By Claire Cooper
Teachers all over the country have been given a fresh insight into supporting children with dyslexia, thanks to Lindfield author, Jill Walkinton and her former colleague, Debbie Harris.
Jill and Debbie have worked with the BBC to create a series of short videos offering tips and strategies to help dyslexic pupils learn. Led by a team of dyslexic children, the films provide a unique insight into the challenges they face, along with tried and tested ways to overcome them.
Jill explained how the project came to life following a conversation with a parent: “When I retired from
teaching, I began private tuition for children with dyslexia, as that was what I had specialised in for many years,” said Jill. “It struck me that while so many dyslexic pupils are very well supported in class, this is not always the case. By chance, the parent of an ex-pupil contacted me to say how well her child had done at GCSE level and how she had utilised many of the tips and strategies that Debbie and I had given her daughter during her primary school years. “We had a conversation about what a shame it is that these tips and strategies, none of which are rocket science, aren’t more widely known. Knowing that the parent was a film maker, we suggested sharing our tips and ideas on video.”
Following the conversation, Jill and Debbie pitched ideas for films covering a multitude of tips that dyslexic children would find most useful in class. Lisa Fairbank of Factory Films, based in Hove, put the proposal to the BBC which resulted in a commission for five short videos that are now on the BBC Teach website under the title – Dyslexia: Make a Difference. They are therefore accessible to parents and children as well as teachers.
In addition, as so many parents are currently supporting home learning, they may find them particularly useful now.
“We became the consultants for the project,” said Jill. “Lisa wanted the films to be child led and pupils that Debbie and I have worked with are among the young people who appear in the videos.” Bizarrely, neither Jill or Debbie’s names appear anywhere on the programme, even though they supplied all the tips and strategies and were paid as consultants!
“The videos are short and therefore skim the surface, so we are currently planning to extend the provision of ideas in a child friendly book format,” said Jill. “But there are some child-centred ideas that teachers and home schoolers can take on board - patience being the key strategy!” Jill and Debbie have learned through years of working with children who encounter ongoing literacy and numeracy difficulties that the provision of specific support and promotion of self-esteem is key throughout the school years. After which, many dyslexic children are able to become highly successful dyslexic adults.
Debbie and Jill also have an Instagram account: @dyslectricks – which includes lots of tips, ideas and practical short demonstrations that parents and children might find helpful. Published author Jill (writing with Alison Lewis, as JILL LEWIS) is also continuing to champion the dyslexic child through her current writing project and has a dyslexic hero in her latest book, Special Delivery for Freddy Lyre which is currently being prepared for possible publication.
Jill and Debbie are also hoping that their idea of mini books, designed to give children with dyslexia a range of visual strategies and prompts, can be launched in the near future. Watch this space!
To watch the films, visit: https://bbc.in/3aA0wPH