Author: A M Scott Reading and phonics programmes come and go through our school systems in fashionable spurts and this appears to be a universal trend. Some methods seem to deliver excellent results; others don’t elicit any meaningful change to reading competency levels in our learners. Some are popular and well marketed; others are solid…

Author: A M Scott Whilst I didn’t coin the phrase, “shut the duck up” (see Mo Gawdat in Solve for Happy, 2017), it might be among the most pertinent pieces of advice I could pass on to parents walking a journey with their child who experiences learning difficulties, or any other child for that matter….

Author: A M Scott Parents of children, who are presenting differently to their peers or siblings, are often caught in an overwhelming place wherein they are willing to ‘try anything’. Their vulnerability is their instinctive desire to do ‘whatever it takes’ to remedy ‘the problem’ or resolve the difference. They seek school placements; various extramural…

Author: A M Scott Advocacy is everything for a learner who experiences Dyslexia. Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty ‘hidden’ from sight. This makes the task of getting the help needed in school, university or the work place a perpetual challenge for a student. Teachers and trainers cannot see the disability and might comment on…

Author: A M Scott Academics aside, what does it mean to be a school, how does a school fit in a community, and how should we approach all the children in our care? “It takes a village to raise a child”.  In a village, children are born, given to the inhabitants to protect, nurture, guide…

Author: A M Scott One of the most frequent conversations held around dyslexia is the expression of concern and panic by teachers who feel under informed or under qualified to deal with a learner who has dyslexia. Training is good and intervention essential, but every teacher can support these learners and make a difference, without…

Sorry, we don’t fix kids is likely to be the strongest message any school, even a remedial school should send out. You see kids aren’t ‘broken’ so they don’t need fixing. Restoration, perhaps, is an entirely different matter. All too often a parent’s journey to placement at a remedial school has included someone very well…

Author: A M Scott I enter my ninth year at Bellavista as the school enters its fiftieth and reflection is a dominant emergent theme. This past fortnight, the reflection has been on the successes of past pupils. I have just collated the results of the class of 2011 and of the twenty seven pupils, four…

Author: A M Scott Recently, Bellavista S.H.A.R.E. hosted an evening talk to look at the cyber world and its impact on relationships, with some emphasis on cyber bullying. The generational distinction in the room was marked. After one hour of solid, research based input on the reality that technology has propelled young people into a…