Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties Coffee Morning

Tuesday 8th July 2025 at Chestnuts Community Centre (N15 5BN)

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Last month we held a coffee morning for SEND parents here at our office in Chestnuts Community Centre. At your request, we’ve started doing these with a theme.

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Parents shared their experiences of their children’s struggles with learning to read and write. We talked about how the phonics approach works well for some (but certainly not all) children. Sight reading approaches were also discussed – this is where children learn to recognize whole words, rather than breaking words down into sounds.

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There was also a detailed discussion about support at secondary school, including access arrangements children may be entitled to at their exams, such as the use of a laptop, extra time, a reader to read out the questions, breaks etc.

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Access arrangements was also suggested as a potential topic for a future coffee morning.

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Thanks to Claire Kenny from the Educational Psychology Team for coming along and answering parents’ questions.

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Online Spelling Support Tool – in development

At the coffee morning, Siobhan -  herself a dyslexic teacher - introduced an online tool she has been developing that pinpoints any gaps in a child’s spelling and decoding, from a single photo of their handwriting (best for ages 7 +). Many parents registered to try this out during the meeting, and anyone who couldn’t attend the coffee morning is warmly invited to give it a try.

How it works

1. Upload one uncorrected page of your child’s writing (something from those exercise books that came home at the end of term would be perfect). 

2. In seconds, you’ll receive:

• A concise list of strengths
• Priority gaps and target words to practise 
• Quick, fun hands on activity ideas for summer revision

Sign up to give it a try here → https://letterlens.app/ Questions or improvement ideas? Email Siobhan at siobhan.moorelynch@gmail.com

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