Learning Support Service
Dudley LSS is a team of highly experienced teachers with additional SEN Specialist qualifications. We are a traded service who work in partnership with schools, other educational settings, parents, governors and other professionals to improve outcomes for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEND), particularly in the areas of learning difficulties (literacy and numeracy) and specific learning difficulties/Dyslexia.
Dudley LSS has regard to the principles and procedures of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice 0-25 years (2015) and, as such, acts in the role of an external specialist.
Contact us via telephone (01384) 813733 / 812093 9am-4pm weekdays (Term-time only) or email Lssenquiries@dudley.gov.uk
What do we do?
We offer the following services to support schools and individual pupils:
- Pupil assessment – detailed assessment of literacy and/or numeracy difficulties, with suggested next steps and ideas for support
- 1:1 or small group Specialist teaching supporting the development of Literacy skills (reading/spelling of HFW, phonics reading and spelling, reading accuracy, fluency and/or comprehension) and/or Numeracy
- Intensive Learning Unit for KS2 pupils with Specific Literacy Difficulties (Dyslexia)
Training to staff who may deliver a range of evidence-based interventions to support children with Literacy difficulties (for example Fischer Family Trust Wave 3 Literacy, Boosting Reading @ Primary and Secondary, Inference Training and ENABLE) and Numeracy difficulties (Talking Maths).
As a Support Service also support and advise your child’s school Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) and offer staff training on a range of SEND topics.
We see individual children and young people in primary and secondary schools who are experiencing difficulties with Literacy and/or Numeracy.
We will see your child/young person within their own school setting.
As we are a service that is purchased by schools, we are unable to take referrals directly from you as a parent/carer. Please speak to the SENCo at your child/young person’s school/setting to discuss a referral to our service.
Each purchasing school has an allocated Specialist Teacher who meets on a termly basis to plan the work for the following term. Before LSS can begin working with you child/young person (under the age of 13), the school SENCo must gain your consent. If your young person is aged 13 years or over, he/she will be able to give consent for themself.
Our Specialist Teacher will assess your child/young person and send a detailed report directly to the school. This will identify strengths and weaknesses in your child/young person’s learning and will suggest individual targets with accompanying strategies and resources. The school will share this report with you (and child or young person, where appropriate to do so). Following the first assessment, school will invite you to meet with the Specialist Teacher to discuss the findings.
Following an initial assessment, your child/young person’s school is able to purchase follow-up visits to monitor your child/young person’s progress. The school also have the opportunity to buy a review meeting with the allocated Specialist teacher, where they will discuss the findings with you and the school.
Dyslexia and Dudley’s Process for Identification
Here in Dudley, there is a pathway which can lead to a diagnosis of dyslexia when there are persistent difficulties with literacy as detailed in the working definition of Dyslexia taken from the Rose report (2009)
'Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.
- Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed.
- Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities.
- It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points.
- Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor co-ordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia.
A good indication of the severity and persistence of dyslexic difficulties can be gained by examining how the individual responds or has responded to well-founded intervention.'
This is a joint process between Dudley’s Learning Support Service and Educational Psychology Service and follows a ‘response to intervention model’. Here a school is asked to evidence the support given to your child/young person in school and the progress they have made.
Multi-agency Dyslexia Assessment Meeting (MADA Meeting)
Following a robust cycle of ‘assess-plan-do-review’, where school have supported the learning needs of your child/young person, you will be invited to attend a meeting along with your child/young person’s school SENCo, allocated Educational Psychologist and LSS Specialist Teacher. At this meeting the following areas will be discussed:
- Pregnancy and birth
- Early milestones
- Any health/medical problems
- The views of yourself and your child/young person
- Strengths and interests of your child/young person
- Cognition
- Reading
- Phonics
- Phonological Awareness
- Memory
- Processing
- Writing and Spelling
Following this meeting a report is completed by the Educational Psychologist ready for the next stage of the process (Dudley Dyslexia Advisory Group).
Dudley Dyslexia Advisory Group (DDAG)
Each half-term the DDAG, which consists of representatives from both Dudley’s Educational Psychology and Learning Support Services, meet to discuss the completed and submitted MADA meeting report and intervention data provided by school. At this point your child’s difficulties are also matched against the Rose definition and a diagnosis of dyslexia may be given, where appropriate. When all the professionals agree, a diagnosis is given and a report is written outlining recommendations.
There are occasions when further information is requested in order to gain a better understanding of your child’s profile of difficulties and their response to intervention.
Intensive Learning Unit (ILU)
The ILU is a specialist teaching unit for small groups of KS2 pupils (years 3-5), based at St James’s C of E Primary school Stourbridge. Pupils who would benefit from this facility are recognized as having a high probability of Specific Learning Difficulties/Dyslexia rather than general learning difficulties. Your child must have a good record of attendance to be considered. Partnership with parents is valued and you will be invited to visit the Unit with your child in order to confirm their place. Your child will attend on a part time basis: one morning and one afternoon each week. Your child will be transported to and from the ILU by an approved taxi service (with DBS checks). Placements can be for one, two or three school terms, with progress being monitored and assessed each term.
Specialist Teaching
Dudley LSS are able to provide Specialist Teaching to support difficulties in Literacy and/or Maths on a 1-1 basis or for small groups of pupils (a maximum of 4 per group). This takes place within the school day, either on site or virtually.