The Ashburton Learning Centre was one of the first organisations to apply for the New Zealand Dyslexia-Friendly Quality Mark (DFQM) developed by Ako Aotearoa. The first intake was in October last year.

To get the DFQM organisations need to meet standards that measure their practice in four key areas: leadership and management; the quality of teaching and learning; the teaching and learning environment provided for learners; and the quality of the organisation’s relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

The Ashburton Learning Centre has a 15-year track record of working successfully with dyslexic and other neurodiverse learners. Mary Philps, the organisation’s Manager, says that they have long known that a high percentage of their students, even those in the ESOL classes, have some form of neurodiversity issue:

“So it is really important to us that we reflect that in our practice and show that we are dealing with those issues for our students. We take it very seriously. Having the mark will be a signal to the community that we have the expertise and that we are continually upskilling ourselves around these issues. That we are the place to go if you need help.”

The organisation has now completed the accreditation process and is waiting for the final validation visit by the Ako team – a visit that has been delayed because of Covid-19.

Annette Tofaeono, the Senior Advisor, Foundation Learning at Ako Aotearoa, says that the Centre has gone through the process in three months – relatively quickly, because they already had such good processes and systems in place. “They have a great learning culture,” she says. ”They are continually trying to improve their knowledge and skills throughout the whole organisation.”

Joy Thompson, who has been on the Ashburton Learning Centre’s staff for the last twelve years (and came with a qualification from the Christchurch Seabrook McKenzie Centre’s intensive training for tutors working with people with dyslexia), was the liaison person for the process – although it has required a whole organisation approach.

“It was a great process to go through – throughout,” says Joy. “We’ve been able to disseminate a lot of new information to staff. It also picked up that as an organisation, we have done the right training. If you hadn’t done that training it would be an amazing process to go through.

“But as a result of preparing to make the application we have made a lot of positive changes.

“Getting the mark requires you to look at the organisation’s leadership and management policies. So now we have done that and made sure that our strategic plan and all our policy documents include our commitment to working effectively with people with dyslexia and other people with neurodiverse issues. In some cases our policies were consistent with the mark – but at times they weren’t.

“And we have now created a way for the learner voice to reach the committee so they can see their achievement and the direct impact of our intervention. That’s new. And it also addresses the key area in the quality mark – which is about the quality relationship with internal and external stakeholders. We are now doing more awareness training for our committee [board]. We have copies of Mike Styles’ booklet and given it to all of them to read.

“The quality of teaching and learning is another key area. We have now set up a database of learners which means that we now track them and see how they are achieving their learning plan – which we weren’t doing before.

“As a result of doing the mark I’ve wrapped a lot of training into our weekly tutor meetings and that’s new too.

“We have also started paying more attention to the student’s personal development and recognising the soft skill gains that they achieve as a result of addressing their learning difficulty. Dyslexia can hammer a person’s self-esteem and can create serious mental health problems. So we now give all our dyslexia students a questionnaire which identifies changes in things like their confidence. One student, for example says that he is now much more able to approach other organisations for help – he has an alcohol addiction, and he is now confident enough to address that. So we are helping learners achieve their potential. Dyslexia is recognised as a strength-based condition – so we are doing much more to help our neurodiverse students to reach their potential. All of our tutors are now aware of the book by Ronald Davis – The Gift of Dyslexia.”

As a result of their increasing capability, Joy says that the Centre is now working with even greater numbers of people with dyslexia.

Annette, together with dyslexia specialist Mike Styles, are the Ako facilitators for the process.

“We provide support and resources from the beginning,’ says Annette. “We will be there for every step of the way, starting with an information session – to ensure organisations know what to expect. We then provide a Dyslexia Awareness Raising Training Webinar. It is all about organisation change – so it is beneficial to have as many of the staff involved as possible. We want to bring everyone into the process.

“From there organisations receive access to our online Moodle platform for the DFQM. It has video clips, resources, as well as all the forms and templates required to complete the DFQM. This is also another channel for organisations to ask questions and submit their work, as they go through the different stages – their self-assessment, the action plan, and the implementation milestones. They build up all the evidence for their portfolio so that we can see that they are meeting all the quality mark standards. The last part is the verification visit.”

“We’ve had a lot of interest from the sector as well as schools and workplaces, So watch this space. Becoming dyslexia-friendly is growing and that’s good news for the many people in our community who have been without support for so long.
 
“It is interesting that when we hold the Awareness Raising PD session and explain what dyslexia is, as well as touching on other neurodiverse conditions and how it affects people, there are always some who have that ‘light bulb’ moment and they come up to us at the end and say – that’s me. There’s so much difference you can make, it is a really meaningful area to work on.”

Mary agrees: ”Any organisation considering doing it should go ahead. It is an area that has always been neglected, now it is being recognised for what it is. Dyslexia is not a deficit. These people have skills in other areas, skills that are often highly developed. And the difficulties that they have can be remedied.”