School failing to teach Niece.

[Headgardener]

My neice who also suffers from dyslexia is now a Registered Mental Health Nurse . Her dyslexia was only diagnosed when she started at sixth form collage and she struggled with completing the final papers for her higher diploma at universty. But she got there and is planning to do a degree later when she has been in the job that she has for about a year, which the NHS will help her with.

 

[Gromit]

Thank you everyone for your advice.

 

[Red Light]

If it is dyslexia and it has been formally diagnosed, not just someone's comment, then it is a recognised disability and should be treated as such. As for dyslexia being a barrier, about one third of successful entrepreneurs are dyslexic including Richard Branson Theo Paphits, Bill Gates and Jamie Oliver compared to about one in twenty of the population,. Dyslexics tend to do badly at school but can do brilliantly in life if they can learn to harness their different way of thinking.

To be honest, finding out with a year to go that the school is a low performer is a bit late. She might be better taking an extra year (although that has all sorts of self confidence/image problems with "going down" a year)

 

[vernon]

To be honest, finding out with a year to go that the school is a low performer is a bit late. She might be better taking an extra year (although that has all sorts of self confidence/image problems with "going down" a year)

The school is more than likely to refuse the request. For reasons that I listed earlier, it probably is not in the girl's best interests.

 

[growingvegetables]

She might be better taking an extra year (although that has all sorts of self confidence/image problems with "going down" a year)

Nope.

That's why colleges have level 3 courses (roughly equivalent to A levels), level 2 courses (roughly equivalent to 5 GCSE A-C), level 1 courses (equivalent to a lower set of GCSE results) etc etc etc. The chance to take an extra year (or two) WITHOUT the emotional baggage.


Let the lass do her best in her GCSEs ..... and move on to a next stage.

 

[asterix]

Who told you this? Is this really a learning difficulty? That's a new one on me. I thought it was generally accepted that most people didn't pick everything up first time - it was stressed that repetition and review were important as most new information is lost if you don't work to commit to memory. One of the reasons for rote learning and the way the army trains for example.It might be a confidence problem.

There are different degrees of this. After my head injury I had a neuro-psychlogical test which measures different abilities against your IQ all abilities should score in the same ball park. One of the abilities is that of picking up information first time, a function of a certain region of the brain. There is no doubt that otherwise intelligent people can fail in this area whilst being good in the others.

 

[Arch]

Knowing you Gromit, I suggest you could do a lot of good just by being a role model. You've been there, done that, know the problems, and most importantly know that once you find your skill, and the thing you want to do most, you will find a way to do it, and do it well.

Have a chat with your niece, tell her about what you've done, what your problems were etc. Be truthful, tell her it's hard work, and there are sometimes blind alleys and dead ends, but her potential is there, and there's no reason she can't achieve it. It may be that she needs time to find her best interests and ambitions, and until then she just needs to do enough to avoid being written off too soon And indeed writing herself off. Seeing you achieve could be the confidence boost she needs.

College sounds like the best bet. If the school is failing her, it's unlikely to suddenly improve. A clean break and fresh start might be just what's needed.

 

[Oxo]

Approach local colleges offering post 16 education and find out what courses are open to your niece. Most of them will require some level of success at GCSE, and a modest and attainable target, with a tangible result at the end, could offer the motivation needed to make the best of her remaining time in school.