Dyslexia Guild Gallery May 2014

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Guild Gallery May 2014

Dear Member

Guild Gallery May 2014

The e-newsletter for all the Dyslexia Guild Members. I hope you had a chance to book for the Dyslexia Guild Summer conference over the holiday but if not, great news, as we have extended our Early Bird rates for all you busy people! Based in Lincoln on 19 June, the conference "Dyslexia and Co-occuring Difficulties: Exploring Aspects of Performance" can be booked for £80 until midnight on 28 May, so do not delay.

The annual event for teachers, educational practitioners and Dyslexia Guild members, held on 19^th June, will include presentations on dyslexia in multilingual settings, dyslexia and deaf children, hidden disabilities and access arrangements, as well as including seminars on a number of practical applications.

Keynote speakers include, Dr Deirdre Martin of the University of Birmingham, who will explore dyslexia and multilingual settings and Dr Rosalind Herman of City University London, who will present the theme of reading and dyslexia in deaf children.

Dr Martin’s presentation will delve into the increasingly diverse linguistic and literacy landscape in the UK, not least in schools, colleges and universities. In the UK we work with a diversity of spoken languages, literacy practices, digital literacies and orthographies. This presentation will review the implications for current service providers and practitioners, concerning identification and support for learners with specific learning difficulties, where English is an additional language for a learner and/or where they have dyslexia.

Dr Herman’s presentation will explore the findings from a major UK research study, which looked into reading and dyslexia in oral, speech dependent, deaf children. The presentation will highlight measures that were sensitive to reading difficulties in deaf children and describe profiles of the poorest readers. Dr Herman will then go on to discuss the significance of the findings for intervention, within this group of children.

In addition to enjoying presentations on the latest research, those attending will also be able to take part in practical seminars and workshops and network with like-minded individuals, whilst browsing the books and resources available on the exhibitions stands.

We will also be offering two CPD events on the Wednesday 18th, a Diagnostic Report Writing day for those of you wanting to apply for or renew your Assessment Practising Certificate. The other event is an afternoon seminar on Dyslexia Action Literacy Programme, an update to DILP.

More details here.

I do hope you can join us and I look forward to meeting you there.

Upcoming Courses

Postgraduate Programme

Starts 12^th May 2014

See if you are eligible for National Scholarship Funding here

Training PG Courses

CPD Programme

Short Courses starting 21 May 2014 and 9th July 20-30 hours of study over 6 weeks

Dyslexia Action's Continuing Professional Development Level 4 and 5 online courses have been designed specifically for:

Classroom Teachers

Teaching Assistants

Tutors working with those under the age of 18

The Dyslexia Action Level 4 and 5 CPD Programme consists of independent Unit courses, most of which may be taken individually (start dates throughout the year). You can build up these units over time to gain Awards and then a Certificate (two Awards).
Our online courses offer flexible learning to fit around your lifestyle.

See if you are eligible for National Scholarship Funding here

Online Summer School

Starts 9^th July 2014

These specialist e-learning courses are designed to strengthen the expertise and confidence of teachers, teaching assistants and support tutors in order to ensure the progress and achievement of children or adults with Dyslexia / SpLD. The courses aim to raise awareness of specific learning difficulties, improve the school and classroom environment and change teaching approaches. This will help teachers and teaching assistants to develop inclusive practice and strategic approaches to meet the needs of individual learners.

Dyslexia Action Headquarters are moving

We have very much enjoyed our time at Park House on the edge of Saville Gardens in Englefield Green but the Victorian building is not so good for our IT and communications infrastructure so we are moving down the hill and into Egham High Street.

The HQ will be closed on Friday 23 May for moving and will reopen on Tuesday 27 May at 10 High Street, Egham, Surrey YW20 9EA but Telephone numbers will remain the same:

0300 303 8357 (Dyslexia Action House) and 0300 303 8358 (Egham Learning Centre). The Egham Centre who offer assessment and tuition support to the Surrey area will be coming with us and are to be based a few doors down in No 7, as will the Training department and the National Dyslexia Resource Centre (NDRC) library. Library visitors are still welcome, just contact the Guild to let us know you are coming.

We are looking forward to moving into the heart of the Egham community where we can become better known and more accessible.

News

Access to Education

Are you interested in doing non-commercial research? Want access to scholarly works but not sure where to go?

There is a scheme being run in public libraries called “Access to Research” where academic articles are available, free of charge, in participating public libraries across the UK. It is being run as a pilot but the more popular it is, the more likely this will be rolled out to all public libraries in the future. Users have to actually go to the public library premises to access it and it is a UK only scheme that only applies to non-commercial research.

To find out if your local public library is participating, visit the website

Disabled Student Allowance Cuts Deep

The British Assistive Technololgy Association (BATA) have said that cuts in grants will damage disabled students.

Mark McCusker, Chair of the British Assistive Technology Association (BATA) said “We all recognise the need to
make savings, but this new approach, shifting the burden of provision from the directly funded DSAs to higher education institutions - and there has been no announcement of extra money for them - mean that able students, who happen to be disabled, from September 2015 will be at risk of finding it increasingly difficult to study successfully for degrees, with some not feeling they can even try and others finding they do less well than they should.” More here

See the Written Ministerial Statement here.

There is a petition on the recent announcement to cut the DSA (Disabled Student Allowance) here

Summer Conferences on dyslexia

19 June 2014 Dyslexia Guild conference in June, Dyslexia and Co-occurring difficulties: Exploring aspects of performance Lincoln

1 July 2014 Developing effective entrepreneurship and enterprise education, learning from dyslexia Sheffield

19 to 21 June 2014 The European Dyslexia Association (EDA) Summer Seminars which will be held from 19th to 21st of June 2014 under the topic: “Exchanging research, practice and experience” San Marino

20 September 2014 Education Conference 2014 - 'Dyslexia: Practice Makes Perfect' Falkirk

British Library Resource on the First World War

Explore online over 500 newly-digitised primary sources from across Europe in the new World War One website designed for secondary school and FE teachers and students.

Highlights include photographs from the front line, soldiers’ personal diaries, censored mail and propaganda posters.

Providing a pan-European perspective on the war, the site features teachers’ notes and articles from leading experts. Delve into the site to broaden your own subject knowledge and to plan new and engaging lessons.

The website forms part of the Library’s World War One centenary activities which also include a schools programme

Research News

Could video games help reading skills for those with dyslexia

Auditory processing skills and multisensory stimuli research

In addition to their trouble with reading, people with dyslexia also have greater difficulty than typical readers do when it comes to managing competing sensory cues, according to a study. The findings suggest that action video games might improve literacy skills in those with dyslexia.

"We think that people with dyslexia might learn associations between letters and their sounds faster if they first hear the sound and then see the corresponding letter or word," Vanessa Harrar of University of Oxford says. Of course, traditional approaches to reading, in which letters are first seen and then heard, do just the opposite.

Harrar's team goes on to propose a unique, nonverbal approach to improve reading and writing with action video games. "We propose that training people with dyslexia to shift attention quickly from visual to auditory stimuli and back -- such as with a video game, where attention is constantly shifting focus -- might also improve literacy. Action video games have been shown to improve multitasking skills and might also be beneficial in improving the speed with which people with dyslexia shift attention from one task, or sense, to another."

For more on this story Click Here

News

Comorbidity Reported in ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism

New studies in Pediatrics and other journals report that ADHD, Dyslexia or LD and Autism are comorbid with many other disorders and each other. In discovering the previously hidden common denominator--cerebellar dysfunction--responsible for this overlapping, Dr Levinson's research also revealed this insight provided important etiological, diagnostic and therapeutic benefit.

Two recent studies in Pediatrics have shown that ADHD is comorbid with language and anxiety disorders. Prior research has indicated that ADHD, dyslexia or LD and Autism overlap with each other as well as additional impairments involving mood, balance and coordination, etc.

For more details Click Here

1 in 5 children read on a tablet

The Childwise Monitor Report 2013-14, which surveys the media consumption of children and teens, said tablets are increasingly the device of choice and that ownership has almost doubled for the second year running. Two in five who took part in the survey said they have their own tablet.

Simon Leggett, associate research director at Childwise, said tablets are popular with young people for two reasons; portability, and the number of applications.

“A tablet doubles up for so many things,” he said. “It can be used for watching television or YouTube because the screen is a good size, but it’s also really easy to carry around.”

For more on this report, Click Here

Adult Learners' Week 14th to 20th June 2014

NIACE is asking you to inspire people to have a go at learning by getting involved in the Festival of Learning

Throughout the festival organisations across the country will offer thousands of opportunities for adults and families to learn something new and give them the chance to discover how learning can transform their lives.

The Festival of Learning kicks off in May and continues through to Adult Learners' Week (14 - 20 June).

Join the campaign for modernised UK copyright laws that affect dyslexia and education

Dyslexia Action strongly supports the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations that were laid before parliament on March 27th 2014. We are urging MPs and Peers to support these vital changes to the UK's copyright regime.

The current situation for exceptions to having to contact and gain the copyright holders permission to copy their work is narrow. There is an exception if you are visually impaired, blind or partially sighted, cannot focus or move your eyes. It allows you to make a copy of a lawfully obtained copyright work if you make it into a format that helps you read the material or you make an accessible copy for someone else who is visually impaired.

Exceptions for people with disabilities currently does not include people with dyslexia. It needs to be amended to apply to all print disabled learners.

A number of exceptions apply to schools, universities and other educational establishments. These are Copying (but not using reprographic equipment to make multiple copies), Setting or answering exam questions, performing, Playing or showing, recording within the educational establishment for educational purposes. The problem lies in the copying exception which does not allow the change of format into a digital copy. So you could not photocopy a chapter from a book and then put that up as a pdf on a website or electronic learning device, or make multiple photocopies without either seeking the copyright holders permission or obtaining a licence from the Copyright Licencing Agency or similar body.

The Amendments to exceptions to Education needs to be made fit for the digital age, where students expect to appraise information in digital media.

What can I do?

1. Write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations:

Use https://www.writetothem.com/ to find your local MP, write them an email and send it.

- See more at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-award...

Write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations: - See more at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-award...

Write to your MP and urge them to support the draft exceptions to copyright regulations.

Find and email your MP here

A draft letter can be found here

More details are available from the Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance or to find out more about Copyright Law see the Intellectual Property Office website

Reading news

MacDonald's offer free children's e-book download
McDonald’s UK has teamed up with eReading provider Kobo to offer its Happy Meal customers access to free digital books. This is the latest exciting news in McDonald’s Happy Readers campaign, a long-term initiative to put millions of popular books into the hands of families and help make reading fun.

The new e-book voucher is the latest step in McDonald’s ‘Happy Readers’ campaign which has already seen two annual books promotions get millions of copies of popular children’s books into the hands of UK families and £1 book vouchers now feature prominently on the side of the Happy Meal box. The e-book voucher partnership with Kobo was negotiated by The Marketing Store as part of the evolution of Happy Readers.

The tie-up with Enid Blyton’s ‘Secret Seven’, published by Hodder Children’s Books, will be running for five weeks in McDonald’s restaurants nationwide from Wednesday 30^th April to Tuesday 3^rd June.

Six short stories from the author’s timeless ‘Secret Seven’ collection, featuring exclusive colour illustrations by famed illustrator Tony Ross, will be available in-store as part of the Happy Meal. Two additional ‘Secret Seven’ and ‘Famous Five’ titles will also be available to parents and children through the £1 book voucher redeemable at WHSmith or Eason and the free Kobo eBook download available at www.kobobooks.com/uk/happyreaders until Tuesday 17^th June.

To find out more, please Click Here

Technology

Technology entrepreneurs help to transform India's fragmented education system

Raghav Gajula moved to an east Delhi slum to work as a teacher at a private school for low-income families.He lent the kids his laptop and started setting up mentoring sessions for them with his friends, via Skype. Many of the slum kids come from the Bhagwanpur Khera neighborhood where one of the main landmarks is a toxic sewage drain. Yet Gajula's idea meant they were soon scheduling their own Skype sessions with their mentors, and talking about their ambitions in the arts and sports.

Recognising the increasing importance of technology in education and employment, the Indian government has a scheme that grants every public school district, regardless of the number of schools it contains, of Rs. 5m [£49,700] every year to invest in educational technology. Districts have to submit a proposal in order to be granted the funds. The government estimates that 22% of primary schools have a computer, but the reality is that many schools aren't using the equipment they have.

Collecting data on students: is it useful to know which books they've read?

Student data can improve the student experience and boost retention. Universities can identify students who are not attending classes or accessing university resources and take action to remedy this. A student who is attending lectures and is provided with regular feedback is more likely to be engaged and to complete the course.

Such data can also be used to identify elements of the course that work well and to build on these for future year groups. Similarly, library services can benefit from identifying their most popular resources so that they can allocate their budget to best effect.

But is it ethical?

Read more on this story

UK is in second place among European countries and sixth overall in a global education league table

The rankings include higher education as well as international school tests - which boosted the UK's position.

Pearson chief executive John Fallon highlighted the economic importance of improving education and skills. Digital technology could play a part in sharing good ideas, but this will mean reinforcing rather than displacing the role of the teacher.

Mr Fallon says it would be a "huge mistake" to think of the role of teacher being lessened by an increasing use of technology.

Read more on this story

Work for Dyslexia Action

For job opportunities with Dyslexia Action please see our latest vacancies: Click Here

For more details about job descriptions or applications contact: recruitment@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Next issue

The next issue of Guild Gallery will be sent out September 2014.

Dyslexia Action

©2005-2014 Dyslexia Institute Limited. All rights reserved. Registered Charity Number 268502 in England and Wales, and SCO39177 in Scotland . Company Registration Number 1179975
Head Office, Park House, Wick Road, Egham, Surrey TW20 0HH,Tel: 01784 222300, Fax: 01784 222333, Email: info@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Note: Images used under the creative commons license.

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Guild Gallery September 2014

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Guild Gallery September 2014

Image above is Oil on water by rsbc

Dear Member

Guild Gallery September 2014

The e-newsletter for all the Dyslexia Guild Members. I hope you had a relaxing summer and are ready to take on new challenges with our CPD course offerings, see below. We held the Guild conference "Dyslexia and Co-occuring Difficulties: Exploring Aspects of Performance", which was a great success and we have been busy booking the next one to be held on 18 June at the School of African and Oriental Studies in Bloomsbury, London, so save the date in your diary. Registration will open as soon as we have full details. For more information please Click Here

More details here

New Guild Members Page: We have created a new Guild Member's area so you can find all your guild benefits in one place. Please login Here and you will see a Guild Membership Menu on the left hand side of the home page. If you have any problems with logins please contact us at guildforums@dyslexiaaction.org.uk or call us on 01784 222346.

I do hope you find the following news items of interest.

Upcoming Courses

Postgraduate Programme

Starts January 2015 book now!

The aim of these online programmes, that run three times a year, is to train teachers and support tutors to become

informed, skilled practitioners who understand the theory and practice of teaching and/or assessment of dyslexic learners of all ages (we have three start dates per year in September, January and May). If you would like to undertake full diagnostic assessments, our Postgraduate Diploma Programme is highly recommended and will make you eligible for Assessment Practising Certificate application.

Training PG Courses

CPD Programme

Short Courses starting 19 November 2014 20-30 hours of study over 6 weeks

Dyslexia Action's Continuing Professional Development Level 4 and 5 online courses have been designed specifically for:

Classroom Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Tutors working with those under the age of 18

The Dyslexia Action Level 4 and 5 CPD Programme consists of independent Unit courses, most of which may be taken individually (start dates throughout the year).

You can build up these units over time to gain Awards and then a Certificate (two Awards).
Our online courses offer flexible learning to fit around your lifestyle.

Dyslexia Action have been awarded with formal CPD acreditation by The CPD Standards Office, Professional Development Consortium.

Supporting Adults Programme

Start dates 19 November 2014, 28 January 2015, 8 July 2015

This programme is suitable for those working with Adults (16+) in any education setting or adult training environment including Adult, Further or Higher Education, Offender units and the workplace. The Dyslexia Action Level 4 Supporting Adults Programme consists of independent Unit courses, most of which may be taken individually (start dates throughout the year). You can build up these units over time to gain an Award.
Our units are either 2 Dyslexia Action credits (20 hours of learning time required over a 6 week period) or 3 Dyslexia Action credits (30 hours of learning time required over a 6 week period). To meet the needs of individal learners.

Dyslexia Action International Programme

Start dates in November 2014, January and March 2015

International Courses are designed specifically for practitioners who are based outside of the UK.

The Level 4 and Level 5 International Programme courses are designed to strengthen the expertise and confidence of international teachers, teaching assistants and support professionals in order to ensure the progress and achievement of learners with Dyslexia/SpLD from Elementary/ Primary age through to Adult.
In order to participate in the course you should be living outside of the UK and be working with English speaking learners. Our online courses provide flexibility for learning which enables studying to be fitted around your commitments. This programme replaces the former Dyslexia Action Hornsby: Alpha to Omega course.

News

Disabled Students' Allowance Student Support Information Notes

A new Student Support Information Notes (SSINs) has been published on the SLC Practitioner website to provide further information regarding the changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA), for students applying for DSA for the first time in academic year 2015/16.

More details are available from this link below:

Read this story Here

Student Finance Company and BIS Non-Medical Helper Service Manual

The Student Loans Company (SLC) and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) ‘Non-Medical Help Services Reference Manual’ have introduced this year as a standardised framework of activity descriptors and cost bands for Non-Medical Helper (NMH) services funded through the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) for English students.

For HEI Disability Advisers and external providers of support services it provides guidelines on the types of non-medical help services and activities which may be funded under DSAs, the cost bands within which each activity is located and the appropriate qualifications and/or skills and/or training required to undertake each activity.

For Non-Medical Helpers this manual provides a clear picture of what support they are expected to provide within the particular recommendation and the appropriate qualifications and/or skills and/or training required to undertake each activity.

For disabled students who employ their own non-medical helpers it provides a clear indication of the type of work that their non-medical helpers should undertake and the appropriate qualifications and/or skills and/or training required to perform each activity. In addition, all disabled students, whether or not they are employing their own non-medical helpers, can use the manual to understand the kind of support they can expect to receive and feel confident that it falls within a national framework.

For assessors this Manual provides information on how non-medical help work should be described and categorised when recommended and charged to DSA. This will help assessors formulate their assessments in accordance with a national framework.

Needs Assessment Centres - will need to use the new activity descriptors in all needs assessment reports and requests for changes to support made on or after 31 March 2014.

HEI Disability Advisers - will need to use the new activity descriptors in all requests for changes to support made on or after 31 March 2014.

NMH providers - will need to ensure invoices for support provided match the activity descriptors used within the needs assessment report.

Conferences

23 October 2014 Alternative Provision in Education London, UK

11 November 2014 Shaping the Developing Brain: Prenation through Early Childhood New York, USA

01 November 2014 Making Research in Second Language Acquisition Usable for Instruction and Instructors Athens, Greece

04 and 11 November 2014 NADP Supporting Students with Mental Health Issues London and Manchester

12 November 2014 International Symposium on Education and Psychology Tokyo, Japan

14 November 2014 Global Conference on Education Las Vegas, USA

14 November 2014 Taylor's 7th Teaching and Learning Conference Malaysia

The TES SEN Show 2014

10 to 11 October 2014 at the Business Design Centre in London

The UK's largest dedicated special educational needs show is back this Autumn with more advice, inspiration and information for school leaders, teachers, support staff, parents and carers.

Remember to drop by the Dyslexia Action stand to catch up with our latest training offers, get some advice, talk to our shop representatives or just say hello!

For more details click here

Research News

Children who play short video games are well adjusted

Scientists found young people who spent less than an hour a day engaged in video games were better adjusted than those who did not play at all.

Experimental psychologist Dr Andrew Przybylski analysed British surveys involving 5,000 young people aged 10 to 15 years old. The research is published in the journal Pediatrics.

Some 75% of those questioned said they played video games daily.

Children were asked to quantify how much time they spent gaming on a typical school day - using consoles or computers.

Satisfaction with their lives

How well they got on with peers

How likely they were to help people in difficulty

Levels of hyperactivity and inattention

The answers were combined to assess levels of psychological and social adjustment.

When compared with all other groups, including those who played no video games at all, young people reporting under an hour of play each day were most likely to say they were satisfied with their lives and showed the highest levels of positive social interactions.

The group also had fewer problems with emotional issues and lower levels of hyperactivity.

Dr Przybylski points out that though the effect of video games on children is statistically significant in this study, factors such as the strength of family relationships play a larger role.

Dr Iroise Dumontheil, of Birkbeck, University of London, who was not involved in the research, said: "Other studies have shown that playing first-person shooter games, but not other types, can lead to increased visuospatial processing and memory abilities.

"Further research would help to determine whether particular types of game help or hinder adolescents as they adjust to the changes they experience during development."

For more on this story Click Here

News

Dyscalculia linked to difficulties in reading and spelling

Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich now show that these children are also more likely to exhibit deficits in reading and spelling than had been previously suspected.

These figures emerge from a new study carried out by LMU researchers led by Professor Gerd Schulte-Körne, Director of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, which has just been published. The data are based on tests carried out on 1633 third- and fourth-graders in schools in the Munich area.

In addition, the new study reveals that gender also appears to play a role in determining susceptibility to specific learning disorders, says Schulte-Körne: While deficits in spelling are more prevalent among boys, girls are more likely to display dyscalculia. Reading difficulties, on the other hand, appear to be equally prevalent in both sexes. The reasons for these striking findings remain unclear. Schulte-Körne suspects that biological factors are responsible, given that the learning environments experienced by both sexes are very similar.

For more details Click Here

Phonics Technique has a positive impact on literacy

Children taught to read using phonics techniques have achieved "very high" results, according to new research, which cited the example of a seven-year-old boy able to read and spell to the level of a 13-year-old.

The results of the study, by the educational psychologist Marlynne Grant, are a vindication of the widespread introduction of synthetic or blended phonics in schools in England since 2010. The method teaches children to read by identifying and pronouncing sounds rather than individual letters.

For more on this report Click Here

Happiness levels fall as children get older

New data and a report called "Measure what you treasure", looked at levels of well-being in 11 to 16 year olds. It was gathered over the last three years by more than 50 participating charities, using the NPC's Well-being Measure and looking at eight criteria: self-esteem; emotional well-being; resilience; friends; family; community; school; and life satisfaction.

Finding include that:

Boys and girls both grow more dissatisfied with their lives as they get older, with girls' happiness falling significantly faster than boys'
Girls' self-esteem falls away consistently, while boys' remains much more stable
Girls' emotional well-being declines consistently from the age of 12, while boys' remains much more stable during their teenage years

For more on the report click here

Health and Disability in medical education and training

The General Medical Council have published a range of information resources as part of the review of health and disability in medical education and training to help both disabled students and training providers.

The statement on health and disability in medical education and training inlcudes a summary of legal advice on reasonable adjustments and competence standards.

What can I do?

1. Write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations:

Use https://www.writetothem.com/ to find your local MP, write them an email and send it.

- See more at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-award...

Write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations: - See more at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-award...

Details are available here

Reading news

Learning Strategies could be key for Dyslexic pupils
Many researchers say that the biggest problem for dyslexic children is not so much their condition, but that the current system – with its emphasis on memorising facts and meeting fixed milestones at young ages – leads them to lose confidence and their willingness to try.

It's something the Mind Research Institute in California is looking to tackle by implementing a new system of learning for primary school children. This revolves round interactive puzzles and games, which ask probing questions, and crucially, are designed to engage the brain's natural learning mechanisms.

Learning through doing connects the back lobes of our brain – involved in sensing the environment – to the cognitive, emotional, and memory networks in the frontal areas. This "perception-action cycle" is the driving force behind learning. And it depends on making mistakes, recognising them, and then adjusting.

To find out more, please Click Here

Technology

10 Free digital tools for educators and students

This blog gives a list of free education tools with a brief description of what they do.

More details here

Digital Literacy may protect against cognitive decline

Researchers have found that the ability to engage, plan, and execute digital actions such as web browsing and exchanging emails, is an independent protective factor against cognitive decline.

The effect of digital literacy was independent of age and socio-economic status, suggesting that digital literacy increases cognitive reserve or improves efficiency of cognitive networks to delay decline.

Read more on this story

Dyslexia Action pioneers project using digital highligher pen

An innovative technological support scheme to help dyslexic students is being launched nationwide this month.

The project, which will reach up to 200 dyslexic students, is designed to evaluate the benefits of using technology in Special Education Needs (SEN) teaching through the use of the C-Pen TS1 digital highlighter.

Technology manufacturer C Technologies is donating its C-Pen to Dyslexia Action classrooms and will provide training to the charity’s specialist SEN teachers as part of a three-month pilot.

Read more on this story

Work for Dyslexia Action

For job opportunities with Dyslexia Action please see our latest vacancies: Click Here

For more details about job descriptions or applications contact: recruitment@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Next Issue

The next issue of Guild Gallery will be sent out December 2014.

Note: Images used under the creative commons license.

Forward to a Friend

Read more about Guild Gallery September 2014

Guild Gallery December 2014

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To help ensure inbox delivery please add us to your safe senders list or address book.

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Guild Gallery December 2014

Dear Member

Guild Gallery December 2014

Get your 2015 diary out and save the date of 18 June for the Summer Conference at the School of African and Oriental Studies in Bloomsbury, London. We can announce our keynote speaker, Professor Amanda Kirby, who has recently published "How to succeed with SpLd at College/ University and in Employment" and will also speak about the development of the DO-IT Profiler. She started The Dyscovery Centre (now part of the University of South Wales), a trans disciplinary centre for children and adults with specific learning difficulties and disabilities. This has been recognised internationally for its work in this field, especially in the area of Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia. Dr Meesha Warmington of the University of York (along with Professor Maggie Snowling and Dr Sue Stothard), developed and standardised the York Adult Assessment Battery-Revised (YAA-R) to assess dyslexia in higher education. Her current research will be presented at the conference and she examines executive control (i.e., attention, working memory and cognitive flexibility), language and literacy development in bilingual children and adults. For more information please Click Here

Dyslexia Review Vol 25 No 3 Autumn Winter 2014 will be published this week and sent out to all with a full membership.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our members

Upcoming Courses

Postgraduate Programme

Starts March 2015 book now!

The aim of these online programmes, that run three times a year, is to train teachers and support tutors to become informed, skilled practitioners who understand the theory and practice of teaching and/or assessment of dyslexic learners of all ages (we have three start dates per year in September, January and May). If you would like to undertake full diagnostic assessments, our Postgraduate Diploma Programme is highly recommended and will make you eligible for Assessment Practising Certificate application.

Training PG Courses

CPD Programme

Short Courses starting 28 January 2015 20-30 hours of study over 6 weeks. (courses also available for March, May and July 2015)

Dyslexia Action's Continuing Professional Development Level 4 and 5 online courses have been designed specifically for:

Classroom Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Tutors working with those under the age of 18

The Dyslexia Action Level 4 and 5 CPD Programme consists of independent Unit courses, most of which may be taken individually (start dates throughout the year).

You can build up these units over time to gain Awards and then a Certificate (two Awards).
Our online courses offer flexible learning to fit around your lifestyle.

Dyslexia Action have been awarded with formal CPD acreditation by The CPD Standards Office, Professional Development Consortium.

Supporting Adults Programme

Start dates 28 January 2015 (courses also available for March, May and July 2015)

Our units are either 2 Dyslexia Action credits (20 hours of learning time required over a 6 week period) or 3 Dyslexia Action credits (30 hours of learning time required over a 6 week period). To meet the needs of individal learners.

Dyslexia Action International Programme

Available for March, May and July 2015

International Courses are designed specifically for practitioners who are based outside of the UK.

Specialist Teacher/Assessor Courses include:

Diagnostic Report Writing - Online or Attendance courses available in 2015. Click Here

Exam Access Arrangements - Online or Attendance courses in February and March . Click Here

News

Too much praise lowers standards

The Sutton Trust education charity has warned that many strategies used by teachers have no evidence to show that they really work.

Too much praise for low achievers can "convey a message of low expectations".

Robert Coe of Durham University said teachers needed to know what was "most likely to be effective".

The study, What Makes Great Teaching, produced by Prof Coe for the Sutton Trust, drew on more than 200 pieces of research into what works in the classroom.

The researchers identified two main factors which are linked to whether pupils' results can be improved - the quality of teaching and teachers' subject knowledge.

The "quality of instruction" included "effective questioning" of pupils and a good use of assessment.

And it said that teachers with a strong understanding of their specialist subject were particularly likely to have a positive impact on how pupils learn.

More details are available from this link below:

Read this report Here

Student Loans Company offers tools and Resources for 2015/16

The Student Loans Company (SLC) have published a new update on their website. The have also outlined their new information page on Gov.uk 'Ask the Expert' films, factsheets, lesson plans and other resources that help explain student finance to your students and their parents.

To read the story in full please click here

Conferences

12 January 2015 Diagnosis in Educational and Psychological Practices: An interdisciplinar conversation Sheffield, UK

30 January 2015 NASEN Conference: Effective School Leadership London, UK

4 and 17 March 2015 Premier League Reading Stars Cymru Wales, UK

15 April 2015 Dyscalculia in FE/HE Loughborough, UK

18 June 2015 Dyslexia Guild Summer Conference London, UK

Vision for Literacy

Up to 40% of the adult population in the UK’s most deprived wards lack the literacy skills expected of an 11-year-old.

19 members and supporters of the National Literacy Forum have developed the Vision for Literacy, which recommends four areas, or Pathways to Literacy, where sustained policy consensus is required to ensure that all children born this year have the literacy skills they need to succeed by the time they finish secondary school.

The Vision for Literacy aligns with the Read on. Get on. campaign and Fair Education Alliance and makes four key recommendations to address literacy.

For more details click here

Dyslexia Assist

A Dyslexia Association as a parent representative body with the aim to raise awareness of and access to helpful resources.

A key strength and features of the Dyslexia Assist website is its interactivity. It is written in dyslexic font and has speech-to-text software for use whenever it is needed. As printed words present difficulties for dyslexic children, there are lots of visual and audio aids to help on the website. For instance, to remember the months of the year, there is an article on how you can use your hands and knuckles to prompt memory as well as using familiar tunes and word association as an aid. Also, the website deals with frequently asked questions like: How do I get my child assessed? What will happen in my assessment? How do I cope with tricky words? What should I expect from an assessment?

Dyslexia Assist is a no shop, no donation, no affiliation registered charity. “Our idea is to share as much information as we can in one central hub so that both parents and children have somewhere to go.”

Click here for the website

Research News

Most Autistic People Have Normal Brain Anatomy

Published in Cerebral Cortex by Israeli researchers Shlomi Haar and colleagues, the new research reports that there are virtually no differences in brain anatomy between people with autism and those without.

What makes Haar et al.’s essentially negative claims so powerful is that their study had a huge sample size: they included structural MRI scans from 539 people diagnosed with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 573 controls. This makes the paper an order of magnitude bigger than a typical structural MRI anatomy study in this field. The age range was 6 to 35.

There are hundreds of studies claiming to have found differences in brain structure in autism, many with small sample sizes, and Haar et al’s failure to replicate almost any of these claims, is sobering. It’s important to remember, however, that this paper only considered brain anatomy. It doesn’t contradict studies looking at brain function, nor does it relate to microanatomy or neuropathology (i.e. microscope work.)

For more on this story Click Here

News

Study shows reading for pleasure boosts vocabulary

Reading for pleasure during childhood has a substantial influence on a person's vocabulary 30 years later. Researchers at the Institute of Education (IOE) have reached this conclusion after studying the vocabulary test scores of more than 9,400 British people at the ages of 10, 16 and 42.

Their statistical analysis showed that those who had regularly read for pleasure at 10 scored 67 per cent in the age 42 vocabulary test, whereas infrequent childhood readers scored only 51 per cent.

Regular readers tended to come from more advantaged families and also had higher vocabulary scores at ages 10 and 16. But even after these factors were taken into account there was still a 9 percentage point gap in vocabulary scores at age 42 between those who were either frequent or infrequent readers in their youth.

"The long-term influence of reading for pleasure on vocabulary that we have identified may well be because the frequent childhood readers continued to read throughout their twenties and thirties," say the researchers, Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown. "In other words, they developed 'good' reading habits in childhood and adolescence that they have subsequently benefited from."

For more details Click Here

Existing Phonics Programmes Fail Disadvantaged

University of Cambridge Professor, Usha Goswami, director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education, said that existing phonics programmes failed to take into account the difficulty that some children had distinguishing individual sounds.

She has been awared funding to explore whether poor children could improve their reading skills more rapidly by using a computer game that tests awarenesss of longer sounds within words, which was originally developed to help dyslexic pupils. The computer game, GraphoGame Rime, encourages children to match sounds they hear through headphones with a group of letters they see on a screen, it analyses their answers and provides feedback to teachers.

Dr John Rack, director of education and research at Dyslexia Action has commented "We agree it may not be the best way to teach all children - using phonemes may be better. But for those who don't get it we need to be more flexible, and units which are more consistent and easier to distinguish do play a part. We have an intervention programme, and onset and rime work is in that."

For more on this story click here

Made a Typo? You must be really smart...

The reason typos get through isn’t because we’re stupid or careless, it’s because what we’re doing is actually very smart, explains psychologist Tom Stafford, who studies typos of the University of Sheffield in the UK. “When you’re writing, you’re trying to convey meaning. It’s a very high level task,” he said.

As with all high level tasks, your brain generalizes simple, component parts (like turning letters into words and words into sentences) so it can focus on more complex tasks (like combining sentences into complex ideas). “We don’t catch every detail, we’re not like computers or NSA databases,” said Stafford. “Rather, we take in sensory information and combine it with what we expect, and we extract meaning.” When we’re reading other peoples’ work, this helps us arrive at meaning faster by using less brain power. When we’re proofreading our own work, we know the meaning we want to convey. Because we expect that meaning to be there, it’s easier for us to miss when parts (or all) of it are absent. The reason we don’t see our own typos is because what we see on the screen is competing with the version that exists in our heads.

For more on this story click here

Apprenticeships for young people with dyslexia

The Skills Funding Agency offer guidance

The Skills Funding Agency have published a summary of the support available for functional skills and key skills qualifications, taken as part of an apprenticeship.

What can I do?

1. Write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations:

Use https://www.writetothem.com/ to find your local MP, write them an email and send it.

- See more at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-award...

Write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations: - See more at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-award...

Details are available here

Reading news

Writing on the Guardian's online Teacher Networks pages, Sally Dring pleads for teaching staff not to overlook school librarians as they are perfectly placed to help improve students' research skills and digital information literacy. "Teachers are busy enough as it is and often don't have the time to critically assess all the sources of information out there - make use of your friendly school librarian, who is usually more than happy to help out. It's part of our job."

CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards

The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) for an outstanding book for children and young people, while the Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded for an outstanding book in terms of illustration.

The list of eligible nominations for 2015 has been published, so why not involve your pupils in picking their favorites and get your school or local librarian involved to help encourage reading for pleasure.

The judging panel will review nominations and decide the official longlists, which will be published on Tuesday 10 February 2015.

To find out more, please Click Here

Technology

iPad Apps for learners with dyslexia or writing difficulties

If you thinking about purchasing an ipad and need a list of useful applications, this guide is a little old now but still gives a good list of apps divided by type i.e. writing, reading, memory, organisation, numeracy apps that many of you may find helpful.

More details here

New Dictionary layout for people with Dyslexia

Dr Neville Brown and son Dr Daryl Brown, head at Maple Hayes Dyslexia School, Lichfield, which specialises in teaching children with literacy problems, are launching an alternative version of the dictionary in a bid to make the English language more accessible to those with dyslexia.

Now, after almost 25 years analysing the way dyslexics learn, the Browns have rewritten the dictionary after identifying that its layout, which is biased towards phonetic language, proved a huge stumbling block for youngsters with dyslexia.

The new version will prioritise the link between words with similar meaning, no matter how they are pronounced, by putting all related words, regardless of the prefixes they use, on the same page instead of scattered throughout the dictionary. Daryl Brown, who is headteacher at Maple Hayes, said: "It is not that the dictionary we all know and love is wrong – it works for many people but, quite simply, is completely inaccessible for dyslexics.

"We teach literacy using an entirely different method to phonics, instead using the 'morphological approach' which was developed by my father over 30 years ago.

"This bypasses the requirement to learn words by sounding them out – instead using icon meaning cards to visually represent words or parts of words.

"The meanings of words will be prevalent in our dictionary. Whilst we believe it will be an invaluable tool for dyslexics, it will also give children and adults without the learning difficulty a greater understanding of the origins of our language, enabling them to grasp the true meanings behind parts of words and make greater sense of a language that we learn verbatim, but never question."

The Browns hope to complete the new dictionary by the end of 2015.

Read more on this story

Learning at the British Library

The British Library offers an exciting programme of workshops, activities and resources for schools, teachers and learners of all ages. Explore fascinating topics online or plan a visit, learn practical ways of developing grammatical knowledge at their CPD conference and book now for 2015 Magna Carta workshops.
Find out more here

Work for Dyslexia Action

We are looking for specialist teachers to work in Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham and Coventry. For job opportunities with Dyslexia Action please see our latest vacancies: Click Here

For more details about job descriptions or applications contact: recruitment@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Next Issue

The next issue of Guild Gallery will be sent out February 2015.

Note: Images used under the creative commons license.

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Guild Gallery February 2015

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Guild Gallery February 2015

Dear Member

Guild Gallery February 2015

Get your 2015 diary out and save the date of 18 June for the Summer Conference at the School of African and Oriental Studies in Bloomsbury, London. Our keynote speaker, Professor Amanda Kirby, who has recently published "How to succeed with SpLd at College/ University and in Employment". She started The Dyscovery Centre (now part of the University of South Wales), a trans disciplinary centre for children and adults with specific learning difficulties and disabilities. This has been recognised internationally for its work in this field, especially in the area of Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia. Also Dr Meesha Warmington of the University of York, examines executive control (i.e., attention, working memory and cognitive flexibility), language and literacy development in bilingual children and adults. Registration bookings will open soon. For more information please Click Here

Guild members are entitled to a 10% discount with our Dyslexia Action Shop. Just give them a call on 01784 222 339 to set up your discount code for online purchases.

Upcoming Courses

Postgraduate Programme

Starts March 2015 book now!

Would you like to study for a Level 7 qualification but just can't fit it into your lifestyle? Our courses are all online and modular so each module is between 15 and 20 hours of study per week. The Certificate is normally completed over three terms and the same for the Diploma, depending on which modules and pathway you choose. The aim of these online programmes is to train teachers and support tutors to become informed, skilled practitioners who understand the theory and practice of teaching and/or assessment of dyslexic learners of all ages (we have three start dates per year in September, January and May). If you would like to undertake full diagnostic assessments, our Postgraduate Diploma Programme is highly recommended and will make you eligible for Assessment Practising Certificate application.

Start dates in March, May and September but apply 8 weeks prior to start date to ensure your place!

Training PG Courses

Continuing Professional Development Programme

Short Courses starting 25 March 2015 20-30 hours of study over 6 weeks. (courses also available for May and July 2015)

Dyslexia Action's Continuing Professional Development Level 4 and 5 online courses have been designed specifically for: Classroom Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Tutors working with those under the age of 18

The CPD Programme consists of independent Unit courses, most of which may be taken individually (start dates throughout the year).

You can build up these units over time to gain Awards and then a Certificate (two Awards).
Our online courses offer flexible learning to fit around your lifestyle. Register at least 2 weeks prior to start date to ensure your place!

Dyslexia Action have been awarded with formal CPD acreditation by The CPD Standards Office, Professional Development Consortium.

Supporting Adults Programme

Start dates 25 March 2015 (courses also available for July 2015)

Dyslexia Action International Programme

Available for March, May and July 2015

International Courses are designed specifically for practitioners who are based outside of the UK.

Specialist Teacher/Assessor SASC Approved Courses include:

Diagnostic Report Writing - Are you an experienced specialist assessor? Do you need to prepare in renewing or gaining your Assessment Practising Certificate? If you are not completely confident in your diagnostic reports or statistics and scoring, we would recommend our online course that comprises 12 hours of study over a four week period, has tutor supported forums, assesses your understanding, and is completed by a Continuing Professional Development Certificate.

Our one day attendance course helps experienced assessors ensure their skills are polished in preparation for APC application and SASC requirement. You recieve an attendance certificate at the end of the day.

Exam Access Arrangements - Online course starts 3 March 2015. Designed for qualified assessment professionals who need further information or updating in this area of disability in order that they can complete Form 8’s and write equivalent reports in support of Examination Access Arrangement requests. There have been major changes to JCQ regulations in the last three years, this course will be useful for you to update your practice.

Practitioner Refresher Courses - We are offering three new courses for those who need CPD at Level 7. The units are designed for practitioners who need to scrutinise the background factors that influence performance in a range of academic and work-based settings. See our web pages for courses starting 25 March 2015

New to our online courses? Register at least 2 weeks prior to start date to ensure your place on our free induction to help you prepare for online study!

DSA draft guidance - re-opened for responses to 20 February 2015 - Needs a new section in News.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) have re-opened the the opportunity to comment on the draft guidance.

Stakeholders should send any comments to disabledstudentsallowances@bis.gsi.gov.uk.

You can access the draft guidance by using the following link:

http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/products/disabled-students'-allowances/dsas-updates-for-practitioners.aspx

News

Secondary School Teachers paid hours do not reflect actual work

Careers of the Future reports, based on extensive research and the latest data from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), presents a list of jobs which will offer great career prospects to young people looking to take their first steps into work.

It contains a full list of 100 jobs all highlighted as Careers of the Future, and casts a spotlight on 12 roles across a range of sectors, giving an outline of the job, what the work entails, key statistics which may be helpful in making career decisions, and details on various entry routes in to the job. Each role also includes a range of useful links to allow the reader to explore more about that particular career, but the infographic may discourage young people once they read the small print that Department of Education survey indicates unpaid duties increase average working week to 56 hours rather than the average 39 hours. At least they are not as badly off as Farmers who work an average of 52 hours with a starting salary of just 13k!

Recently the Guardian ran a story about how workload is forcing new teachers out of the profession. Read more here.

Early years funding announced for most disadvantaged

New government funding to help the most disadvantaged children receive high-quality early education has been implemented in 7 local authorities from this week.

Over £1 million will be distributed between local authorities in Blackpool, Bristol, Cambridgeshire, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Hackney and Stoke-on-Trent to implement the early years pupil premium (EYPP) in their areas.

The money will be distributed to early years providers delivering the funded entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds, who will receive up to £300 extra per year for each disadvantaged child who meets the eligibility criteria. Research shows that children from disadvantaged backgrounds start school at age five over a year behind in vocabulary compared to their peers from higher-income backgrounds.

To read the story in full please click here

Conferences

4 and 17 March 2015 Premier League Reading Stars Cymru Wales, UK

4 March 2015 National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN) Conference Chester, UK

11 March 2015 Driving Equality through Social Mobility Policy Briefing London, UK

15 April 2015 More Mist, Haze and Shutters: Dyscalculia in FE/HE Loughborough, UK

29 April 2015 The Academies Show ExCel, London, UK

5 May 2015 SENCO Update conference London, UK

6 May 2015 National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP) Conference Leeds, UK

19 May 2015 Looked After Children in Education Birmingham, UK

18 June 2015 Dyslexia Guild Summer Conference SOAS, London, UK - discounts for Guild members

Magna Carta 800 years of history

Magna Carta takes centre stage at the British Library in 2015 with a new programme of online resources, workshops and conferences celebrating this iconic document.

The British Library learning team is offering exhibition workshops, teacher CPD events and digital resources to enrich and support teaching and learning about this iconic charter.

Find out more about the Learning Programme

Study on the impact of ebooks on children’s reading

More than 1,000 children and young people aged 7 to 16 from schools across the UK have now completed reading attitude surveys as part of a National Literacy Trust and study exploring the impact of ebooks on children’s reading.

Initial findings from pre-project testing show that children and young people from all backgrounds, of both genders and across age groups report reading more using technology, prefer to read using technology and enjoy reading more using technology (such as a smartphone, tablet, ereader, laptop or games console). Furthermore, findings suggest that reading using technology may have the potential to impact positively on some of the traditional indicators of poorer literacy performance (socio-economic background, gender and age), with children from less advantaged backgrounds, boys and older children tending to show more positive attitudes to reading using technology.

Click here for a summary of the figures.

Join the study: Participating schools receive an exclusive 25% discount on RM ebooks for the duration of the study. Find more information and to apply to take part here. (closing date 2 April 2015).

Research News

Close your eyes and remember

Researchers from the University of Surrey have found further evidence to suggest that eyewitnesses to crimes

remember more accurate details when they close their eyes.

Results showed that closing their eyes helped participants recall both audio and visual details, both when they had built rapport and when they had not.

Across both experiments, participants who did not build rapport said they felt less comfortable when they closed their eyes, compared to when they kept their eyes open. In contrast, participants who built rapport felt more comfortable when they closed their eyes.

“It is clear from our research that closing the eyes and building rapport helps with witness recall,” said lead author Dr Robert Nash, from the University of Surrey.

For more on this story Click Here

News

Study shows your literacy skills in first language affects learning a second

Your literacy skills in your first language heavily influence the learning of a foreign language. Thus, anyone who reads and writes German well is likely to transfer this advantage to English – regardless of the age of onset of foreign language learning. Foreign language lessons at an early age, however, pay off less than was previously assumed.

In fact, they can even have a negative impact on the first language in the short run, as a linguist reveals in her long-term study involving 200 Zurich high-school children found.

For more details Click Here

Texting App for dyslexia friendly keyboard

Two Babson College students have developed an app based on the concept of custom keyboards. But instead of making texts look sexier, this one focuses on a serious need in the market: Accommodating reading disorders. DyslexiaKey, which debuted in the iTunes store this week, aims to help those affected by the learning difficulty to avoid some of the common frustrations that come with texting.

The basic idea behind DyslexiaKey was that using just a keyboard, the designers could create a different type of template that could then be applied to a range of purposes. For example, an ABC keyboard could prove far easier to use for kids and individuals with certain learning disabilities than the traditional QWERTY keyboard.

For more on this story click here

Mindless chatter better than bedtime reading

Bedtime reading has traditionally been thought to boost a child's development - but in fact chatting while doing housework may be of greater benefit.

This is according to researchers who conducted a study on the impact of bedtime reading on 7,845 nine-month-old infants.

They found that absent-minded conversation was four times better at improving a child's communication skills than reading to them or showing them pictures.

Researchers at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) found that as well as communication skills, chatting to children was three times better at improving problem solving skills.

Does a label affect teacher attitude?

Different labels for difficulties with reading have been found to be associated with varying beliefs in how effective teachers believe they can be.

That is the conclusion of research presented in January 2015, by Dr Simon Gibbs from Newcastle University to the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society's Division of Education and Child Psychology.

In his research (carried out with Professor Julian Elliott from Durham University) Dr Gibbs asked a sample of primary school teachers to complete two questionnaires about children who were having difficulty with learning to read. One questionnaire sought to discover how much the teachers believed they could do to help the children. The other questionnaire sought to discover the extent to which the teachers believed that the children's difficulties were 'essential'- that is, how far they marked out the difficulties as having a distinct biological basis.

Two different versions of the questionnaires were used. In the first version both questionnaires talked about 'dyslexia' and the second they talked about 'reading difficulties'.

When Dr Gibbs analysed the results he found that the two different labels were associated with differences in the teachers' beliefs about their efficacy in helping the children. They indicated that the label 'dyslexia' evoked responses that suggested it was seen as a fixed disability, and that the teachers believed their ability to help children with 'dyslexia was unlikely to develop over time.

By contrast, the teachers who had been asked about 'reading difficulties' were less likely to see the children's problems as permanent; were also more likely to believe that they would be able to help them, and that their skills developed with experience.

Dr Gibbs says: "These findings challenge the value of labels like 'dyslexia', which may be used as shorthand descriptors for the difficulties some children experience. These labels may be of illusory benefit because they reduce teachers' belief in their ability to help the children. As a result the labels could be ultimately unhelpful to the children's wellbeing and educational progress.

What can I do?

1. Write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations:

Use https://www.writetothem.com/ to find your local MP, write them an email and send it.

- See more at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-award...

Write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the draft Exceptions to Copyright regulations: - See more at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-award...

Reading news - Reasons why School Libraries are still essential

As the digital age pervades lifestyle why would you need school libraries?

Libraries offer more than the internet can - The collections in an online libraryare vastly different from the material found on the Internet because the publishing process involves rigorouseditorial checks and quantitative analysis.

Libraries help raise reading scores - In a world obsessed with test scores as the lone metric of teacher and student success, libraries have consistently demonstrated the ability to raise reading scores on standardized tests. One American study based on National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data examined the effects of widespread librarian and media specialist layoffs on student reading test scores from 2004 to 2009. In most districts, fewer librarians meant lower test scores or scores that did not rise as quickly. On the other hand, 19 of the 26 states that added librarians saw an average rise of 2.2 percent in reading scores, with the study controlling for the addition of other educational staff.

Libraries boost literacy development - One study by the Pennsylvania Library Association suggests that kids who participate in library preschool programs demonstrate more pre-reading skills and emergent literacy behaviors than their peers. Likewise, library reading programs in the summer — a time when students’ skills typically decline — successfully encourage children to spend more time with books, thereby facilitating reading achievement. Ask your school librarian about reading schemes such as the Summer Reading Challenge.

Librarians collaborate with teachers to enhance curricula - School librarians and teachers make a formidable instructional team, joining their pedagogical and technological expertise to meet student needs. When teachers collaborate with librarians, they are three times as likely to rate their literacy teaching as excellent. Similarly, the more time librarians spend cooperating with classroom teachers, the more they promote information literacy independently, and the more in-service they provide teachers, the higher student test scores rise.

Librarians can work with teachers to enrich curriculum with computers, books, online resources, and more. nominations and decide the official

For the full article see USC website Click Here

Technology

ADSHE launches new page on Assistive Technology

The Association of Dyslexia Specialists in Higher Education page provides advice and guidance on using Assistive Technology with dyslexic students – focusing on free or open source software.

More details here

£3.6 million for tech experts to train computing teachers

Funding is to be provided to launch top technology experts - from firms including O2 and Google - into schools up and down the country to help prepare England’s primary school teachers for the new computing curriculum.

Introducing children to computing and coding from an early age is all part of the government’s long-term plan to ensure young people have the first-class education they need to succeed and make sure Britain leads the global race in innovation. The new computing curriculum began in September 2014 and sees pupils taught how to code and use a range of programming languages.

More than 4 million primary school children have already received lessons through the new curriculum, which puts much more emphasis on experience of programming and understanding the fundamental principles of computer science.

Read more on this story

Where's Wally?

The National Literacy Trust are offering a host of free teaching resources when you take part in their "Around the Wordl with Wally" writing competition for KS1 and lower KS2. The images are perfect to promote visual literacy, a driver for literacy development, particularly for less confident readers. The competition stimulates creative writing with a strong visual base.
Find out more here

Work for Dyslexia Action

We are looking for specialist teachers to work in Leeds, Nottingham and Coventry and a Centre Principal at Lincoln. We have vacancies for psychologists and support staff. For job opportunities with Dyslexia Action please see our latest vacancies: Click Here

For more details about job descriptions or applications contact: recruitment@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Next Issue

The next issue of Guild Gallery will be sent out May 2015.

Dyslexia Action

©2005-2015 Dyslexia Institute Limited. All rights reserved. Registered Charity Number 268502 in England and Wales, and SCO39177 in Scotland . Company Registration Number 1179975
Head Office, Dyslexia Action House, 10 High Street, Egham, Surrey TW20 9EA,Tel: 01784 222300, Fax: 01784 222333, Email: info@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Note: Images used under the creative commons license.

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Read more about Guild Gallery February 2015

Guild Gallery September 2015

Dear Guild Member,

Please note that the Summer Issue of Dyslexia Review Volume 26 No 2 2015 is due to be published in October. The Dyslexia Guild is introducing membership grades next month. We will automatically transfer you over to the appropriate grade in October, you can help in this process by ensuring that your qualifications are entered into your database profile. Please click here to update your record.

The new JCQ regulations have now been published and to help you understand and interpret them we have arranged a free webinar for Guild members on the 14th October 2015. Led by our Exam Access Arrangements expert Dineke Austin who will answer your questions about the new regulations and what it means for your organisation. To register, please click here.

Have a question? Email us at guild@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Upcoming Courses

Postgraduate Programme

Starts in January 2016 - book now!

Would you like to study for a Level 7 qualification but just can't fit it into your lifestyle? Our courses are all online and modular and each module is between 15 and 20 hours of study per week. The aim of these online programmes is to train teachers and support tutors to become informed, skilled practitioners who understand the theory and practice of teaching and/or assessment of dyslexic learners of all ages. JCQ have tightened up their regulations on eligibility of Exam Access Arrangements co-ordinators so this would be an ideal time to update your qualifications and work towards an Assessment Practising Certificate (APC).

Start dates in January, May and September but apply 8 weeks prior to start date to ensure your place! Training PG Courses

Continuing your Professional Development

Would you like to increase your knowledge while still fitting it around your personal commitments?

Our CPD courses are online and can be completed within 6 weeks!
We offer a large variety of subjects such as multisensory tuition, supporting learners with memory weakness, numeracy difficulties. Do you work with adults? Would you like to learn more about assistive technology? We have courses on these subjects and many others.

These short accredited courses aim to raise awareness of co-occurring difficulties, improve the school and classroom environment and change teaching approaches, by helping to develop inclusive practice and develop more strategic approaches to meet the needs of individual learners.

We have start dates throughout the year. Find out more here

Books to give away

The Dyslexia-SpLD Trust have 1000 copies of the 'What works for children and young people with literacy difficulties?' book by Greg Brooks to give away.You just pay for P&P. For more information click here

Literacy and numeracy

A Guardian report on research from the British Academy says experts are warning that a dramatic improvement in the population’s grasp of basic numeracy and statistics is needed if the UK is to keep up and make the most of the potential offered by “big data”
Among its recommendations, the Count Us In report calls on the government to improve the quality of quantitative skills teaching in schools and colleges, with particular focus on teacher recruitment and the quality of teaching skills. Read more here
The Welsh government recognises that digital literacy in schools is as essential as pupil’s reading literacy, with BBC Wales reporting on changes to the country’s curriculum for 2016. Click here for more details

Reading for pleasure builds empathy

In 2014 The Reading Agency led a collaborative project to develop a reading outcomes framework to collate and summarise only the most robust findings relating to non-literacy outcomes of reading for pleasure or empowerment. The report conducted by BOP Consulting and funded by the Sowerby Trust is now available.

One of the key findings of the report is the list of solid external outcomes to reading for pleasure amongst both adults and children, as well as people with specific needs. These outcomes include; greater knowledge of other cultures, improved social well being, social relatedness and increased empathy. When we looked at the impact of reading for pleasure on people with increased health needs or issues, the report found that people who were reading for pleasure demonstrated better health literacy and were more able to cope with, and access, information related to their conditions. The report also found evidence of more personal outcomes in the field of adults with health needs, such as reduced depressive symptoms, reduced dementia symptoms, a greater sense of personal and social belonging, as well as general relaxation and escapism.

For more on this story click here

Build your own disability equipment using 3D printers?

What if a disabled person could make their own bespoke gadgets without the huge costs? This might be possible as more public libraries invest in 3D printers. See more on this story here

United States libraries have already begun to do this, see here.

Radclffe Science Library at University of Oxford have already invested. 3D printing at the Radcliffe Science Library

Children's literacy and the Summer Reading Challenge

"Schools have never worked so hard to get children to be good readers. They need to. The critical SATS results rate schools provide both a yardstick on which many parents choose a school for their child and the hard evidence that Ofsted demands in its search for good and outstanding schools. And yet, in the International PIRLS tables which measure attitudes to reading and ability to read the UK is only middle ranking. Many children leave even secondary school with low level literacy skills while, anecdotally, many parents fret much about how their children don’t like reading and don’t do it."

Julia Eccleshare is a Head of PLR Policy and Engagement and Children’s Books Editor of the Guardian and you can read her blog here

Computer game can pick up dyslexia in minority pupils

While pupils from minority groups are over-represented in Norwegian special needs education, practically no children from these groups are diagnosed with dyslexia. As a consequence many miss out on important help. Researchers are studying whether a computer game can pick up dyslexia in pupils from minority groups. The reading game GraphoGame is adapted for individual pupils so that they experience mastery of a task and an adequate number of challenges. GraphoGame is a motivational and engaging game that gets the player to learn letters and words. The researchers involved in the Norwegian On Track project, which looks at the prevention of reading and writing difficulties, are now investigating whether this game can help pick up dyslexia in children from minority groups. Read more here

What neuroscience can say about speech processing in the brain

Speech, emitted or received, produces an electrical activity in neurons that neuroscientists measure in the form of "cortical oscillations." To understand speech, as for other cognitive or sensory processes, the brain breaks down the information it receives to integrate it and give it a coherent meaning. But researchers could not confirm whether oscillations were signs of neuronal activity, or whether these oscillations played an active role in speech processing. Researchers reached such conclusions after having created a computerized model of neuronal microcircuits, which highlights the crucial role of neuronal oscillations to decode spoken language, independently of speakers' pace or accent. Read more here

Education Secretary pledges to 8 year olds

Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary has pledged to get every eight-year-old in England enrolled at their local public library. She highlighted that children who use the library are more likely to read in their own time.

The Government drive to improve literacy comes after the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2013 found that England was 22nd for literacy and 21st for numeracy out of 24 countries, behind countries including Estonia, Poland and Slovakia.

Writing in the Telegraph alongside comedian David Walliams, who is supporting the project, Mrs Morgan warned that “for some children, reading is, quite literally, a closed book”.

“Improving children’s literacy should be a national mission,” they said. “Whether that means teachers running book clubs, schools enrolling pupils in libraries, publishers donating books, or simply parents reading with their children.” Read more here

Vacancies

Would you like to work for Dyslexia Action?

We are looking for Area Managers

Area Manager - Kent (Initially a one year contract) £36,500
Deputy Area Manager - Surrey and Hampshire £31,000
Deputy Area Manager - East Midlands £31,000

Closing date: 11th October 2015

For more information, please see our work for us page

We are also looking for Specialist Teachers for our Egham Learning Centre.

If you are interested, please contact Aneeta Tablada - Area Manager - 0300 303 8358.

Battle of the sexes for dyspraxia campaign

This year's National Dyspraxia Awareness Week will focus on the "diagnosis divide" between girls and boys.

Taking place from 11 to 17 October 2015, the event will highlight what organisers, the Dyspraxia Foundation, say is the growing issue of girls, teenagers and young women "slipping through the net", in terms of early diagnosis

Frequently falling over, difficulty walking up and down stairs, poor hand-eye co-ordination, short-term memory problems, lack of spatial awareness, difficulty getting dressed or applying make-up and illegible handwriting are some of the physical symptoms for people affected by dyspraxia.

While young women with dyspraxia can struggle on through school, university and even in the workplace, without ever receiving a diagnosis, it can have a huge impact on their lives and their families.

The results of a new national survey will also shed light on why so many girls "get by" without an official diagnosis and why they fall below the "professional radar", as well as highlighting the benefits to young women with dyspraxia if introduced to special coping mechanisms from as early an age as possible.

Once referred to as "clumsy child" syndrome, dyspraxia - which is also known as developmental coordination disorder (DCD) - is a common condition affecting fine and gross motor coordination, in both children and adults. Although the exact causes of dyspraxia are unknown, it is thought to be caused by a disruption in the way messages from the brain are transmitted to the body. This affects a person's ability to perform movements in a smooth, coordinated way.

Dyspraxia/DCD is thought to affect around five per cent of the population and around two per cent severely.

Dyspraxia Awareness Week will include the "Funky Friday" event on 16 October. Children and adults are being asked to show their support for the campaign by wearing their most colourful or "funky" item of clothing to work or school.

For more information, visit:
www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk

Next Issue

The next issue of Guild Gallery will be sent out December 2015.

Forward to a Friend

Read more about Guild Gallery September 2015

Guild Gallery May 2011

FORWARD TO A FRIEND

Guild Gallery May 2011

Dear Janice Seabourne

I hope you have now received your issue of the new look Dyslexia Review.
It is under development at present so we want to hear from members about what they would like to see. We have been receiving some very positive feedback from a wide range of people and will try to implement as many of the suggestions as we can.

We do anticipate that the journal will increase in both numbers of features and page length in future issues. We hope to present a publication with a broad range of contributions that appeals to our very diverse membership.

Should any members wish to contribute to either the Dyslexia Review or the Guild Gallery, we would be very pleased to hear from you.

Without your comments and goodwill we would not be able to keep improving the quality of our services to you and to thousands of people with dyslexia/ SpLD.

If you have not received your copy of the Dyslexia Review or would like to give us some feedback please contact guild@dyslexiaaction.org.uk or call me, Jan Seabourne, Guild Administrator on 01784 222342.

Jan Seabourne

Guild Administrator

Dyslexia Action Update on Department of Education Bids

Specific project funding for 2011-13

Dyslexia Action have been successful in several bids to the Dept.of Education for specific collaborative projects. Particularly pleasing is the bid which Dyslexia Action led on, this is the partnership with RNIB to develop a digital service for curriculum texts for students in secondary education. This will be a new service with great potential for growth and development and work started in April of this year.

The Dyslexia Trust was also funded for two years and we were part of a bid led by Catch 22 to support yourng people at risk in secondary education. We wish to thank our former CEO, Shirley Cramer, for all her effort in supporting these bids.

Dyslexia Action Update on Department of Education Bids

Specific project funding for 2011-13

Don't forget that Guild members get a discount on all items in our shop, such as assessment materials, digital literacy resources,

Dyslexia Action publications such as Units of Sound, Dyslexia Institute Literacy Programme resources, numeracy resources and books, all of which appear in our product catalogue. It also contains games, puzzles, reading rulers and tinted exercise books. These resources are useful for specialist teachers, teaching assistants and parents.

You can access the shop online here.

Training Update - New Upcoming Online Events

Online Public Lectures

16th June at 7pm - Dyslexia and Co-occurring Difficulties. By Glenys Heap

7th July at 7pm - Can Studying the Brain Help Us Understand Dyslexia. By Dorothy Bishop

The training department are offering online meetings, public lectures and webinars. These are a great way of attending a live event from the comfort of your own computer! Not only do you save on travel costs but you can get more out of an event by focusing directly on the screen. It is very accessible and simple to use, but if you are a complete beginner, click here for what to expect when you enter a webinar. Click on the Lecture titles above to find out more about them. You can review selected recorded webinars here.

Training Update - Dyslexia Review Correction

Mathematics Difficulties: Current research and future directions by Dr Fiona Simmons

We apologise for the ommission of the diagram that should have accompanied Dr Fiona Simmons article on page 18 of the Dyslexia Review Volume 22 Number 1 Spring 2011. We have attached the diagram as a pdf document, Please download the file by clicking this link.

Training Update - New International Course

International Diploma Course

This new course is for teachers and adults in supporting roles currently employed in a learning environment outside the UK. It is delivered online and provides a sound theoretical understanding of dyslexia and how this learning difference affects everyday life. Follow this link for further details

Training Update - The Guild Summer Conference: CPD: Focus on the Practitioner

Thursday 30th June 2011, 9.30 to 4pm, St. Catherine's College, Oxford University

Don't forget to book your conference place as June will soon be upon us and places are filling up fast!

We are very excited to have Dr Kate Cain as one of our keynote speakers. Kate has just published a new book and we will be offering up two copies in our prize draw as well as a special 20% Discount Card for Wiley publications to all our delegates. We also have Dr Chloe Marshall speaking about Specific Language Impairment and Dyslexia, as well as Dr Barry Johnson whose much anticipated seminar on Assessment: Meaning and Interpretation is aimed at diagnostic assessors of clients of any age.

Everyone is welcome so please pass the details on to your colleagues. Details of the conference, seminar sessions and how to register are available here.

More Guild Membership Benefits

Discounts on Audio Books and a chance to win a car!

Dyslexia Action have recently teamed up with We Read 4 You, an exciting new retailer of Audio Books with thousands of titles to chose from such as J.R.R.Tolkein's The Hobbit, to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Watership Down to the Tales of Beatrix Potter. There is something for everyone.

To get this new partnership off to a great start, go to the website and when you have finished shopping, go to the basket, enter voucher code DAG25 and click the Validate Code button to receive 25% off the total. £1 from every book bought will be donated to Dyslexia Action. Visit www.weread4you.com/dyslexiaaction and start listening to your favourite books today.

Chance to win a Fiat 500!

The Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) have organised The Great Big Small Charity Car Draw to help small charities like Dyslexia Action, raise much needed funds for our brilliant cause. Tickets are just £2 each and £1.90 from each ticket sold will be given to Dyslexia Action. Tickets can be bought online from our website and are on sale until the 16th September, the winner will be drawn on the 25th October. If you or anyone you know would like to sell tickets, please contact Clare Appleby. The raffle is open to everyone over the age of 18, so tell your friends, family, students, parents of students, your postman or anyone else you bump into.

Good luck! If you win perhaps you might consider donating your old vehicle to Giveacar, the UK's largest scrap car and vehicle donation service. They organise the free collection and recycling of any car or vehicle, anywhere in the UK. Cars are either disposed of and the value of the scrap metal donated, or placed into an auction and the sale price donated. To donate a car please click here.

For further information on these partnerships please contact Clare Appleby, Corporate Fundraising Manager on 01784 22353 or email cappleby@dyslexiaaction.org.uk.

Job Opportunities at Dyslexia Action

Part time Leicester Centre Manager vacancy

A Centre Manager is required for our busy Leicester Centre. Application forms and job descriptions for this and other vacancies are available on our website. Dyslexia Action is an Equal Opportunities Employer and some posts require a CRB enhanced disclosure.

News - The Royal Society

Brain Waves Module 2 Neuroscience: Implications for education and lifelong learning

Brain Waves Module 2 is the second in a series of reports by the Royal Society on developments in neuroscience and their implications for society and policy. In the report some key findings are set out about how the brain learns. It argues that our growing understanding of how we learn should play a much greater role in education policy and should also feature in teacher training. To encourage a stronger dialogue between neuroscientists and those involved in education at all levels, The Royal Society website is open to comments on the topic, see the link below.

More details on the Brain Waves Study, including Module 1, are available here

Events - Annual Safeguarding Conference and Exhibition

8th June 2011, Twickenham Stadium

The Children's Workforce Development Team of the LBRUT Education, Children's and Cultural Services are offering a conference in Twickenham, Surrey on Child Protection. This is aimed at Teachers, Advisors, CPD consultants, Senior Police Staff, Health Professionals and EarlyYears Managers. For more details visit www.mondale-events.co.uk

News - Adults - Keep Out!

The Guardian launches a new adult-free books website for children

Research carried out for World Book Day suggests that a growing number of teenagers are using the new technologies not just to chat to friends but for serious reading. Samples of 505 teenagers between 13 and 18 show that 40.8% had read a book on a computer, one in five have read one on a mobile phone, and 13% on a Tablet or iPad. The website will include contributions from an editorial panel of young people from all over the world who decide which books they want to discuss and how to do it.The site is divided into zones, 7 and under, 8 to 12, and 13yrs plus. Go to guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site

News - Save the Children Briefing

1.6 million children across the UK live in severe poverty

A report from Save the Children says that 29 local authorities in Great Britain have more than one in five children living in severe poverty. The Briefing is available as a pdf from the Save the Children website

News - Literacy Update

Report reveals British school children's reading habits

This independent study, conducted by Professor Keith Topping, comes at a time when the UK has slipped down to 25th place in the OECD ranking of reading, and that more than half of all 5yr old boys in England are failing to make sufficient progress at school according to Department of Education statistics. The report found Roald Dahl remained the most popular children's author and it includes sections on what high-achieving children read and what struggling children read. The report is available from this link What Kids are Reading and from Renaissance Learning

News - Once Upon a Time...

Parents who shun fairytales 'miss chance to teach children morality'

In her new book, The Genius of Natural Childhood, child development expert Sally Goddard Blythe claims that fairy tales such as Rapunzel and Cinderella are crucial to children's development. She says that they nuture moral behaviour and show the strengths and weaknesses inherent in human nature. "Far from demonising the dwarfs, the story of Snow White shows that underlying the physical diversity there can be greater kindness and generousity than is found in the stereotypes of beauty and wealth so lauded by celebrity-worshipping cultures." See Sally Goddard Blythe website The book is due out in May.

News - The Sutton Trust

Boost for disadvanted pupils

The Sutton Trust is to lead a £125 million programme aimed at improving the achievement of disadvanted pupils in under-performing schools. The Government-funded education endowment fund will hand out grants to "innovative and bold" proposals from schools, teachers, local authorities and charities. It has been inspired by President Obama's Race to the Top, which uses a similar competition for grants to encourage school reform. Impetus Trust, another charity, will be a partner in the project. The Sutton Trust website has more details.

News - Educational Psychology Employment Shake-Up

Could some children miss out?

Department for Education ministers have started a consultation on the future of "ed psychs" and their training, suggesting the profession cuts ties with councils and instead works directly for schools or parents. These proposals, which suggest professionals should have a wider role beyond working on statutory statement assessments, have been critised by professional groups amid warnings that some children could miss out. The consultation is also considering the development of a new training path for practitioners.

The DfE is consulting a specially formed group comprising representatives from training bodies and key stakeholders. Evidence will be gathered until June this year. An interim report is due in July and the final report and recommendations are due in September. New training arrangements will begin in September 2013, and the DfE will follow current arrangements to fund courses for educational psychologists in 2011 and 2012. See Times Educational Supplement Friday 8 April 2011.

Events - Dyslexia and the Brain

The 6th Nata Goulandris Memorial Lecture

University College London is hosting this memorial lecture to be presented by Professor Cathy Price on Monday 20th June 2011. For further information contact crl@psych.york.ac.uk Click here for more details

Events - Raising Literacy Levels

Let's get them all reading

This one day course on 17th June 2011 is aimed at School Library Services and anyone who is keen to promote reading within their school, and links directly with current government polices, giving attendees ideas for:

practical strategies for promoting reading
creating a whole school reading programme
utilising reading resources and exploiting them with pupils and staff
using book awards to promote reading

For more details contact Sonia Constantinou. Tel: 020 8826 4868, email: sconstantinou@apsch.org.uk

News - Headteachers struggle to balance the books

Four in 10 schools to cut staff this year

Nearly four in ten schools are planning to reduce staff numbers over the next 12 month according to a survey of senior leaders. For more details see Times Educational Supplement, 29 April 2011

News - The Reading Agency launches the Summer Reading Challenge

Julian Barnes chooses TRA's reading initiatives for young offenders

Libraries accross the UK are geting ready to introduce children to a summertime circus spectacle that will keep them reading thoughout the summer holidays. The Summer Reading Challenge is now in its 13th year and reaches 760,000 children aged 4 to 12yrs via the UK library network. It is created and run by The Reading Agency (TRA), the independent charity working to inspire people to read more, and is supported by childen's publishers. See The Reading Agency website for more details.

Julian Barnes has won the £40,00 David Cohen Prize for Literature 2011. The winner gets to choose who gets the £12,500 Clarissa Luard Award, aimed at young writers and readers. Julian Barnes chose TRA's reading initiatives for young offenders. He said: "There will always be young writers; will there always be young readers? Our literacy levels are falling, and - disgracefully - public libraries are threatened by closure." Miranda McKearney of the Reading Agency said: "We'll be able to take our Six Book Challenge into ten new institutions. We can help 900 young offenders build their literacy skills and confidence, with all that will mean for their future lives". For more details of the Six Book Challenge, click here.

News - Reading and Dyslexia in deaf children

Research project needs children with dyslexia to take part

Many deaf children have reading difficulties but there are no reading tests designed especially for them. The research project entitled "Reading and Dyslexia in deaf children" will produce scores for deaf children in Year 6 on a number of deaf-friendly reading tests. This is the first step in developing a standardized reading test which teachers may use in the future to check on the reading progress of deaf children in their class. The project is funded by the Nuffield Foundation, a charitable trust and runs until May 2012.

The project is looking for both deaf and hearing children who will be in Year 6 from Sept 2011 onwards, (aged 10-11yrs) to take part. Deaf children should be severely-profoundly deaf at any reading level. Hearing children should have a diagnosis of dyslexia so their scores can be compared with the deaf children's to see if there is a comparable profile.

If you know of any children who may be suitable to take part, please see the project website Reading and dyslexia in deaf children for conditions and consent forms or contact Zoe Shergold at Zoe.Shergold.1@city.ac.uk Tel: 020 7040 8466 Department of Language & Communication Science, City University, London.

Guild Gallery

Next issue due September

The next Guild Gallery will be published towards the end of September. If you would like to submit an item of news or details of an event please contact the Guild Administrator, guild@dyslexiaaction.org.uk for more details. .

Dyslexia Action

©2005-2010 Dyslexia Institute Limited. All rights reserved. Registered Charity Number 268502 in England and Wales, and SCO39177 in Scotland . Company Registration Number 1179975

Head Office, Park House, Wick Road, Egham, Surrey TW20 0HH,Tel: 01784 222300, Fax: 01784 222333, Email: info@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

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Read more about Guild Gallery May 2011

Guild Gallery December 2011

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Guild Gallery December 2011

Dear Ms. Jan Seabourne

Welcome to the December issue of the Guild Gallery.

I hope you had a successful autumn and are now winding down for the Christmas holidays but before you head off, get your 2012 diary open and add some dates of events that are coming up that should be of interest. First, turn to Thursday June 28th when we will be holding the Guild Summer Conference at University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus. A pre-conference dinner will be available on Wednesday 27th June in the evening after a continuous professional training event earlier that day. The three events can all be booked individually so if you can make one and not the other, please don't worry. All the details about the speakers, accomodation, sessions and bookings will be made available soon, including the preferential discounts on the events just for Guild members.

The Dyslexia Review, Volume 22 No 3 Autumn 2011 is due to drop through your door this week. This issue is a little later than usual as it is jam packed full of many papers presented at the Guild Summer Conference held in June 2011. I do hope you will enjoy it and we are happy to receive any suggestions about the content of future issues. Should any members wish to contribute to either the Dyslexia Review or the Guild Gallery, we would be very pleased to hear from you.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

If you have not received your copy of the Dyslexia Review by 15th December 2011 or would like to give us some feedback please contact guild@dyslexiaaction.org.uk or call the Guild on 01784 222300.

Jan Seabourne

Guild Administrator

Dyslexia Action News

Sign the petition

Dyslexia Action is supporting a petition initiated by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) to make dyslexia/SpLD training mandatory to Initial Teacher Training (ITT). The petition comes as a result of findings from the 2009 Rose Review in which Sir Jim Rose recommended that ITT should include mandatory dyslexia/SpLD training. Accurate training would provide teachers with the necessary skills and resources to provide those with dyslexia with the skills, confidence and learning they need to take them through life.

In order for it to be raised in the House of Commons, the petition has to be signed by 100,000 people by October 2012. Therefore the organisation will be promoting the petition on its social media channels and digital platforms.

This is an extremely important issue that will not only impact our learners but millions of people in the UK dealing with dyslexia and other SpLD’s. By supporting this petition you can help prevent dyslexia from being a hidden cause and encourage the government to recognise the importance of further understanding and continued support.

Working together we can use this opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of those with dyslexia. Therefore we ask that you help us support others by signing the petition and sharing it with all your friends and family.

Dyslexia Action Training Update - CPD Events

Courses starting in the New Year 2012

10th January - International Diploma in Dyslexia and Literacy. This course is for those of you based outside the UK. Guild member discount available.

11th January - Continuous Professional Development courses and packages. These have been developed specifically for Classroom Teachers and Teaching Assistants working in primary and secondary education fields. Many units are also suitable for those working in Further Education. Guild member discount available.

24th January - UK Level 4 CPD Diploma in Dyslexia and Literacy The Level 4 CPD Diploma in Dyslexia and Literacy is the culmination of three separate online courses, each with a practical teaching element. Each of the three courses can be studied individually or be followed to provide the progression pathway at Level 4 to the Diploma. Guild member discount available.

1st February - Exam Access Arrangements. An updating course to enable teachers already qualifed in dyslexia and SpLD to comply with JCQ Regulations and undertake Examination Access Arrangements. Some of you may have had a taster in our Webinar on the 6th December 2011, now enjoy the full experience! Guild member discount available.

8th February - Hidden Disabilities Questionnaire
This course highlights features of hidden disabilites including Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Attention Deficit Disorder and is designed for use with people aged 14 and over. A three day training course is needed to administer the questionnaire and courses take place on: 8th, 16th and 19th February in Birmingham or 19th, 20th and 25th April in London. (Sorry, Guild discount does NOT apply)

28th to 20th March in Sheffield - Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing (CCET) This British Psychological Society qualification is for teachers and others who have a degree and/or qualified teacher status or equivalent, who want to use tests as well. The course is a high quality benchmark standard for the use of psychometric standards in education. (Sorry, Guild discount does NOT apply)

Dyslexia SpLD Trust

Professional Development Framwork project

Dyslexia Action and PATOSS have been jointly managing a DfE funded project for The Dyslexia/SpLD Trust. It is a free, online tool that enables the SENCo to do a needs-analysis on Dyslexia skills and competencies in their schools, providing a personalised report, including key documents, teaching resources and workplace activities to support ongoing professional development. It consists of six strands, including Language and Literacy; Theories of Dyslexia and Supporting the Dyslexic Learner. It can be accessed on: http://www.thedyslexiaspldtrust.org.uk/professionaldevelopmentframework/

We have just implemented an Autumn rollout of a series of case studies, covering schools across the country and involving organisations including The Schools Network; Institute of Education (University of London); University of Roehampton; University of Derby; The OCR and strategic authorities in four counties.

We are also interested in your initial thoughts and feedback, including whether the Framework was easy to use and helpful in your context. We particularly want to know how it might impact on your school’s future plans for CPD. We would like to know about additional resources or activities that you would like to see added to the Framework.

We would also like to know how you might use the professional development resources which are suggested in the personalized report. Would you, for example, structure a Twilight session around a weaker area or encourage specialist training for some staff? Might you identify the need for a particular type of skill set in new recruitment as part of the School Improvement Plan? Would you consider becoming a Dyslexia Friendly School with BDA accreditation as part of a long term goal?

For any further questions or comments, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact:

Amelia.Roberts@thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk
Many thanks,
Dr. Amelia Roberts (Project Researcher)

Other Upcoming Events

Conference call for papers - Remember!

Dubrovnik Conference on Cognitive Science - Memory control and revieval is 10th to 13th of May in Croatia. DuCog is a small-medium sized annual conference with up to 100 particpants. The focus is memory control and retrieval. Keynotes are: Paul W.Burgess, Martin A.Conway, Lars Nyberg, Ken A. Paller.

Organised by: Central European Cognitive Science Association (CECOG), the deadline for abstracts/proposals is 1st February 2012. For more details click here.

Other Upcoming Events

Childhood Intervention conference call for papers

National Early Child Intervention Conference 7th to 9th June 2012, in Sibu, Malaysia

The most inportant event in Malaysia for children with special needs and early childhood intervention, linking professionals from health, education, social welfare with parents, policy makers, and non-governmental organisations.

Enquires to NECIC2012@gmail.com

Click here for more details.

Research News

Reading and the Brain

Brain Imaging study shows the physiological basis of dyslexia

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have used an imaging technique to show that the brain activation patterns in children with poor reading skills and a low IQ are similar to those in poor readers with a typical IQ. This research provides more definitive evidence about poor readers having similar kinds of difficulites regardless of their general cognitive ability. For more information click here.

Research News

Reading and Literacy link

Research links library usage with reading levels

Children who visit libraries are more likely to achieve higher reading levels according to the National Literacy Trust's latest research report "Setting the Baseline". The report found there is a clear lik between improved literacy and reading opportunities, including library use.

The report is the NLT's first annual survery into children's reading habits and it found polarisation amoung young readers. One in six said they do not read a single book in a month. The difference between boys and girls was also marked.

Click here to see the full report.

Research News

Core Knowledge e-reading program

A US study has found impressive reading gains in schools that use E.E.Hirsch's Core Knowledge Reading Program, compared to those that don't. Hirsch, the author of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, argues that disadvantaged children fall behind quickly due to inadequate background knowledge, but teacher training tends to downplay learning factual knowledge as "rote regurgitation". Hirsch argues that it is this accumulation of facts from history, science, arts etc that enables your readers to move from the foundational skill of decoding words (phonics) to deeper comprehension of complex texts.

Click here for more about the Core Knowledge Reading Program

Research News

NFER Impact

The National Foundation for Educational Research publish "Impact: NFER's research news for schools". NFER is the United Kingdom's largest independent educational and children's services research organisation, you can download issues at http://www.nfer.ac.uk/schools/impact/

Literacy News and Resources

NLT free Schools Guide to Literacy

We now know that the planned reading check for six-year-olds is to be rolled out next summer. While phonics is a vital part of the learning process, the National Literacy Trust believe it needs to be supplemented with strategies to promote reading for pleasure and support speaking and listening.

That is why, with the support of educational publishers Routledge, they have produced the free 2011/12 Schools Guide to Literacy. Designed to complement the teaching of phonics, it provides ideas and advice on approaching literacy in schools. Click on the link above or go to: http://literacytrust.org.uk/guide

Literacy News and Resources

Digital Literacy is the key to unlocking the value of online resources

A new report "The Value of Reuse of Open Educational Resources" produced by the Higher Education Authority and JISC, highlights the need to support learners and academic staff alike in the referencing and the reuse of online resources. Click here for the full report. Listen to a podcast interview with the report's author David White here.

Open educational resources (OER) are materials where educators make the content available online to learners and also to other educators, to share, re-use and remix. Sean Mackney, HEA senior deputy chief executive, said "OER is a fantastic example of how technology can be used to share innovation and excellence in teaching practice, not just here by right across the world". JISC is enhancing the knowledge of UK Universities and Colleges in how to approach open educational resources and technology-enhanced learning through its digital literacies programme. Click here for more about JISC

Literacy News and Resources

Save Your Sundays - resources for primary school children

Raymond Rodgers has a website that provides resources for primary school teachers with such things as worksheets, planning etc. "I found that I spent much of my training and first year as a teacher creating and searching for resources, hence the site aims to save other teachers, particularly trainees, NQTs and those changing year groups the time and effort of doing this" says Raymond.

Go to the website Save Your Sundays

Literacy News and Resources

Study hails Scottish Literacy Scheme a success

A scheme to improve the literacy of primary pupils in one of Scotland's largest education authorities is being rolled out across the region. The Active Literacy programme was started in North Lanarkshire in 2005. Pupils taking part are encouraged to learn through group work and greater classroom interaction. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15736887

Literacy News and Resources

Guardian Teacher Network is now free!

The Guardian Teacher Network provides you with access to over 70,000 pages of free teaching resources for all age groups and for all major subjects. It includes interactive whiteboard activities and lesson plans to revision exercises and worksheets.

Literacy News and Resources

Adult Skills - results released

The Adult Skills Survey by the National Literacy Trust focussed on a national profile of adult literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology skills for 16 to 65 year olds.

Click here for more details

Books and Technology News

New Series of books for Reluctant readers

Publisher Ransom, who specialise in books for reluctant and dyslexic readers, will publish two new series for reluctant girl readers next year, including Vampire Dawn for teen girles and Spook Squad for those aged 7 to 9 years.

Other books published are shorter and more accessible, including black and white illustrations and shorter chapters. Ransom's most popular series to date include Dark Man by Peter Lancett and Boffin Boy by David Orme, which is based on the Booked Up list for the third year running. The Booked Up list is chosen by an independent panel of experts, including librarians, teachers, authors and other children’s book experts. Click here for more about Booked Up List

Books and Technology News

Launch of online e-safety resource

The TDA has announced the launch of their online resource for trainee teachers and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) and safe social networking in collaboration with Childnet.

The site is designed to support them with their personal use of social networking services to keep themselves, their students, and their job safe. The site also provides a useful matrix to some of the resources available to teach pupils about e-safety at each key stage, eliminating the need for hours spent searching the internet.
Any feedback to the TDA would be very welcome. Please contact will@childnet.com
The TDA has announced that there will be another opportunity for tutors to access e-safety training this academic year.

There will be three options:
1. CEOP Ambassador
2. EPICT on line e-safety awareness
3. EPICT Facilitator
More details will follow regarding the application process for e-safety training, but please contact: claire.moore@tda.gov.uk
Claire Moore
Project Manager, Technology in Learning and Teaching
Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)

Books and Technology News

Forgotten Letters

Forgotten Letters: An Anthology of Literature by Dyslexic Writers, edited by Naomi Folb - (naomifolb@me.com), promotes the creative work of successful dyslexic writers.

Forgotten Letters includes poems and works from both renowned / award-winning and emerging writers with dyslexia, such as Thomas G. West - described as 'the best of the best', Poet Benjamin Zephaniah, Billy Childish - co-founder of Stuckism Art Movement and many other successful writers.
Copies can be purchased online through the publisher’s website: www.r-a-s-p.co.uk .

Guild Gallery

Next issue due February

The next Guild Gallery will be published towards the end of February. If you would like to submit an item of news or details of an event please contact the Guild Administrator, guild@dyslexiaaction.org.uk for more details. Some of the images used in this newsletter are available from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Dyslexia Action

©2005-2011 Dyslexia Institute Limited. All rights reserved. Registered Charity Number 268502 in England and Wales, and SCO39177 in Scotland . Company Registration Number 1179975

Head Office, Park House, Wick Road, Egham, Surrey TW20 0HH,Tel: 01784 222300, Fax: 01784 222333, Email: info@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

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Guild Gallery May 2015

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Guild Gallery May 2015

Guild Gallery May 2015

The Dyslexia Guild Annual Summer Conference is returning to London and will be held on Thursday 18 June 2015 in the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies right in the heart of Bloomsbury.

We are pleased to announce bookings are now open for this fantastic event which is not to be missed.

To receive your preferential discounted rate you will need to use the discount code GMCDJUN at time of registration

Early bird Member price only £100 with discount code (book before 16 May 2015) Non members £120 Guild Member bookings after 16 May 2015 £120, non-Guild Members £150

The conference will focus on the theme of SpLD Assessment in context. Key speakers include Professor Amanda Kirby, University of South Wales, who will focus on Dyspraxia through the ages - from childhood to adulthood.

Dr Meesha Warmington from the University of York, who will focus on Bilingual Langague Assessment; Professor Julie Dockrell, UCL Institute of Education is presenting a paper on Assessing Language Skills in Young Children. Mary Daly, The Dyslexia-SpLD Trust will talk about The Local Offer and the place of Diagnostic Assessment in School. Registration is open. For more information please Click Here

Upcoming Courses

Specialist Teacher/Assessor SASC Approved Courses include:

Reflective Practitioner CPD Courses - These new Level 7 course units are designed to enable specialist assessors and teachers to explore the assessment and teaching intervention processes in depth. We are offering three new courses suitable for those who have studied at Level 7 some time ago and wish to refresh their knowledge. The units are designed for practitioners who need to scrutinize the background factors that influence performance in a range of academic and work-based settings. See our web pages for courses starting soon

New to our online courses? Register at least 2 weeks prior to start date to ensure your place on our free induction to help you prepare for online study!

Postgraduate Programme

Starts Sept 2015 book now!

Start dates in September but apply now to ensure your place!

Training PG Courses

Continuing Professional Development Programme

Short Courses starting 2015 20-30 hours of study over 6 weeks

The CPD Programme consists of independent Unit courses, most of which may be taken individually (start dates throughout the year).

You can build up these units over time to gain Awards and then a Certificate (two Awards).
Our online courses offer flexible learning to fit around your lifestyle. Register now to ensure your place!

Dyslexia Action have been awarded with formal CPD accreditation by The CPD Standards Office, Professional Development Consortium.

Summer Programme July 2015

If you have some time over the summer holidays, why not use our Summer Programme to study three Units and gain an Award. Apply now for an Accredited Short Summer CPD Course to enhance your knowledge.

Courses include: Dyslexia and Co-occurring difficulties, Memory, Multi sensory tuition, Reading, Writing, Numeracy and Study Skills.

News

SASC Conference and AGM

The first Spld Assessment Standard Committee conference takes place on 10th June at Kings College, London following on from the AGM.

It should be an interesting afternoon with talks about DSA Modernisation by Anwen Jones and Elaine Shilcock and a talk about ADHD in adulthood by Phil Asherson.

Take a look at the SASC website for more details. Places are limited so book soon.

Sound Check boosts reading skills says study

A reading programme designed by experts in dyslexia can significantly boost the skills of all children who fail the controversial new phonics check, research reveals.

Now an independent evaluation of the Sound Check scheme has found that 72 per cent of children who participated passed the test when they retook it a year later, compared with 65 per cent in a control group. Overall, the scores increased for 95 per cent of pupils who completed the programme.

The course takes children back to basics, helping them to relearn the alphabet, and focuses on building a better understanding of the links between sounds and letters.

Sound Check was also found to be particularly helpful for children who spoke English as an additional language (EAL), who improved more rapidly than native speakers.

Helen Swanson, principal of Drove Primary School in Swindon, said of the programme, developed by charities Dyslexia Action, the British Dyslexia Association and Springboard for Children, "We have 80 per cent of children with English as an additional language. They come to us with no English whatsoever in many cases. It has been a huge success in giving those children an opportunity and a boost to improve their phonic knowledge in an intense course".

For more on Sound Check click here

Does money make you happy?

A report on Britains' happiness and wellbeing by the Cabinet Office last year recorded average salaries and life satisfaction ratings for 35-50 year-olds in different professions.

The results have now been plotted out by recruiter Michael Page and show a direct correlation between peoples' level of happiness and their salary. Workers in the Education Sector fell above the line.

You can see more detail on the interactive graphic by selecting Explore and choosing by Education Sector.

Conferences

18 June 2015 Dyslexia Guild Summer Conference SOAS, London, UK - discounts for Guild members

08 July 2015 Controversies in Education Orsmkirk, UK

23 July 2015 Working for Disability Equality in Higher Education Manchester, UK

20 Sept 2015 International Conference on Teaching, Education and Learning London, UK

Illiteracy in Prison

Many prisons are unable to meet their services own regulatory requirements on library access according to panelists and audience at an Expert Briefing on prison libraries in the House of Commons.

Kay Hadwick, who oversees four prison libraries in Surrey, said: "The biggest problem for prison libraries is access. The new Prison Service Instruction allows each prisoner 30 minute per week in the library and that is up from 20 minutes in the earlier edition. But in practice it is not really achievable with the best will in the world". This was one of the many issues addressed at the Rehabilitation through literacy and learning: the role of prison libraries event at the House of Commons. The full transcript can be found here

Early Words Together

An independent evaluation of the National Literacy Trust's Early Words Together programme has found the six-week scheme can help children catch with their peers if they are falling behind in the lead up to starting school.

Early Words Together: Impact on Families and Children report by Coventry University shows that 86% of parents who took part now talk more with their preschool children, which will have a big impact on their school readiness and ongoing attainment.

A coalition of charities and organisations of which Dyslexia Action and the National Literacy Trust are leading members, launched a new report The Power of Reading calls for all nurseries to be led by a qualified early years graduate, to help children get the best start in life. The report sets out key recommendations for the next government to prioritize early education, the report can be downloaded here

Dyslexia Action has also been calling for a national literacy strategy to tackle the one in five ratio of children whose needs are not being met by the current educational system - recommending a focus on early intervention and on enhancing the skills of the teaching workforce, highlighted more recently in its Dyslexia Still Matters Report (available in the Guild library). The report evidenced the expertise and good practice that works - skilled and knowledgeable teachers who can create the right balance and the right time for individual children.

Research News

Mumbai students present research on dyslexia

A group of city students will present their research on dyslexia at the First Lego League (FLL) World Championship at Johannesburg in South Africa from May 5 to 7. FLL is an academic competition that allows children to demonstrate creativity, teamwork and understanding of technology. Student participants have developed a new product that helps dyslexic children overcome their challenges to read better.

The product is multi-sensory and multi-media device which would enable a dyslexic child to improve his or her phonetics, listening as well as sequencing skills. The team has decided to work on the topic of "How to use phonics to make reading more fun for students with dyslexia" at the FLL Challenge.

They chose this topic after one of their friend's brother was diagnosed with dyslexia. To find a solution, the team interacted with professionals in related fields and incorporated feedback from doctors, remedial, special education teachers and students. Click here for more on this story

Research on musical dyslexia

In 2000, Neil Gordon, a retired pediatric neurologist, proposed the idea of musical dyslexia, based on growing evidence that the areas of the brain involved in reading music and text differed. The idea that dyslexia could affect the reading of non-language symbols is not new. For instance, dyscalculia is the difficulty reading and understanding mathematical symbols.

Recent research supports dyslexia and dyscalculia as separate conditions with unique causes (dyscalculia is thought to be caused by a deficit in spatial processing in the parietal lobe). If the brain processes words and mathematical symbols differently, why not musical symbols too?

Read more on this from Jennifer Mishra Associate Professor, Music Education at University of Missouri-St. Louis here.

Scrambled Words may provide insight into dyslexia

Emma Trammel received a 2015 Undergraduate Research Grant to study how people process language at University of Missouri-St.Louis. The grant funds lab equipment and will pay for her to present her research at a professional conference. In the study, participants will be exposed to a prime, or sample word, that will be subconscious, meaning they won't be aware they've seen it. Then, they will see words on a computer screen and identify whether the samples are actual words or made up. Equipment then tracks their brain waves and how quickly participants respond when seeing certain words.

The research measures orthographic processing skills, or participants abilities to process language. In orthographic processing, people identify a word according to its appearance. Most people read by identifying letters and words with specific sounds. People with dyslexia have difficulty using sounds to identify letters and words, which makes reading difficult. By using orthographic processing to identify words, people with dyslexia could read more easily, Trammel said.

Click here for more on this story

Times Tables Rock!

The Times Tables Rock Wrangle in June aims to invite some 160 students from 40 schools to receive the red carpet treatment for a week, before challenging each other to race through their times tables via an online test at the Grande finale event. There will be an air guitar competition, fancy dress photos and roving paparazzi but the winners will be treated to a helicopter ride over London.

Click here for more on this story

Reading news - School Library Assistants rewarded

A new award to recognise the hard work of pupil library assistants has been won by Abbie Craske of Aylsham High School. Seven pupils from schools around the country were shortlisted in the award, run by the School Libraries Group (SLG) and the School Library Association (SLA). The award highlighted the reciprocal relationship between school libraries and pupils, with both sides benefiting, and the impact a school library can have.

Comedian and author of the Young James Bond and The Enemy series of books Charlie Higson presented Abbie with her prize. He said "I do a lot of work with schools and you really notice the difference when there is a good school library. It's important to keep supporting them. If you lose a school library you won't lose books because we will always have books, he said. But if you lose a librarian, you lose much more, that's the real tragedy". Click here for the Pupil Library Assistant Award

Medal Winners - a cracking good read

The winners of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals will be revealed on 22 June at the British Library in London. These are the best new children's books and illustrations picked out by librarians. The Kate Greenaway medal is given for the best illustrations.

Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge encourages children aged 4 to 11 to read six books during the long summer holiday. Children's reading can dip during the long summer holidays. The annual Summer Reading Challenge helps gets three quarters of a million children into libraries to keep up their reading skills and confidence. There is a different theme each year. Children can read whatever they like - fact books, joke books, picture books, audio books - just as long as they are borrowed from the library.

Every time children finish a book they get stickers and rewards and there's a certificate for everyone who finishes.

Click here if you want to get your school involved

Work for Dyslexia Action

For job opportunities with Dyslexia Action please see our latest vacancies: Click Here

For more details about job descriptions or applications contact: recruitment@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Next Issue

The next issue of Guild Gallery will be sent out September 2015. The Spring issue of Dyslexia Review is due for publication at the end of May 2015

Note: Images used under the creative commons license.

Read more about Guild Gallery May 2015

Guild Gallery December 15

Dear Guild Member,

Save the date! The Dyslexia Guild Summer Conference will be held on Thursday 30th June 2016 at University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield. More details will be published early in 2016 and will be found here.

The Winter issue of Dyslexia Review, Volume 26 No 3 2015 is due to be issued later this month and the publishing schedule will now move to two issues per year. This will enable the editors to concentrate on the quality of the content to enhance your professionalism. Would you like to review books for the Dyslexia Review? We are always looking for people working in all types of setting and you get to keep the book as a thank you. If you are interested, please contact the Guild Administrator.

New Membership grades are now available. If you have not updated your qualifications on our system you will automatically be given Affiliate membership. Please update your record here.

Season's Greetings and a Peaceful New Year to all our members. Have a question? Email us at guild@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Special offers for Guild Members

The interpretation of Assessment Findings
£10 off to Guild members on this DACDP701 unit for January 2016. Apply your discount code: Vol26DR when you book your course here before 13th January.

Discounts are always automatically available to guild members on these level 7 courses.

Applying for an Assessment Practising Certificate – online course.

Exam Access Arrangements: Mentored Training for Form 8 Report Writing.

Work for us in the New Year

We are looking for specialist teachers in Lincoln, Leicester, Leeds, Coventry and Collingham. For more information on these positions and opportunities in other areas, see here. http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/work-for-us

Upcoming courses from Dyslexia Action Training

We have courses for every stage of your SpLD career with start dates throughout the year.
Wanting to acquire some skills in supporting those with dyslexia and other SpLDs? See our CPD Programme.

Are you support staff who are working alongside psychologists, specialist assessors and teaching professionals but are being asked to implement Exam Access Arrangements within your school? See our new Exam Access Arrangements for Support Staff course starting March 2016.

Do you want to build upon your degree and become a Specialist teacher or Assessor? See our Postgraduate Programme.

Are you concerned that your professional practice might need brushing up? See our Courses for Qualified Specialist Teachers and Assessors.

For all our courses please see here.

Special offer to our readers on ALL Routledge titles

You can get a massive 20% discount on all titles ordered via the Routledge website.
Apply the code: DAC15
Hurry as the offer expires: 31st Dec 2015

Students of BDA Accredited Courses

If you are studying on a British Dyslexia Association (BDA) accredited course such as our Postgraduate Programme and would like to apply for Approved Teacher Status (ATS), Approved Practitioner Status (APS) or Associated Member of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA), you must do so within three years of the completion of your course.

For more details see the BDA's accreditation page.

Free Primary Resources

Teachit Primary has teamed up with Penguin Schools to bring to you their book-based resource packs. With a range of modern and classic authors, these teaching materials will enable children to get to know the characters, explore the story lines, examine language use and establish a love of reading along the way!

Download these free primary resources here.

New Initial Teacher Training guidelines in SEN could be published in the Spring

Following the publication of the Sir Andrew ‘Carter Review of Initial Teacher Training (ITT)’ in January this year, the Government commissioned an independent working group made up of expert representatives from the sector, including a specialist in SEN issues, to develop a framework of core ITT content.

In a letter to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dyslexia and other Specific Learning Difficulties, Schools Minister Nick Gibb reveals: “The report will include recommendations as to whether or not the entire framework of core content should be mandatory.”

Mr Gibb informed APPG members that the working group will consider the extent to which SEN and disabilities should be covered and is expected to report in spring 2016. More on this story here.

Free Talking Books

To celebrate 80 years of Talking Books the RNIB are offering their talking books service for free. Find out more here.

Developing Great Teaching

The Teacher Development Trust commissioned a review of the international research into what constitutes effective professional development for teachers and have launched the review’s emerging findings: “Developing Great Teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development”.

This important review of reviews provides a rigorous update and overview of the lessons that can be taken from the international reviews into effective professional development.

The key finding of the review was that professional development opportunities that are carefully designed and have a strong focus on pupil outcomes have a significant impact on student achievement.

The report can be downloaded here.
The Good CPD Guide is now called the TDT Advisor.

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Upcoming Conferences and Events

Dyslexia Guild Summer Conference 30 June 2016, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield.

Bett Show, 20-23 January 2016, ExCel London.

A special session at the 10th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference INTED 2016 is to be held in Madrid in March 2016. On the theme “Supporting and enhancing the undergraduate experience for students with autism and related conditions”.

NASEN Live 2016, takes place on 29-30 April at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

IWORDD - International Workshop on Reading and Developmental Dyslexia. This workshop is to promote exchange of ideas between world-class dyslexia experts through talks and round tables, and facilitate transfer of knowledge between practitioners and scientists. IWORDD will take place from Thursday May 5th to Saturday May 7th 2016 in Bilbao, Spain.

The Italian Conference of Disability (and Dyslexia) University Delegates is organising an international conference 12-14 May 2016.

The National Association of Dyslexia Practitioners (NADP) Spring Conference 2016 Inclusive Design for Learning – An Academic Perspective is being held in May.

The 5th All-European Dyslexia Conference of the European Dyslexia Association (EDA) will take place in Modena/Italy from 21st (evening) to 24th of September 2016 in cooperation with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

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Memory weakened by digital dependence

A study has shown that an over-reliance on using computers and search engines is weakening people’s memories. Dr Maria Wimber from the University of Birmingham said the trend of looking up information “prevents the build-up of long-term memories”. The study, examining the memory habits of 6,000 adults in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, found more than a third would turn first to computers to recall information.

The UK had the highest level, with more than half "searching online for the answer first". But the survey suggests relying on a computer in this way has a long-term impact on the development of memories, because such push-button information can often be immediately forgotten. "Our brain appears to strengthen a memory each time we recall it, and at the same time forget irrelevant memories that are distracting us," said Dr Wimber.

For more on this story click here.

How Technology can help dyslexic learners help themselves

The Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc) has published an overview of how you can use technology - including free and open source software - to support dyslexic students’ learning. Read more here.

Attention training can wire your brain to be less fearful

A study has used executive control training to help participants to ignore irrelevant information and so change the brain to make it less responsive to threatening images.

The participants who completed the more intense version of the training (but not the other participants) showed reduced activation in their amygdala – a brain region involved in emotions, including anxiety and fear – during the second emotional task, as compared with at the study start. This reduction in amygdala reactivity also correlated with their performance on the emotional task. That is, the more their amygdala was calmed, the less their responses were slowed by scary pictures. There was also some evidence that, after the training, the high-intensity training group showed increased connectivity between their right amygdala and frontal cortex.

For more on this story, click here.

Prisoner’ literacy and numeracy levels

Brian Creese has written about the report produced by UCL’s Centre for Education in the Criminal Justice System and their efforts to update the statistics on prisoner literacy and numeracy levels. Read more here.

Early intervention in dyslexia can narrow achievement gap

Identifying children with dyslexia as early as first grade could narrow or even close the achievement gap with typical readers, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Yale University. Emilio Ferrer, a UC Davis psychology professor and his Yale colleagues, Bennett and Sally Shaywitz, report the results of a longitudinal study of reading from first grade to 12th grade and beyond.

Compared with typical readers, dyslexic readers had lower reading scores as early as first grade, and their trajectories over time never converge with those of typical readers. These data demonstrate that such differences are not so much a function of increasing disparities over time, but instead reflect marked differences already present in first grade between typical and dyslexic readers. For more on this story click here.

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Psychology's 10 Greatest Case Studies

The British Psychological Society (BPS) has produced digests of the greatest case studies that have had an influence on the research into particular areas. For those of you interested in these subjects, see the following case studies:

Long-term memory – H.M. (Henry Gustav Molaison)
Language impairment – Victor Leborgne (“Tan”)
Language acquisition – Wild Boy of Aveyron
Autism – Kim Peek

See the digests with links to further reading here.

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Next Issue Next issue of Guild Gallery will be sent out February 2016

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Dyslexia Action is the working name for Dyslexia Institute Limited, a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 268502) and Scotland (No. SC039177) and registered in England and Wales as a company (No. 01179975).

guild@dyslexiaaction.org.uk

http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/membership-dyslexia-guild

Read more about Guild Gallery December 15

Guild Gallery February 2016

Dear Guild member,

Now Spring is on the way, you might be considering your continuing professional development and we have a whole host of courses that cover your requirements, details below.

I hope you have been using your designatory letters after your name? If you have not yet been awarded these please either upload your qualification certificates to your Guild record (details here) or email them to guildforums@dyslexiaaction.org.uk
The Dyslexia Review Spring issue should be on your doorstep in March/April and will contain more details of our Summer conference at the University of Hertfordshire on the 29th and 30th June 2016.

Training courses

Special offers to Guild Members:
Discounts for Guild members are available on these online courses:

Oher Upcoming Courses
We provide courses for every stage of your career and have start dates throughout the year:

Courses for Qualified Specialist Teachers and Assessors
Postgraduate programme courses

Are you working with teenagers or adults? Supporting Adults Award

Work for us in the New Year, New Career?

Our Centres in Chelmsford, Surrey and Hampshire are looking for specialist teachers and assessors.

For more information on these vacancies and opportunities in other areas, see here.

Upcoming Conferences and Events

30th June 2016:
Dyslexia Guild Summer Conference, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield. Discounts for Guild Members!

5th March 2016:
National Handwriting Association Annual Members Day, London

8th April 2016:
NADP Inclusive Design for Learning – An Academic Perspective, Kensington

24th May 2016:
Annual SENCO Update conference, London

Queue 'Featured Content'

Guild Gallery May 2014

Upcoming Courses

Disabled Student Allowance Cuts Deep

Summer Conferences on dyslexia

Research News

Could video games help reading skills for those with dyslexia

News

Comorbidity Reported in ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism

What can I do?

Reading news

Technology

Collecting data on students: is it useful to know which books they've read?

Conferences

The UK's largest dedicated special educational needs show is back this Autumn with more advice, inspiration and information for school leaders, teachers, support staff, parents and carers.

Research News

News

Dyscalculia linked to difficulties in reading and spelling

What can I do?

Reading news

Technology

Digital Literacy may protect against cognitive decline

Conferences

Dyslexia Assist

A Dyslexia Association as a parent representative body with the aim to raise awareness of and access to helpful resources.

Research News

News

Study shows reading for pleasure boosts vocabulary

Apprenticeships for young people with dyslexia

What can I do?

Reading news

Technology

New Dictionary layout for people with Dyslexia

Learning at the British Library

Conferences

Study on the impact of ebooks on children’s reading

Research News

News

Study shows your literacy skills in first language affects learning a second

Does a label affect teacher attitude?

What can I do?

Reading news - Reasons why School Libraries are still essential

Technology

£3.6 million for tech experts to train computing teachers

Where's Wally?

Upcoming Courses

Postgraduate Programme

Continuing your Professional Development

Books to give away

Literacy and numeracy

Reading for pleasure builds empathy

Build your own disability equipment using 3D printers?

Children's literacy and the Summer Reading Challenge

Computer game can pick up dyslexia in minority pupils

What neuroscience can say about speech processing in the brain

Education Secretary pledges to 8 year olds