At St James’ we use a programme called Dyslexia Gold which is an evidenced based intervention to support our children who may have an identified literacy weakness. As a school we are not able to diagnose dyslexia, this can only be done by a qualified specialist dyslexia teacher. However, if a teacher or parent raises a concern the programme allows us to undertake a screening to, firstly, see if there is a weakness and secondly, to pinpoint where that weakness may be.

Once the screening is complete it creates an individualised plan that can teach phonics, phonological awareness, eye control and vocabulary, the 4 skills needed to read.

Every child is different, so progress varies, but evidence suggests that pupils using Dyslexia Gold can often improve their reading age by 12 months or more over 3 months. This is a programme that we support the children in accessing in school but also provide parents with the log in details to optimise progress.