed socio-economically.
- 55% of all pupils who failed national Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) were found to be at risk of dyslexia/SpLD.
This is an interim report on the screening phase of the study, which has been followed by an intervention phase using control groups that will be reported in the autumn.
How can you help?
The Government still needs to be convinced so a significant part of the NTF project is to highlight existing good practice in supporting SpLD students in schools. We are collecting case studies to make our final report even stronger.
Please contact the Patoss Office or No To Failure to contribute to these case studies.
patoss@evesham.ac.uk sandy@notofailure.org.uk
See this BBC clip View clip . Read the story: Read the story
No to Failure has three main aims:
- To increase understanding of and remove the stigma surrounding dyslexia
- To raise expectations of what dyslexic children can achieve when given the right support
- To highlight the necessity for specialist training for teachers in every school
Although dyslexia affects 10% of the population it goes widely unrecognised in schools because teachers have little or no dyslexia training despite it being the most common Special Educational Need and the most common cause of problems with learning in children.
Recent NUT research found that 77% of teachers want training in dyslexia. Less than 14% were very confident that they could identify a dyslexic child and only 9% were very confident that they could teach one.
No To Failure is working with schools and Pupil Referral Units around the country, screening children for dyslexia and providing specialist support and training to help schools understand why children are failing and how best to help these children succeed.
XP believes that whilst many of the other Government initiatives are a great step forward for dyslexic children, it’s only a start. Until every school has a teacher who can provide the specialist support these children need they will continue to fail. These skills enable teachers to help every child learn better; not just those with dyslexia and the Government who is prepared to go the distance with this issue will be the Government that transforms education.
What you can do if you think your child might be dyslexic, have dyslexia or specific learning difficulties?
Ask questions .......
- Ask your school if they have screened or tested your child for dyslexia/specific learning difficulties.
- What was the result of the screening?
- What are they doing about it? Is your child being given extra provision or support in literacy?
- Who is helping your child with this? Is the extra help being given or supervised by a specially qualified teacher with an accredited qualification in specific learning difficulties?
- If your school doesn’t have a properly trained support person, find out why not and enquire if there’s anything you can do to help. You might want to talk to the Head about your concerns.
- Remind your school that multi sensory teaching techniques are the best way to support children with learning difficulties? Point them to the BBC website to find out more about what teachers thought in the BBC research.
Make yourself heard…………
- Sign the No to Failure petition at www.xtraordinarypeople.com/notofailure.htm and get others to sign too.
- Write to your MP telling him/her about your experiences and ask for support to get more specialist teachers in school. Remind your MP that this is the recommendation of the Education Select Committee and Ofsted too!
- Visit these sites for advice, information, checklists, hints and tips and resources:
The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) at www.bdadyslexia.org.uk. Dyslexia Action – A national charity and provider of services and support for people with dyslexia and literacy difficulties at www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk. Patoss – The Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties at www.patoss-dyslexia.org. We are the leading organisations in the dyslexia and specific learning difficulties sector and we are united in calling for change in the education of our children.
Join us in the No to Failure campaign.
What teachers can do........
Raise awareness and improve expertise.
- Demand awareness and foundation training for all teachers and support staff in your schools.
- Campaign for specialist training in multi-sensory teaching so that there is:
One lead teacher (Certificate level) in every primary school. Two teachers in every secondary school or pupil referral unit. One expert teacher (Diploma level) to be shared between a small group of schools.
The campaign is recommending specific specialist teacher training in every school - Here is the model we are promoting: Training Pyramid
- Take an accredited qualification in specialist teaching and make sure that it is registered with the British Dyslexia Association or Patoss. This way you can use the initials after your name to show that you’re a specialist - this is good for you and your school, and reassuring for parents.
- Check out what other teachers think when they were surveyed recently by the BBC.
Make yourself heard…………
- Sign up and be counted! Sign the No to Failure petition at www.xtraordinarypeople.com and get others to sign too.
- Visit these sites for advice, information, hints and tips, training course details and resources:
The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) at www.bdadyslexia.org.uk.Dyslexia Action – A national charity and provider of services and support for people with dyslexia and literacy difficulties at www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk.
Patoss – The Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties at www.patoss-dyslexia.org.
We are the leading organisations in the dyslexia and specific learning difficulties sector and we are united in calling for change in the education of our children.
Join us in the No to Failure campaign.