|New Method Of Learning|
11th January 2018
Until now, drawing was a skill best saved for art lessons, not something to impress your Maths teacher with. Turning around traditional beliefs about educating students with dyslexia, Hayle Academy has introduced a pilot scheme with the help of the West Cornwall Youth Trust to deliver a new method of learning.
Over a number of sessions spanning the last five months local developer of the Footnotes Program Oliver West, has been invited into the Academy to share his philosophy on how dyslexic students can maximise their learning potential. Oliver is passionate about helping students make the most of their unique skill set “Footnotes is a 20+ year old International Programme. It celebrates the development of visual multi layered thinking using various processes including imagination and big picture thinking” he explains. “By drawing thoughts and feelings in a structured way, we’re finding that students are really able to access the curriculum in ways they never could before”. So far 24 students have been given Footnotes training and it’s starting to make an impact. Christina Wills, the dyslexia champion for Hayle Academy has arranged the pilot programme. “Working with dyslexic students to realise their potential through Footnotes has been hugely rewarding” she told parents at the recent open day. “It wouldn’t have been possible though without a generous grant from the West Cornwall Youth Trust for which Hayle Academy is extremely grateful”. The trust is a registered charitable company based in Marazion. They provide support to deserving young people in Cornwall, with a view to enabling them to take part in worthwhile activities that they may otherwise not be able to afford.
Following the success of the pilot programme, Christina hopes to make Footnotes a regular part of the curriculum for students with learning differences at Hayle. Oliver welcomes contact from those interested in finding out more and/or those who would like to partner in some way. He can be contacted at:
firstname.lastname@example.org or Christina Wills (Christina.email@example.com) for further information.