Transition is the time that difficulties can come to the fore and be fully seen and actually noted; not only noted but more importantly, become to be a cause of some level of concern. It is so important to keep records of children in this case, records and evidence. I do not mean evidence of data and levels but more importantly I mean the annotations of how the child presents and how the child behaves. Also important to consider here is what works well for the child and equally as important, what does not work well for them. You can learn so much from just observing children and if time allows this should be done far more.
My nursery nursing course was so good when teaching this vital area of observation with a fine-tooth comb. Our observations always needed to be followed by analysis in order to unpick what we learned from watching a child. Observation of those children of concern, those children who are just bubbling under where they might be in their learning, those children who may be dyslexic. Take time to observe the child, make notes and share this information with the next teacher or the school Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDco). This need and level of observation I like to think, is still very much in the forefront of my teaching.
As previously noted, during primary school years, children are often so very good at masking difficulties associated with dyslexia. They are so good at covering up their difficulties and anxieties around the various demands made upon them.
One example is that they can cover up spelling errors and mistakes just as I did when I was handwriting with a pencil or a pen. I would begin my writing relatively neatly but when I got to a word which I was not secure on spelling, it did not usually take long, my presentation changed and became very messy as I tried rapidly to cover up the fact that I simply could not spell. I would join letters, add high loops or long tails in order to hide letters that I knew were not right, or of in the word not in the right order. The result of this of course was messy handwriting and inevitably a telling off from the teacher.
As I moved through primary school and into secondary school, the expectation of using more complex vocabulary in my writing became much more real and I simply could not cope. It is also the need to be able to write and spell subject vocabulary and the terminology that goes with it. Words in maths and science can be very complex and not easy to spell. Also nowadays in English literacy lessons, words and phrases like phonemes, conjunctions, fronted adverbials for goodness sake, all need spelling and writing.
My writing therefore resulted in being pretty messy throughout a piece of work with many crossings out. This just continued to become worse and worse the longer I spent in the classroom. So much of my schoolwork involved me holding and manipulating a pencil and later a pen. In primary school I always used a pencil but in secondary school I used biros mainly and I think always blue ones although I think black is now more often used. I also used fountain pens as they were quite popular when I was in secondary school and beyond. I do not think that we were allowed bottled ink in school but we could use ink cartridges which were far easier and far less messy to change once a pen had run out of ink.
I remember thinking that a good pen would change my work and somehow make me a better speller. I also thought that I would be able to complete my work on time. Alas neither of these things were never to became reality as a result of simply changing my pen. The choice of pen is important though and should be made available to all children. But unfortunately, choice does not always come into play for all children as here is the dreaded pen licence, do not even get me started!
For a pen licence is a rite of passage, or should that be a write of passage? It is set aside for those that are so very clever that they can write neatly…it is though of course nothing to do with intelligence! I have known many children, far too many, be crushed and crumble under the heavy weight and realisation that they would never in fact get their pen licence.
I had a child come to me for tuition, so happy and full of beans that they had finally got their pen licence. This was at the end of year five. Can you believe this was taken away from them at the beginning of year six and they had to start all over again to earn the pen licence back! What is the actual message there for goodness sake? How is that child made to feel?
If we think about it now, when do we actually write, I mean handwrite anything? Maybe a birthday card, maybe a shopping list, although artificial intelligence (AI) can do just as good a job at that, it can compile a list by listening to your voice and then send it to your phone. We simply do not write anymore, we text, we email and we speak to AI devices. Yet what an absolute fuss we make over handwriting in our schools from practically the moment a child walks through the door on their very first day of school.
Handwriting
Write neatly
think about your letters
don’t press too hard
stay close to the margin
don’t curl your y’s
don’t cross your t’s too high.
Now join that o right at the top
make your letters sit on the line
your d’s and b’s are getting mixed up
and your p’s look like number 9’s
don’t cross out all the time,
use a rubber for all your mistakes
spell that word correctly,
add your full stops
remember your spelling rules
you spelt it wrong again
but different than before
and for goodness sake
stay on the lines.
Copy the date,
not just the numbers,
copy the learning objective too.
Why have you not finished?
Why didn’t you know what to do?
You’ll have to stay in at playtime then
in order to get it done.
I cannot mark what is on your page
as you’ve hardly even begun.
The fact that commonly, children with dyslexia can produce neater writing and write with more fluency when using a pen, of any sort makes the whole sorry tale so much worse. There are some great writing tools available on the market nowadays. Pens of varied thicknesses which are so often easier for small hands to grip and control. These pens should be used when teaching handwriting initially. When a child is ready to use a pencil, they should still have support if needed. There are a great number of pencil grips around and these should be made available to a young child with dyslexia, as a supportive aid to their writing.
In my experience by the time a child is in secondary school there is far less emphasis on handwriting. A child is far freer to write in their own style and as long as it is neat and legible there really does not seem to be a specific style that needs to be followed or worked on.
There are also erasable pens, yes pens that you can rub out, how cool is that? I now have a variety of these pens in different colours which my children love and I do too as I colour code my written diary. I am of the generation that largely still finds a handwritten diary very supportive. I use different colours to identify different areas of my life. Pink pen relates to my own children, purple is teaching and assessments, blue my home salon (I give a variety of massages, facials, reflexology treatments etc.) and green for myself.
I use an academic diary and have done since I began teaching. As I get older, I am trying hard to put more green in my diary but alas there is very little.
I went shopping for a new diary a few years ago and was looking for a decent sized academic one in pastel colours. I was told in one shop that ‘most people use their phones now’ well that’s me told! I have to say though that I like and much prefer the multi-sensory act of physically writing and the use of colour is so very supportive. The fact that I can also use erasable pens is also a bit of a game changer for me. I now though order a diary online rather than feel humiliated face to face.
So, back to transition, there are of course other periods of transition in education, those of college and then into higher education at university, if one choses either of those options when leaving school. Both these establishments do of course have open days and are generally very accommodating for visits of perspective students and their families. Again, it is not uncommon for a student with dyslexia to be first noted as having some difficulty with that level of academic work, then assessed and finally diagnosed with dyslexia at degree level.
My own experience was just this. I got picked up by a lecturer who taught history. She noticed discrepancies and errors in one of my essays, although I think she had suspected difficulties in previous work too. So, she actually bothered to discuss it with me and suggested that I got tested. She did not just write see me at the bottom of my page, instead she came to talk to me and arranged a time for a chat.
So, before a transition to a new level of education I do suggest to parents that they have a meeting with the new school and the school SENDco. This will allow for a 1:1 discussion between parent, and if appropriate the child too. I would always aim to include the child here as they are after all the client, the one at the centre of it all. This meeting will allow concerns to be shared and possible recommendations to be explored in terms of how the new school can best support the child.
In addition to this I would always recommend that the child has an extra visit with their parent, more than one if needed. Try to attend during a normal school day as you will see the school working as it should do. It will be seen with of course children, noise, teaching and everything else that goes into a school day.
If possible, go as individuals, just you and your child. Maybe take another adult to help support you and to help remember the information you will be given. If you do this the child will have extra time in the new setting. They will also though still have the normal school visit of the whole class or year group that will usually take place during the final term at primary school. This will help to ensure messages get across and are not only communicated correctly but importantly that they actually reach the correct person. There are now far more members of staff, teaching, non-teaching, admin and domestic that will be involved in the child in one way or another. It also allows for a discussion about need, about what works best for the child and how they learn best.
Also, as said previously, considering what does not work well for the child. It is important for the child, even a young child to consider their own metacognition, how they learn; what helps them or does not help them in the classroom. This understanding of how a child learns best definitely needs to be acknowledged by staff and awareness needs to be raised about what can be done to support those with dyslexia in school. Metacognition can be hard to consider and understand when you are young. However, it can be thought of as what things are helpful and supportive when needing to and attempting to learn and what things are very unhelpful in the same situation.
It may be that cold bright fluorescent electric light strips in a classroom cause discomfort to the learner, even headaches when trying to read and concentrate. It may be that the child with dyslexia needs to sit at the front of the class in order to access the whiteboard with ease. It may be that the child with dyslexia reads far better when seeing text on a yellow, light blue, or green etc ‘whiteboard.’
These areas within metacognition are about learning what works best for an individual child. Likewise, if a child with dyslexia feels very uncomfortable reading aloud in class it should be noted. Or if they need five questions to answer in written form due to the length of time it takes to answer in written form and not ten like their peers, this also should be acknowledged. Maybe the child can type answers instead of always needing to handwrite. This is often now an option for homework however not always seen in the classroom.
Metacognition
I just don’t learn well like that,
I need you to slow down.
I can’t follow what you’re saying
You’re going too fast, unfamiliar words
making me frown.
There is no picture to help me,
no prompt to back it up.
Nothing tangible to illustrate,
nothing to build a memory.
The use of colour is helpful,
I like to work with blue paper
and pens that erase.
This way I can show you, achieve
maybe even get some praise.
