Education – Dealing to dyslexia 

Get ready for some change across our schools for learners who are struggling. If you are a mum or a dad, you’ll be pleased to know that 150 teachers are now part of the Mahurangi Community of Learning (Kahui Ako). They include teachers from seven local primary schools – Warkworth, Matakana, Snells Beach, Horizon, Leigh, Pakiri and Kaipara Flats – and Mahurangi College. They have come together to seriously investigate how to improve their teaching and then share that learning, so that we can achieve success for all.

We know that you care deeply about your children and their learning, and next year we’ll be involving interested parents to participate in our discussions about the wellbeing and learning of our kids.

This is an exciting change. Instead of parents being isolated from genuine learning conversations with teachers, we will develop rich opportunities for sharing our understanding.

A few months ago, the Kahui Ako had its first gathering of parents, teachers and others interested in raising achievement of those with dyslexic tendencies, which we now know includes around 20 per cent of the population.

Dyslexia leads to children covering their books so that their peers can’t see, teachers blaming the previous school for not teaching well enough, heads bowed, hearts cringing, hard work achieving little – while others seem to write with such ease. These things can change when we understand these learners better. We can stop perpetuating failure in our children and, where they have felt shame, give them hope.

We now know for sure that shame and excessive anxiety hinder learning. We also now know that dyslexia is a different way of thinking, not a poor way of thinking. These people, who often feel marginalised in schools, have fabulous contributions to make to the world and are often labelled wrongly as failures.

Parents and teachers were blown away by what they learnt from local expert Jeannie Raffills at the Kahui Ako gathering. One teacher reflected, “The focus on the emotional lives of those with dyslexia really helped me understand my students. I feel lots more empathy for them. I now remember how hard their brains are working, try to celebrate each completed task better, and help them not to catastrophise too much when they are struggling.”

Helen Pearson, Lead principal Kahui Ako
principal@horizon.school.nz