Dyslexia assesments in last 3 years

​​​​Request 742207639​

1. How many children have had a dyslexia assessment through school in the last 3 years? 

2. How many were given additional support due to that assessment? 

3. How many teachers / schools are able to offer dyslexia assessments? 

4. If private assessments are used instead of one’s completed in schools, how many children have additional support as a result of these?

Response

1. Schools undertake various assessments with pupils to identify any Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD). As schools do not assess for dyslexia specifically, this data is not recorded and therefore Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 is applied

2. The department has determined that it does not hold information relating to how many children were given additional support due to dyslexia assessment. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 is applied

3. Only appropriately qualified professionals offer dyslexia assessments; some teachers may hold this qualification however it is not a requirement of their role as a teacher. The department have determined that to interrogate all teachers records to determine who holds this qualification would take in excess of 12.5 hours therefore Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 is applied. 

School staff, when they consider a child has a potential learning need, can refer to their Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo), who will follow the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice, to ensure that the student receives the appropriate support and assessments. Further details can be found on Gov.je by following this link: https://www.gov.je/Education/Schools/Sen/pages/whatsupportavailable.aspx#anchor-1 ​

4. Where a student has been privately assessed for dyslexia, and where the parents have shared these findings with the school, parents can meet with the school SENCo who will determine what arrangements are appropriate in line with the child's needs based on their knowledge of the child’s normal way of working and comments and observations from teaching staff. The SENCO and parents can then co-produce a plan, where appropriate, in line with the SEN Code of Practice. The department does not hold information relating to how many children are currently given additional support due to private dyslexia assessment. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 is applied.

Articles applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

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