Teach Secondary 14.4

Things left UNSAID Jennifer Hampton considers the profession’s continuing lack of knowledge regarding dyslexia – and whether a new consensus-built definition might change things for the better... I n earlyMarch 2025, Jamie Oliver – the well-known television chef who, 20 years prior, had got the nation rethinking school dinners – visited Parliament to attend an event entitled ‘We Need To Talk About Dyslexia’, hosted by the MP for Broxtowe, Juliet Campbell. Oliver is currently campaigning for improved dyslexia provision in the country’s schools, highlighting the harmful impact on self-esteem and confidence when the needs of young people with dyslexia aren’t addressed. But with the geopolitical and economic implications of Donald Trump’s second presidential term generating multiple headlines daily, there hasn’t been a slow news day for a fair while. That may partly explain why we haven’t seen Jamie’s star power draw attention to this issue as powerfully as his previous campaign against Turkey Twizzlers. Though we might equally wonder why his focus seems to have shifted so much from the kitchen to the classroom... Whydon’t we talk about it? As an English teacher and mother to a child with dyslexia, I’m personally rooting for Jamie, and hope that a Channel 4 documentary he’s currently working on will shine a much-needed light on the everyday experiences of children and young people who experience difficulties with reading and writing. A light that will hopefully show howmany of these students experience little more than the receipt of a plastic coloured overlay by way of support; that will uncover the lack of dyslexia knowledge and dialogue amongst the teaching community; and highlight the widely varying experiences of children and young people. Politicians are keen on telling us that SEND funding for schools has increased – yet a closer look reveals that the number of SEND students in schools has also increased, meaning that spending per child is, in fact, lower than it was in previous years. There simply isn’t enoughmoney. We all know that. If we’re to meaningfully talk about dyslexia and properly support those young people affected by it, then we educators need to first confidently understand what it actually is . I’d been an English teacher for over 15 years, and had completed an MAwith a focus on reading when I found myself having to engage with dyslexia in a muchmore personal way. I thought I knew enough. It turned out I didn’t. Since the first identification of dyslexia over a century ago, there’s beenmuch debate over how to define it, with the lack of consensus between academics and researchers at times impeding the work of policymakers. A key point of contention in this debate has concerned the value of a dyslexia diagnosis, though historically, said debate hasn’t always included the voices of young people themselves and their parents (though this is changing). Defining dyslexia At the present time, there are no publicly funded routes to securing a diagnosis of dyslexia. It remains an expensive process that requires considerable financial resources and commitment on the part of parents and carers. That said, we have witnessed in recent years a heightened awareness of issues around neurodiversity, following dramatic rises in rates of autism and ADHD diagnoses among children and adults alike. Dyslexia is similarly a neurodevelopmental condition, and while there’s been some informed, compassionate dialogue on social media among people sharing their stories and specialist teachers suggesting strategies (it really can be an excellent resource), I’mnot sure that a constructive dialogue around dyslexia has reached secondary school settings, as is the case for autism and ADHD. This, despite the newDelphi definition of dyslexia (see tiny.cc/ ts144-D1) telling us “Thereare no publicly funded routes to securingadiagnosis ofdyslexia” 66 teachwire.net/secondary