Charities join forces to deliver £750,000 DfE project to equip the school workforce on SpLD

Charities join forces to deliver £750,000 DfE project to equip the school workforce with the skills to deliver quality teaching and support for pupils with dyslexia and other Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs).

A group of charities is delighted to announce that, following the Department for Education’s recent round of funding for SEND support, together they have been awarded a contract to the value of £750,000 to provide services to support children and young people with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties (SpLDs). These services will include free teacher training events offered across the UK to help teachers understand, identify and provide appropriate teaching and support to young people with dyslexia and other SpLDs.  All those involved are very excited to have the opportunity to have an impact on improving the future outcomes for these young people.

The group of charities who will deliver the project comprises the British Dyslexia Association (BDA), Dyslexia Action, Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, Patoss, and The Dyspraxia Foundation. The project will be evaluated by a team of dyslexia and education experts from Manchester Metropolitan University, who will provide a full impact report at the end of the contract.

Dyslexia related events for 2016. Click for more

The contract runs from 17th May 2016 until the end of March 2017 and will see the partners delivering a series of free ‘Train the Trainer’ events to teachers and support staff from up to 3,000 primary and secondary schools, and 1,500 post 16 institutions. Each school/provider is invited to send 2 staff to attend a Train the Trainer day, where they will receive a cascading training pack to deliver to their colleagues. In addition, the funding allows for the development of a free online resource portal to provide quality assured information and expert guidance about dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties for young people, parents and carers, and professionals. 

For dyslexic learners. Click for more info

Alison Keeley, Area Manager for Dyslexia Action who will be directing the project for Dyslexia Action commented: “We are extremely pleased that the Department for Education is investing in this crucial area of training for teachers and are very pleased to be involved. We believe that these training events will have a great impact on teachers’ ability to better understand the issues surrounding learning difficulties and feel empowered to employ some of the practical suggestions and techniques that they will take away from these training events. Dyslexia Action is very proud to be delivering some of these events and hopes that it will help to ensure that children and young people in education who have dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties have a positive learning experience and can reach their potential.”

During the coming months, the partners will be advertising the free training events as well as opportunities for people to get involved in providing feedback and advice. 

Original announcement taken from the Dyslexia Action website.