Study Tips for Students with significant difficulty maintaining attention

National Tutoring Programme: FAQs
— Read on educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/national-tutoring-programme/ntp-faqs/

These are details of the Government funded 1-2-1 tutor programme for schools with Q&A for schools and tutors about how to apply for funding and apply to be an approved tutor.

There is a link to where to register, so they let you know when calls to tutor agency applications open and when their website goes live with more details.

Any tutors and school SENCos should watch what is announced to ensure as many people as possible ask for dyslexia tutors to be on the approved list, even if they are independent or working through small local agencies. It will be essential that disadvantaged children with dyslexic traits have access to qualified dyslexia tutors, not generalist tutors.

Request to include Dyslexia Specialist Tutor Organisations in Government 1-2-1 Tutor Fund

Following the news that the government will fund 1-2-1 “catch-up” tutoring for vulnerable or disadvantaged students at risk of being left further behind in class after COVID 19 school closures, many will be realising how vital it will be, that tutors trained in teaching students with SpLDs are included in the programme, as they alone will be able to meet the needs of students who have fallen behind most because of learning difficulties such as dyslexia and attention issues.

Students with learning difficulties are among those finding it most challenging to engage with remote learning, even when they do have access to technology. This is because they need certain conditions to be able to learn. Their processing differences mean that they will also find it difficult to re-engage with school after so long out.

So, with a significant proportion of children with learning difficulties among disadvantaged students targeted by the year long government catch-up tuition fund – many from families who cannot source dyslexia or learning support themselves – the achievement gap between this group and others will widen more, unless the catch-up tutoring meets their specific needs.

It is therefore essential that fund allocation through any named provider agreement is flexible enough for schools to be able to choose dyslexia-trained tutors for their students with processing weaknesses, when this is necessary, while using more general catch-up tutors otherwise.

Dyslexia trained tutors will be essential for primary school dyslexic children, (most of whom will not yet have been diagnosed), for whom phonics input is the biggest loss suffered during the closures. They do not usually get another chance to learn phonics after Key Stage One and Two. English tutors will not be able to adapt their teaching to dyslexic difficulties, meaning many might never learn to read. Similarly, dyslexia-trained tutors are experienced at supporting secondary level students with attention deficit or slow processing, even in the absence of dyslexia. Their skills will be essential, if we are to get many children with these issues back on course in any of their subjects.

Across the country, umbrella charities and organisations work with specialist tutors to provide specialist support to schools for these students already. These organisations, such Surrey Dyslexia, and there are many others, could liaise with schools on one side and government departments or contracted organisations on the other, to source specialist tutors through this new COVID 19 1-2-1 tuition fund, to support those whom regular English or Maths catch-up tutors are unlikely to reach effectively. Similarly, where schools already have direct links with individual specialist teachers who can provide 1-2-1 tuition but have no funds to employ them, they could do so, if supplier arrangements within the new fund are set up to provide for this.

For these reasons, we are requesting that government arrangements for tutor provision include flexibility for schools to use specialist tutor umbrella organisations or independent specialist dyslexia tutors where necessary, rather than all funding to be allocated only for tutors within the remit of named national organisations.  

We would be grateful to hear from you what your current or future arrangements are in terms of meeting this need and to hear how specialist tutors could be included in your much needed programme to support the most vulnerable students at this time.

Amanda Kirby has written a very useful summary on LinkedIn of how most people have individual characteristics from overlapping different conditions, rather than a clear, single SpLD.

This is her diagrammatic explanation:

Note Taking Express has just communicated this offer of a free six month trial until November of its note-taking software, often used by dyslexic students for their degree studies, so that university students waiting for assessment and DSA funding approval during COVID 19 have software support in the interim. The software allows you to record, bookmark and make notes remotely, as well as use Video or/and Audio to capture lecture content.

“Here at Note Taking Express we are aware that Students may need support and help with their notetaking of recorded lectures. Because you can upload video and audio to Nhub we hope Students will find it useful for pre-recorded lectures. As the lockdown continues we are fully aware of the impact this is having on students, and as a result, we have introduced a new offer for all students in the UK to counter the possibility of delayed processing of their DSA application.

From today you can go to https://trial.notetakingexpress.com/ and register for FREE access for 6 months.”

The offer will run from Today (Friday 22 May) until the 30^th November 2020 where any user will have the option to pay as they go to continue use of notetaking and either a 6 year licence of Nhub or a month by month payment of £5.00 per month. For details, students can email sales@notetakingexpress.com

Talking to your children, along with reading to them, is the best thing you can do to develop their language skills, which are a huge part of how they can develop reading comprehension skills themselves.

As well as developing vocabulary, talking to your children develops their understanding of syntax (how sentences are built), context (what words may mean in different situations) and inference (what something means, even if it is not explained explicitly).

An accredited online course at the beginning of June from the British Dyslexia Association to help teachers and parents support children with dyslexia.

Who is it suitable for?
This course is suitable for those working in primary education or parents of children of school age. This session can be used…
— Read on www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/services/training/supporting-dyslexic-learners-practical-solutions-for-primary-virtual

Discover animal artworks and fun activities to use in your classroom. From under the sea to rainforests, animals are in lots of different kinds of art.
— Read on www.tate.org.uk/art/teaching-resource/animals-art