At Frogston Primary School, support is provided for all pupils regardless of whether or not they have a diagnosis. Support is provided based on need. Pupils can benefit from a variety of supports throughout their school careers. Most of these supports are provided in-class by their teacher or PSA.

For some children, additional support from the Support for Learning department will be provided.

On this page, you will find information about common barriers to learning as well as the procedures for both identifying additional support needs and providing support.

Dyslexia.

Dyslexia Identification is a Process

Information for Parents/Carers

The Scottish Government’s Working Definition of Dyslexia, adopted by the City of Edinburgh Council:

Dyslexia can be described as a continuum of difficulties in learning to read, write and/or spell, which persist despite the provision of appropriate learning opportunities. These difficulties often do not reflect an individual’s cognitive abilities and may not be typical of performance in other areas.

The impact of dyslexia as a barrier to learning varies in degree according to the learning and teaching environment, as there are often associated difficulties such as:

  • auditory and/or visual processing of language-based information
  • phonological processing – awareness, processing speed and / or memory
  • oral language skills
  • reading fluency
  • short-term and working memory
  • sequencing and directionality
  • number skills
  • organisational ability

Motor skills and co-ordination may also be affected.

Dyslexia exists in all cultures and across the range of abilities and socio-economic backgrounds.

It is hereditary, life-long and neurodevelopmental and it can impact on wellbeing. Unidentified, and/or unsupported dyslexia can have an impact on achievement and may lead to lower self-esteem and higher stress.

Learners with dyslexia will benefit from early identification, inclusive ethos, approaches and environments, appropriate intervention and support.

The City of Edinburgh guidelines ‘Literacy and Dyslexia Identifying and meeting needs’ gives staff clear advice about what to do if it is thought a child/ young person has literacy difficulties/ dyslexia. Staff are also provided with training to undertake identification of dyslexia and can access support from the Literacy/ Dyslexia Support team if required.

There is no one test which will identify a learner as having dyslexia. It is an ongoing planned, staged process of evidence gathering and assessment begun by class/ subject teachers and completed by Support for Learning (SfL) staff. 

Evidence is gathered over time through:

  • observation in class, using the Checklist for identifying needs/ supports and strategies
  • implementation of appropriate supports and strategies in class
  • discussion with Support for Learning staff
  • obtaining views from the child and their parents/carers (Parent/ Carer Info. form)
  • monitoring of impact of supports and strategies
  • standardised assessments, undertaken by the SfL teacher

All of this should take time, ensuring appropriate learning opportunities are provided and, the impact of these appropriate learning opportunities can be fully considered.

All evidence can then be collated in the CEC document ‘Summary and

Conclusions Framework for the identification of literacy difficulties/dyslexia’.

Although this process takes time, as the Scottish Education system is ‘needs lead’ the support a child/ young person gets does not depend on this assessment or, on an identification of dyslexia. Support will be in place before and during this process and the final outcome should not impact the supports and strategies already in use.

Senior Phase of Secondary and alternative assessment arrangements

It is unusual, but not unknown, for literacy difficulties to become apparent in the senior phase when there is greater emphasis on assessment. It is not required for learners to have a confirmed identification of a disability for an assessment arrangement to be put in place. However, there must be an identified difficulty. It is the individual learner’s assessment needs that are the basis for the provision of an assessment arrangement. Once a difficulty has been identified, evidence then needs to be collected to show that the suggested adaptation makes a significant improvement to a learner’s grades. As with earlier identification of literacy difficulties/dyslexia this whole process can take a period of time.                       Wherever possible, it is therefore very important that school staff, parents/carers and young people who have concerns, should try to raise these concerns well before the assessment period.