Princess Beatrice tells pupils: “Dyslexia is an opportunity”
HRH Princess Beatrice visited two ARK schools in South London yesterday
to talk to pupils and teachers about their work supporting children with
dyslexia. Pictures are available here:
http://we.tl/lZxTNFkmdZ
Princess Beatrice
told a group of dyslexic pupils:
“Dyslexia
is not a pigeonhole to say you can’t do anything. It is an opportunity
and a possibility to learn differently. You have magical brains,
they just process differently. Don’t feel like you should be held back
by it.”
The
Queen’s granddaughter paid a special visit to ARK Globe Academy in
Elephant and Castle and Bolingbroke Academy near Clapham Junction to see
how pupils are supported by the Drive for Literacy programme, a
partnership between ARK Schools and the Driver Youth Trust, to develop
their reading and writing skills.
Pupils
at both primary and secondary school are screened for dyslexia, and
given small group and specialist tuition if they need extra support
.The schools use a range of evidenced-based techniques including
encouraging primary school pupils to form letters in a tray of sand or
shaving foam to develop writing skills, as well as using magnetic
letters and electronic spell checkers for older children
and bespoke computer programmes. Specialist dyslexia training is
provided to all teachers, to encourage a ‘whole school’ approach to
literacy, whatever the subject.
“I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was seven and it was a bit of a struggle to begin with. It was a challenge as I began my school career – spelling and reading was something I couldn’t really get my head around. I created what I describe as a ‘toolkit’ for myself of skills you learn and pick up over the years, which I still have to use today. A lot of my best friends were dyslexic so we used to study together, working at our own pace.”
She said that she didn’t like reading until the Harry Potter books came out when she was eleven:
“The second the story came out, I couldn’t put it down. Now I read so much quicker, so much better and I studied history at university which involved a lot of reading.”
She praised the work that ARK Schools is doing in partnership with Drive for Literacy programme to support dyslexic pupils:
“One of the most important things is to figure out what the best methods are to support young people. I came across the Drive for Literacy and the partnership with ARK Schools and it is inspiring to see how every child in the classroom can be supported. I was really interested to see the way in which they do the screening process for dyslexia. It was particularly interesting to come to Globe Academy because there are real opportunities for children with special needs to really excel. Walking round the classroom and meeting the teachers, the support the pupils have in an area of London with people from a whole range of backgrounds is really important.”
Princess Beatrice continued:
“I
went to a school that was really dyslexia friendly, like Bolingbroke
Academy. Pretty much half of my class was dyslexic. The most important
thing was having great teachers who took the time to make sure we were
all really well supported. I did a lot of extra classes, a lot of
practice, and a lot of asking questions!”
Tristran Seguim, a twelve year old pupil at ARK’s Bolingbroke Academy
said: “It was really exciting to meet Princess Beatrice, I was quite
nervous before though. I really enjoyed it and she was very nice. The
teachers at my school help me a lot to understand certain things and my
English teacher will help me get my grades up
as I was struggling before, now I feel much more confident in English.”
ARK
Globe Academy, along with all ARK’s primary schools, runs the Nuffield
Early Language Intervention, a programme evaluated by York University
to raise communication and language skills for pupils who start school
behind.
Bolingbroke
Academy has been awarded a Dyslexia Friendly School Quality Mark by the
British Dyslexia Association and all staff spend 30 minutes
every day in organised reading groups after lunchtime.
