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A new campaign to raise awareness of dyslexia and call for better support for dyslexic learners in schools has been launched by world-renowned chef and broadcaster Jamie Oliver at the Houses of Parliament, with the support of Kingston Universityand the Driver Youth Trust.

The We Need To Talk About Dyslexia campaign was launched in Westminster during an MP breakfast briefing by Jamie Oliver, who publicly discusses his dyslexia to raise awareness, followed by a public demonstration outside parliament. It calls on the government to make vital changes to education for children with the condition – with an inclusive classroom environment that values different ways of learning and adapts to the needs of each child, so no-one is left behind.

As part of his campaign, Jamie Oliver has produced a Channel 4 documentary about his experience as a dyslexic learner and his desire to change the education system. The programme was created with the help of initial research by Kingston Universityand its partnership with the Driver Youth Trust, whose initiative is already equipping teacher training students at the University with the skills and knowledge to support pupils who present with dyslexia.

The KUDYT project sees specialist dyslexia tutor, Caroline Bateman and primary initial teaching education professional lead Associate Professor Banna Millar alongside other staff in Kingston’s Department of Education, work with students and staff across the University’s education courses and partner schools to enhance knowledge of the challenges some pupils can encounter with reading and writing. Under her guidance, trainee teachers learn how to support children presenting with dyslexia in schools more confidently and effectively.

This has been achieved by incorporating significant special educational needs (SEND) training into the University’s undergraduate and postgraduate teacher training courses and giving students the opportunity to visit and experience SEND school settings, with the option to have a placement in a SEND school in their final professional practice placement.

Caroline also runs a series of training initiatives for partner schools to help raise attainment and make the curriculum accessible to all learners – a series of  to equip parents and educational professionals with the tools to support dyslexic learners. 

This work between Kingston’s Department of Education and the Driver Youth Trust attracted the attention of Jamie Oliver and his team – who used the KUDYT project as research for the documentary and led to Caroline and the Driver Youth Trust being invited to join Mr Oliver at parliament.

During the breakfast briefing, Mr Oliver spoke passionately about his own school experiences and the damage done to neurodivergent children and the UK economy as a result of teachers not being trained to identify and support dyslexia and other learning difficulties. “Education isn’t a luxury, it should work for every child but a system that only works for some kids is just broken so let’s fix it,” he said. “We need to back our teachers, they want to help every child so let’s make sure they get the training and support to do it,” he added.

Caroline and the Driver Youth Trust had the opportunity during the briefing to inform MPs and Lords of the KUDYT project and the work underway at the University to equip the trainee teachers with the skills and training the campaign is advocating.

“We were proud to show MPs that we’re ahead of the game at Kingston Universitywhen it comes to ensuring our trainee and graduate teachers are confident and competent to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and dyslexia and literacy difficulties,” Caroline said. “We’re excited to now be working with Jamie and his team to promote awareness of the pressing need to make teacher training more inclusive.” “Teachers have the capacity to really change a dyslexic learner’s experience of school and their life chances, so they don’t have to go through what Jamie Oliver did in terms of feeling that he was stupid and couldn’t achieve. However, they need the skills and resources to be able to do this, and that is what Kingston Universityis delivering in its Education Department.

Following the trip to parliament, Caroline and the Driver Youth Trust have been invited to contribute to the discussion around specialist training for teaching students when the government’s Schools Bill reaches the House of Lords and also to present at an All-Party Parliamentary Group.

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