HF Dyslexia Training

A student on my wavelength this morning 😂. He had to finish the sentence, 'I think our school council should...' 🍛 🍟

New YouTube Channel!!

I'm pleased to announce that we have released a new channel dedicated to the use of student centred learning and neurodiverse learners.

A free course on this topic is being released and the Module One is available to view.

Please follow the link below to view.

Student Centred Learning Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

Drawing to Write!

The introduction below was written by one of my neurodiverse students (uploaded with permission).

He is required to write about Lady Macbeth and how she changes throughout the play.

To help write his introduction, he first had to draw a road going from left to right to represent her journey. He then drew various symbols along the way ending in hell.

This activity helped him write a coherent introduction. He commented that the activity really helped him see the whole topic. He also describes how drawing made it more engaging and fun.

I will be drafting some Drawing to Write units over the upcoming months and publishing on my TES shop!

One of my resources on Unseen Poetry has been featured on TES!
Please follow the link below:

https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/blog/english-unseen-poetry
😎🧐

FREE, Functional Skills resource!

Follow the link for a resource that helps students write a persuasive letter through vocabulary and sentence work, based on a model text!

Functional Skills, Level Two - Writing a Persuasive Letter | Teaching Resources Welcome to this persuasive writing, Functional Skills, Level Two writing unit! In it, your students will look closely at the vocabulary, sentence structures and para

Hi everyone,

I've recently finished writing a book which has been a few years in the making.

It's about using student centred methods to encourage learners with additional needs such as ADHD, autism and dyslexia. The book is full of ideas, case studies and a framework to use innovative teaching and learning methods.

Many students with additional needs develop anxiety in the educational system and this book addresses those problems and offers solutions.

I'm planning to offer some free webinars over the summer to help parents and educators utilise student centred learning in their support.

A Journey Into A Student-Centred Approach: Supporting Dyslexic and Neurodiverse Learners In , educator and play therapist delivers a heartfelt and practical roadmap for transforming the educational experience of students with additional learning needs. Drawing from decades of experience across diverse settings—from inner-city UK classrooms to international schools in Abu Dhabi—Fi...

If you live in the Newport area, please feel free to bring along your children for a FREE, creative confidence course! 🖌️🫟🎨

📣📣COMING SOON! 📣📣
Children's therapeutic storywriting & drawing self-care group, facilitated by our highly experienced play therapist.

Wondering what the group sessions will involve? 🤔
Pop along to the TASTER SESSION, scheduled for:
11am Friday 25th July, for 45mins at Time Counselling and Wellbeing Centre.

To book on to the taster session, email:
[email protected]

📣📣COMING SOON! 📣📣
Children's therapeutic storywriting & drawing self-care group, facilitated by our highly experienced play therapist.

Wondering what the group sessions will involve? 🤔
Pop along to the TASTER SESSION, scheduled for:
11am Friday 25th July, for 45mins at Time Counselling and Wellbeing Centre.

To book on to the taster session, email:
[email protected]

Visual Tracking

How Visual Tracking Activities Help Dyslexic Students Remember Words

🧠 Multisensory Learning – Searching for words reinforces recognition through both visual scanning and pattern recognition, strengthening memory.

🔁 Repetition & Familiarity – Seeing the word multiple times in different orientations reinforces spelling and word shape recognition.

🎮 Less Pressure, More Fun – Word searches gamify learning, making spelling practice less stressful.

🔡 Letter Order Focus – Dyslexic students often struggle with letter sequencing. Finding a word in a grid helps reinforce the correct order of letters.

👀 Visual Tracking Skills – Scanning for words strengthens left-to-right and top-to-bottom tracking, key skills for fluent reading.

How to Make It Even More Effective
✅ Say the word aloud while finding it.
✅ Use different colors to trace words for added visual reinforcement.
✅ Follow up with a writing activity (e.g., use the word in a sentence).

Below is a visual tracking activity. The word 'sailing' appears four times. How long does it take to find them all?

I appreciate the efforts of schools to help students progress, but I think this situation I read on the BBC website is unacceptable, especially for students with additional needs.

I feel it will create unnecessary anxiety and stress for students and also has the potential to make them feel inadequate.

An alternative could be to tap into students interests and increase engagement. One school I worked in had a fantasy football league where students had to calculate scores, goal average etc to motivate. This worked well for a particular group of learners.

What are your thoughts?

Harlow school punishes pupils for scoring below 90% in maths A parent says the school's policy for top set students is "overtly cruel".