VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM


A coordinated approach to assistive technology


I


n our View from the classroom feature this month, Michelle Catterson and David


Curran from Moon Hall School in Reigate explain to education journalist Sal McKeown how they are realising their vision of using assistive technology for students with dyslexia.


It was intended to be a half day visit to Moon Hall School. This is a specialist dyslexia school for children aged 7-16 in Reigate. Thanks to Covid on my part, it ended up as a Zoom meeting. This was a shame as I was looking forward to quizzing children about their use of technology. I had approached the school because it is


possibly the first time I have come across a teacher with the job title Assistive Technologies Lead and Head of Careers, and I was intrigued. So often schools will have a head of ICT but it is the SENCO who ends up with responsibility for assistive technology and perhaps a Higher Level Teaching Assistant who is responsible for implementing it. David Curran has been in post for just a few


months but for Michelle Catterson, Executive Headteacher and vice chair of the British Dyslexia Association, it has been a long journey. 'I knew I wanted a more coordinated approach


16 www.education-today.co.uk February 2022


to assistive technology. The pupils at Moon Hall have a wide variety of needs, some have very mild dyslexia and others need more intensive support. Not all are poor readers or typically bad at spelling, therefore we have a wide variety of needs to make accommodations for. The mother of a boy now in year 11 said: 'You almost need to treat him as if he has a visual impairment. His dyslexia is so severe that asking him to read anything, even a simple sentence, is beyond his


capabilities'. In fact, he is bright and very capable but his reading abilities are so low that he cannot obtain information from text.' Many schools have access to good technology


but if there is no one to promote it, it falls by the wayside because it's not a priority. Moon Hall had two teachers who worked on assistive technology but they had other roles and responsibilities in the school: both taught ICT and one also taught art for part of the week.


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