Quality is clear at Glebelands Primary, in Leicester, that sets out to include all
While most schools strive to ensure youngsters' reading and writing skills are the best they can be, one primary has gone a step further.
Glebelands Primary, in Beaumont Leys, Leicester, has been given a dyslexia friendly quality mark for its hard work over the past two years to ensure lessons do not hinder those whose abilities may be a little behind their peers through no fault of their own.
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opportunities: Michael Dix, head teacher at Glebelands, says dyslexia awareness has been embraced across the school
Dyslexia is a common condition which can affect reading skills and spelling of words.
But at Glebelands, all lessons are taught in a way to ensure this is taken into account.
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Head teacher Michael Dix said: "Whether it's a display on the wall or font on the teacher's whiteboard, we make sure it's a certain size to make it as easy as possible to read.
"Some dyslexic pupils struggle with black writing on a stark white background, so we've made sure it's a pastel colour and, where possible, we have visual prompts, too.
"Being able to read and write well is the key to every other subject. That's why we wanted to make sure those who have dyslexia or just struggle in general get the right support.
"We've embraced it as a whole school and the improvements we've seen across the board speak for themselves."
Corridors are full of posters of "inspirational" people such as Jamie Oliver, Roald Dahl and sailor Ellen MacArthur, who have been diagnosed with the condition, to show pupils there are no barriers to success.
Mr Dix said: "This award is about being inclusive and that's very important to us.
"We take children from a wide social background, which is fantastic because it means our pupils grow up with a true perspective of the world and the people which make it up.
"Having the dyslexia award is another step towards making sure everyone's included and has the same opportunities."
The school has engaged parents to look out for signs of dyslexia and paid for special educational needs co-ordinator Jeanette Eddy, to take a part-time postgraduate diploma in the subject at the University of Leicester.
It means she is trained to officially diagnose the condition.
She said: "It has helped to inform all of the teaching we're now doing.
"We assess all pupils throughout the school on their reading and writing skills twice a year and if that picks up any initial problems, we investigate further.
"We have three pupils with dyslexia, but of course there are others who are in need of an extra bit of help.
"There are signs every member of staff is now trained to look out for and obviously if there are weaknesses in their reading and comprehension skills comes across in our tests.
"Others, such as missing words out when reading a passage, or having problems with fine motor skills, such as tying laces, could relate to dyslexia and mean we may investigate.
"It's something we are communicating to parents so they know what to look out for.
"The earlier we can diagnose and deal with problems, the better the outcomes."
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