Petition to save Dyslexia Centre garners support

Education, Sport & Culture announced last week that it would be redirecting the grant money from the Dyslexia Day Centre into States schools to increase the number of young people receiving specialist help.

But parents of children currently utilising the service are concerned over the help their children will receive.

Hannah Winslade’s 10-year-old son receives two lessons a week from specialist teachers at the centre, and she created a petition to save the service.

‘My son was struggling with reading and writing in Year 3 and was referred. There is still improvement but he now reads independently and reads for fun,’ she said.

‘The difference it has made to his abilities in school is immeasurable, but there is a lot of anxiety for those already in the system.’

Ms Winslade said that she did not expect the level of support the petition had received, but had hoped it would be strong.

Ideally she would like to have conversations with ESC, and as a parent, work with the department through the transition period, she said.

‘[ESC] said that there would be support in the transition period, but that doesn’t appear to be happening for the coming year as children are already being impacted,’ she said.

‘The DDC has so much specific knowledge and experience but it’s unclear why Education don’t want to work together in this transition, rather than just cutting off the service.’

Mike and Teresa O’Hara, who set up the centre in 1987, said it was great to read the comments on the petition, particularly from parents of past and present pupils.

They had no idea that Ms Winslade was setting up the petition.

‘I am delighted at the support as it shows how important the centre is in our island community,’ said Mr O’Hara.

‘If I was to make a wish, it would be for the States to let us carry on with what we’re doing at the moment.

‘Our problem is that teachers are not quite ready to take over the commitment of the children full-time, and that’s why we asked for the extra time to restructure the centre.’

The grant will be pulled from September of this year, but children supported by the centre will continue until December.

Mr O’Hara explained that initially he did not have much time to process the two-week notice he was presented by ESC president Andrea Dudley-Owen and director of Education Nick Hynes, and so said publicly that it was 'probably the correct way to go'.

He said he had since thought in-depth about the proposal, realised the children who were helped directly by the service were the most important issue, and is now fighting for the centre's future.

He hoped that there could be another extension until July 2024 to align with the end of the academic year.

‘We have 36 years of experience, so it just makes sense for us to work with new teachers and help the 80-plus children who use the centre,’ he said.

. The petition can be found at https://www.change.org/p/save-the-guernsey-dyslexia-day-centre.