PUPILS struggling with reading and writing have somewhere to turn thanks to a specialist focus on dyslexia.

The learning difficulty affects more than 6 million people nationally with two centres in Essex providing vital support.

The dyslexia unit at Mayflower School in Billericay covers all of south Essex and currently takes four pupils from each year group.

Students are chosen by Essex County Council from those who have a Statement of Special Needs for Specific Learning Difficulties and can continue to Mayflower’s sixth form provided they have the necessary qualifications for continued support.

In recent years there has been a focus on helping pupils with learning difficulties through a variety of programmes that include trips to outdoor education centres, visual aids and apps on smartphones.

Pam Groveham, head of the dyslexia unit at Mayflower School, said: “There isn’t a stigma anymore, but some students do find it difficult and a big thing for them is confidence.

“It’s about saying to them, yes it might make things difficult for you but you can get round it.”

Pupils at the unit at Mayflower once a year organise a trip to outdoor education centre Stubbers.

Organising the trip themselves develops vital life skills.

Back inside the classroom there is plenty of work to do in terms of literacy and languages as well as exercises in memory with two teachers and seven assistants.

Mrs Groveham said: “It’s giving them the curriculum but making it more relevant for them.

“We also work on other skills.

Often there can be problems with short-term memory which can affect them at school. They come to secondary and there are so many lessons, classrooms and teachers and things to remember.

“We do work on memory and ICT skills and a lot of things that will help them get on in real life.”

BUILDING pupils’ confidence is a common theme and the Deanes School in Thundersley employs a dyslexia therapist to support its pupils.

Dyslexic herself, Lesley Walker became an expert in her field after her son was diagnosed.

“Some of the students come in not knowing their alphabet or how to tell the time, and they can feel insecure and inept,” explains Mrs Walker.

“The work we do helps them with their confidence, which helps with their behaviour.”

With one in five children leaving primary school with below the expected levels in reading, writing and maths, Mrs Walker says there needs to bemore work done in primary schools to help dyslexic children.

She said: “Ideally dyslexia should be picked up earlier in primary schools.

“They are much better at special educational needs than they used to be and they do have training, but it’s not specialist training and it’s not good enough. I’ve had children with writing and spelling ages below six years old and they need a reading age of at least 12 years old to access the curriculum.”

Despite the challenges, the ongoing work by teachers and assistants means attitudes around dyslexia are changing.

Mrs Walker said: “It’s no longer a taboo subject. Children are less worried about it and certainly so in this school, because they know it’s not a problem and they can become better readers.”

YEAR 13 student Grace Last hopes to become a teacher thanks to the support she has received at Mayflower.

While studying for her A Levels, Grace carried out a project on changing provision for students with dyslexia over the last 25 years in Essex.

She said: “When I did my project I couldn’t believe how many people in prison were dyslexic. Lots of people don’t get the support they need and the older people I spoke to all had negative experiences of school whereas it was more mixed today,” says Grace.

“The older people had really been made to feel stupid because they struggled to read. It had really knocked their self-confidence and affected them even today.”

Her project and experience with the centre has reinforced her desire to become a teacher and she is applying to universities to study primary education in the hope that she can also work in special education in the future.