Before I present my proposals I would like to provide an overview of the problem and my impetus for wanting to help.
In 2009, after receiving support from a local learning provider I received an award from Lincolnshire County Council in recognition of my achievements. This support and encouragement has helped me to support my own children with their homework. I have been trying ever since to pay back my debt of gratitude by seeking low-cost and no-cost solutions for supporting children and families affected by dyslexia (a task that has become more urgent in the wake of government cuts to frontline services). So I couldn’t believe my eyes when a voucher fell through the letter box this evening entitling our community to £1,000,000 for improvements calling for ideas to shape our community. "The Big Local Trust, Big Ask" Here goes!
As a dyslexic I am acutely aware of the difficulties faced by children with this condition. When I went to school in the 1970s if you couldn’t read and write fluently you quickly fell behind your peers. Teachers weren’t trained to identify learning disabilities so frustration with student progress often became synonymous with laziness. To put it another way, you stood a good chance of being labelled as stupid or thick, a victim of bullies. This could affect self-esteem. Adults with dyslexia can feel deeply humiliated by school experiences and their inability to read so they may not ask for help in time to break the cycle, to help their own children with homework.
Without entering into a debate over the cause and effect of dyslexia it is obvious that parents are best placed to prepare their children for school and to support their learning. Therefore, the transmission of difficulties from parent to child and ensuing underachievement and low aspirations should be a great cause for concern. Too many children leave school with no qualifications to enable them to work and provide for their families. Out of the emergence of frustration communities are blighted by alcohol and drug misuse, debt and anti-social behaviour; it is estimated that two-thirds of young people involved in the youth justice system are likely to have additional speech, language and communication needs. My solution is to tackle this problem on three fronts:
1. Facilitate the delivery of specialised dyslexia assessments and support for children and families in the Mablethorpe area through partnership working;
2. Provide free assistive software in the home to enable parents to support their children with homework;
3. Provide free assistive software to the community (post-16 learning providers, libraries and specialist groups).
The delivery of specialised dyslexia assessments and support
I have made much headway in talks with a Lincolnshire based dyslexia charity and they are willing to facilitate the delivery of dyslexia support for children and families in the Mablethorpe area. To be able to deliver this they need to access a facility that they could use as a base for lessons. The lessons could be on a 1 to 1 basis or 1 to 2 or as a small group.
They would need to gain access to a qualified teacher or train up a teacher within the Mablethorpe area. If there is a teacher with previous qualifications in teaching children or adults to QTS or QTLS status they may be prepared to train him / her to enable them to provide the appropriate service for the area. The teacher would need to have time to carry out studies and some teaching. If a teacher is not available they may have access to other teachers in the area.
Often they can gain access to funds for adult classes and for bursaries for private learners. They can pay for the use of rooms for tuition if necessary or negotiate some other form of payment to support the establishment e.g. carrying out support or learner testing or delivery of staff development.
The charity are interested in contacting an establishment interested in partnership working to support learners of all ages and with teachers that are interested in training and development opportunities. They will support all partnerships with resources and funding where available. Perhaps the Big Local Trust would be willing to offer financial support where there are gaps.
Free assistive software
MyStudyBar (MSB) is a tool which helps overcome problems that students commonly experience with studying, reading and writing in school and in the home. The tool consists of a set of portable open source and freeware applications, assembled into one convenient package. Easy to install, simple to use, handy and effective, MSB provides comprehensive learning support at the desktop, where it is needed.
MSB operates in Windows XP/Vista/7 or independently from a USB stick. It is freely available by following this link: http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/eduapps/mystudybar.php
MSB is licence free which means it can be installed on an unlimited number of computers or run independently from a USB stick. The potential is obvious. A communitywide initiative could provide this software to every home to enable disabled parents to help their children with homework. Libraries and Adult and Community Learning Centres would also benefit.
To enable this software to be disseminated as widely as possible the acquisition of USB stick mass duplication will be a required and also a suitable delivery method - support from the media and local authority is desirable.
Endorsement of MSB
MSB is being used in schools, universities and colleges across the UK and further afield with great success. These are recent endorsements that should remove any doubts over suitability:
Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, 3-times Formula One champion and President of Dyslexia Scotland commented:
“MyStudyBar is an excellent software tool that can help overcome barriers associated with dyslexia. It can support the whole study cycle and assist with getting across a spoken or written message. It is completely free of charge to download and to use. MyStudyBar can be a great help to persons with literacy difficulties and is accessible even to those with unsupported, or hidden, dyslexia.”:
http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/eduapps/mystudybar.php
MSB was shortlisted as a BETT finalist (Special Educational Needs Category):
https://www.emapawards.com/emap/frontend/reg/tOtherPage.csp?pageID=178592&ef_sel_menu=2657&eventID=75&eventID=75
From Australia, Gary Kennedy an Assistive Technology consultant who has distributed MSB throughout many schools and colleges in Australia:
http://scottish-rscs.org.uk/newsfeed/?p=11627
RSC Scotland, the developers of MSB who are funded by JISC have clocked over £1 million pounds saved as an equivalent of similar commercial software:
http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/eduapps/mystudybar.php
MSB won a Commendation Award at the Glasgow Herald Digital Awards 2010 (Public Sector category):
http://www.heraldscotland.com/go/digitalawards10/winners
I hope these ideas will be considered across the children’s sector in the Mablethorpe area. I can answer questions on 07580475270 or agurbutt@gmail.com
Best wishes,
Alan Gurbutt
The inspiration behind my ideas
My observations on childhood outcomes are evidence-based. Internationally there is evidence to suggest that it is more effective to tackle causes rather than symptoms to break the intergenerational transmission of underachievement. Graham Allen MP has condensed contemporary research into identifying a requirement for early intervention, 0-3 and 0-18 years. The former being an age of optimum childhood development where damage can occur to sensitive neural circuits in the brain, and 0-18 where intervention should be ongoing in order to help parents from deprived settings to form emotional bonds with their children so they too can go on to provide a healthy setting for their children's development. Allen posits a theory that in 15 years time a generation can be turned around with significant savings to the taxpayer by avoiding costly late interventions.
My proposals for Mablethorpe build on Allen’s idea of early intervention to break the cycle, by a) providing appropriate dyslexia assessments and support for children and young people, and B) providing free software into homes so that dyslexic parents can help their children with homework - this goes beyond 0-18 into lifelong learning. I see no reason why the free software idea could not be rolled out countywide and nationally with the right network.
Further reading
Lincolnshire County Council, 2010. Narrowing the Gap in Deprived Areas of Lincolnshire. Available at: http://www.c4eo.org.uk/narrowingthegap/files/ntg_lincolnshire.pdf (provides an overview of Mablethorpe's difficulties)
Allen, G. & Smith, I, Duncan, 2008. Early Intervention: Good Parents, Great Kids, Better Citizens. Available at: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/client/downloads/EarlyInterventionpaperFINAL.pdf
I am so glad I read your blog. I am new to this and your insights and advice were very helpful.
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You're welcome
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