How a school and library in partnership can support pupils with Dyslexia
Category: Blog, SLG Scotland
Meg Davidson, SLG Scotland secretary and Network Librarian for Highlifehighland, talked to April Ingram about the project.
(Photo above: Librarian April Ingram (right), ASN teacher Gemma Edwards and the Digital Developers celebrate launch of new dyslexia friendly collection.)
In 2024, April Ingram, Culloden Academy school librarian and parent of a child with dyslexia, teamed up with ASN teacher, Gemma Edwards to lead a project at Crown Primary in Inverness to improve the library resources in the school for children with an identification of dyslexia. The project had the support of Head Teacher Miriam Macdonald and Deputy Head, Suzanne Dunbar.
The project aimed to support and empower dyslexic learners by:
- Providing access to dyslexia friendly books
- Enabling a pupil leadership group (The Digital Developers) to support peers to use Google Read&Write software and also care for the book collections
- Raising awareness of dyslexia and tackling any associated stigma
Pupils created displays to raise awareness and understanding of dyslexia
The team secured £1000 from the Highland Council Ward Discretionary Fund to purchase a dyslexia friendly and reluctant reader collection of books. The collection included graphic novels and Barrington Stokes titles.
April told me ‘having a choice of books that align with both their interest and ability can encourage pupils who find reading difficult, to develop a love of reading’.
The school received sponsorship from local businesses to purchase crates which could be used to move the collection around school to give all classes a chance to access the books. The Digital Developers are responsible for monitoring the collection and checking if any get lost or damaged.
Local business sponsorship also provided a pack of coloured overlays for each box and bookmarks where pupils can write a micro review for the next reader.
Supporting pupils with dyslexia was at the core of the project and was considered in every aspect, for example, the book lists in each box are printed on coloured paper with a dyslexia friendly font.
April explained how the project brought together pupils in Primary 4 to Primary 7 and commented ‘it has been wonderful to see how well the pupils have supported each other. The book collections were launched at an assembly. The Digital Developers spoke confidently in front of 250 of their peers about what it means to be dyslexic and they were encouraged by the positive reactions from their classmates. Working together seems to have removed any stigma surrounding this learning difference.’
The Digital Developers
The benefits of reading for pleasure are well evidenced but unfortunately it is too easy for a child to become disengaged from reading when they struggle with a learning difference. April described a real air of excitement in the school when the book collections were launched and was encouraged to see the enthusiasm that can be generated when a little care is taken to provide appropriate resources.
What did the pupils think?
Harris in P4 said ‘Everyone loves them (the books) we need at least 100 football books – especially Ronaldo as everyone wants to read it.’
Berkay in P4 said ‘I’m really happy that we have the Bunny v’s Monkey books. I used to see people in my class reading them that they brought from home and I thought that they looked really good but I never got to read them.’
The football books were very popular.
Success
The project officially completed in June 2025 and the team were delighted to have their efforts recognised by Dyslexia Scotland who awarded Dyslexia Changemaker status to the school for their work.
Mrs Edwards and Mrs Ingram with one of the Digital Developers are happy to submit their Dyslexia Changemaker application
The team are now looking towards rolling out this relatively simple but effective model in other Primary schools in Inverness.
Another badge to add to the collection
A short video about the project created by Highlifehighland is available below: