Classes helping dyslex

GOING to school gave Isabelle Watts panic attacks.

Her dyslexia made her feel stupid and she stopped wanting to try to read and write, says her mother.

The nine-year-old is not alone. In Wales, as elsewhere in the UK, an estimated one in 10 people have dyslexia.

Mainstream schools do not always have the resources, time or opportunity to give them the expert help needed, say parents.

They have described how lack of understanding about the condition nearly ruined their children’s education and self-esteem leaving them feeling “small” and “destroyed” – until they got help at a unique specialist unit in Wales.

Some were bullied and suffered anxiety abefore attending Tomorrow’s Generation in Lisvane – a unit set up by entrepreneur Anders Hedlund, who himself has dyslexia, a condition which causes problems learning to read and write.

Isabelle, like other pupils who attend daily lessons there, has permission to take time away from her mainstream primary to attend one or two days a week.

Anders, whose now-grown-up son also has dyslexia, established the Tomorrow’s Generation Trust in 1999 with after-school and holiday clubs until the unit opened full-time in 2014.

Its Launchpad for Learning classes for seven to 11-year-olds run from 9am to 3pm each day for children who have been identified as having specific difficulties with literacy and/ or numeracy.

Pupils don’t wear uniform, address staff by first names, and do not attend full time. They mix one or two days at the unit alongside going to mainstream English and Welsh-medium primaries or home schooling.

And demand for the fee-paying service is growing.

After starting with four pupils in 2014, Launchpad for Learning now has 30 pupils aged seven to 11 who come from across Wales from as far as Pembrokeshire and Brecon.

Anders is keen to keep costs down to ensure the service is inclusive.

Some bursaries are available for children qualifying for free school meals and as a registered charity Tomorrow’s Generation is a non-profit organisation with all fees going towards its running costs.

And Anders wants to keep it small and intimate.

Only eight of the 30 children come at any one time so specially trained staff can give them the expert help they need.

As their day begins some pupils warm their hands up popping bubble wrap. They squeeze shaving foam out to write on and don headphones to carry out a series of personalised literacy tasks on laptops.

Everything is calm as they get to work sitting at desks and chairs which are said to be miraculously comfortable. The chairs are specially designed to be able to be tilted without falling over.

“Some children are bouncier than others and need to jiggle while they work,” explains high level teaching assistant Debbie Lazell.

Results are remarkable. One former pupil is now a cancer research scientist at Cardiff University and many go on to high school with confidence that they can read and write well enough to access the curriculum.

Crucially, say parents and teachers, the pupils’ often battered self-esteem is raised at Tomorrow’s Generation, where dyslexia is seen as creating a different way of learning rather than a learning difficulty.

One mum, Michelle Owen, recalls how she sought help when her daughter Isabella was struggling to learn sounds aged five and told her: “I’m not like the other children. I can’t read books like them.”

The tiny, open-plan school she is joining for a day each week next September is warm, welcoming and bright, with work, pictures and certificates celebrating pupils’ work pinned to the walls.

Behind these cheerful surroundings, some of the children have far less cheerful stories about how they got here.

While the school, its teachers and parents are keen to stress they work with mainstream schools, they feel funds and expertise can be lacking, especially as dyslexia forms only a tiny part of the Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE).

Sian Watts explains how primary school made her daughter Isabelle feel after her difficulties became obvious aged four.

“As she got older, she became anxious, thought she was stupid and withdrew from wanting to try to read or write. She started having panic attacks going into school and it was very distressing for her.”

By the time Isabelle was six Sian suspected she had dyslexia but was told her school would assess her aged seven. Paying for a private diagnosis she was told her daughter had dyslexic and dyspraxic tendencies. More tests since showed Isabelle also has visual and sensory processing difficulties.

“My daughter felt anxious, left out, different and was not having an inclusive education. Luckily I saw an advert for Tomorrow’s Generation, something I will be eternally grateful for.

“I rang and spoke to them and I can honestly say Ifelt like crying. Here was a place where my daughter wouldn’t feel different or stupid, where her super powers are understood, accepted and positively embraced.

“I needed to leave the decision up to my daughter as she is very fragile emotionally but after one visit she loved it. She came out of there excited, chatty and wanted to go every day.

“She looks forward to going and seems to retain what is taught. It is an amazing place run by wonderful people and I cannot stress enough the difference it has made.

“It is not just literacy and numeracy that is dealt with but other things people take for granted such as tying your shoelaces, which my daughter can now do. It can be difficult to engage a child at home who has worked so hard all day, feels they have achieved nothing and has a meltdown at home because of the stress of the school day and other issues they have to deal with. I feel so lucky to have found Tomorrow’s Generation for my daughter.”

Sandy Boettger from Barry, echoes this experience.

Sandy’s daughter Georgia BoetggerWhite, who is bilingual in Welsh and English, has come out of her shell to such an extent in the year she has been at Tomorrow’s Generation that she has gone from being unwilling to speak to asking to take acting classes.

“Before she joined Georgia loathed reading out loud in front of anyone and even speaking in front of her class and sometimes even family.

“One of her biggest issues in school apart from reading and maths was to express her feelings and put her own thoughts into words.

“Last September she joined a weekly class and her confidence has increased massively. She has almost transformed from a shy, quiet girl that got bullied when she was only six and seven to a confident girl that is happy to speak up for others and herself and enjoys writing stories, history, volunteering at the stables helping out other children.

“I honestly do not know what I would have done without Tomorrow’s Generation School. I finally feel now that Georgia is getting the help she needs.”

School made Morgan Bowden feel “small”.

Tests were “demolishing” him, says Morgan’s mother Claire.

Now 10, he has blossomed after several years at Launchpad. But she worries what will happen next term when he has to leave for secondary.

The unit says it is too complex to take pupils out of secondary for a day or two for specialist help, but works to get pupils to a point where they can confidently progress to high school.

“In mainstream school Morgan was pigeon-holed as a slow learner where in fact he has an active memory and a quick humour, but he has great difficulties in recording information on paper,” says his mother.

“Sadly, school testing for him becomes a demolishing experience. He said he felt ‘small’ when he was in school, and he doesn’t feel like that in Launchpad. We had to pay for independent dyslexia testing for Morgan, as school didn’t feel his lack of progress was significant.

“He really enjoys his day a week. It’s a struggle to pay but one we are happy to pay due to the positive outcome.

“He is now developing an improved self esteem, he feels he has something to contribute. He is learning new strategies to cope with his writing and recording.

“My concerns now are that after July there will be no available provision for Morgan as he leaves Launchpad and makes the transition to comprehensive school.”

Michelle McKenna, from Barry, offers some comfort. Her daughter, 15 and now in year nine at high school, has made the transition well after attending Tomorrow’s Generation holiday clubs.

“My daughter would not be where she is now achieving and happy at school without going to the holiday clubs. She is achieving level sevens across most of her subjects and is predicted a level nine, the highest in geography,” says Michelle.