Latest news with #learningdifficulties
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Stoke-on-Trent bungalow could be turned into children's home
A detached bungalow in Birches Head could be turned into a children's home. A change of use planning application for the property on Earlswood Road has been submitted to Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The applicant, Egret Care Ltd, wants to create a home for a child aged between eight and 18. The planning statement reads: "Egret Care Ltd. is a dedicated and experienced provider of residential care, specialising in supporting children with mild to moderate learning difficulties, Special Educational Needs (SEN), behavioural challenges, and mild disabilities. READ MORE: Mystery of missing Stoke-on-Trent doctor solved 12 years after he vanished READ MORE: Stoke-on-Trent street where 'dumbstruck' families celebrating £250,000 cheques "The submitted proposal will provide a care home facility for one child, with the child living there as its permanent residence. The child will be cared for by two members of staff during the day, supported by a house manager. "Two staff members will also be present overnight, with one sleep-in member of staff and one waking staff member. Staff will operate on a shift pattern, typically rotating every two to three days. "The premises will be regulated by Ofsted. The child occupying the premises will range between eight and 18 years of age and will have access to structured care, education and emotional support and 24 hour supervision." Get daily headlines and breaking news emailed to you - it's FREE
The Independent
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Holly Willoughby opens up about personal battle with dyslexia as a child
Holly Willoughby has opened up about her struggles with dyslexia as a child, admitting she was 'always' making mistakes in school. Featuring in a new documentary in which Jamie Oliver explores the challenges faced by dyslexic school pupils, the presenter revealed that she grappled with her spelling the most. 'I always knew that when I'd get my homework back, there would be red pen all over it where there would be 'silly mistakes',' she said during Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution, which aired on Monday (9 June). Willoughby was diagnosed with dyslexia shortly before her GCSEs. She once revealed on This Morning that when she was younger, she used to feel 'shameful' about her learning difficulty though has since come to embrace it.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Holly Willoughby reveals secret health battle that drove her to 'write herself off' and admits 'I felt different' in emotional new Channel 4 documentary
Holly Willoughby has revealed a secret health battle that drove her to 'write herself off' in an emotional Channel 4 documentary. Jamie Oliver 's new show, Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution, hit screens on Monday evening. The documentary saw the TV chef look into the challenges dyslexic children have to tackle at school and push for more support from the Government. Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that causes problems with reading, writing and spelling and difficulties with processing. During the film, Holly features and opens up about her own battle with dyslexia. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Reflecting on her time at school, the TV star spoke about her 'poor results' in tests despite 'working really, really hard'. She said: 'I definitely was terrible at spelling. I knew that because in spelling tests I would always get poor results' 'I always knew that when I got my homework back, there would be red pen all over it where there would be 'silly mistakes',' Holly added. The presenter revealed how it made her feel 'different' and explained: 'I felt like I was working really, really hard, with not getting much results. So I felt different.' She shared her take on the current school system and how it isn't suited for everyone. 'The school system is made for a certain type of learning and its so hard when you don't learn like that,' Holly said. 'When you then write yourself off at school as being non-academic that does shape your future somewhat,' she added. The TV presenter has previously said she was diagnosed with dyslexia 'quite late in life' and has praised her teachers with helping her overcome it at school. And during an episode of This Morning back in 2022, the star said she did not see the learning difficulty as a 'disability', adding: 'I think it makes me who I am.' While discussing dyslexia with British entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson, 71, who is also dyslexic, Holly said: 'I don't see it as a disability at all, I see it as a real feather in my cap. 'I'm very proud of being dyslexic, I think it makes me who I am. I think half of the things I think that I'm actually quite good at in life are because I'm dyslexic.' Sir Richard responded: 'I was so hopeless at school work that I decided aged 15 to leave school and do the things that I was interested in, and once I started putting my dyslexic thinking brain to things that I was interested in I started to excel at them. 'I think I was quite creative and great at getting a good group of people around me and motivating them well… and what I've realised over the years is being a dyslexic thinker is something that we should all be blessed with.' He added: 'When parents are told that their child is dyslexic, they should rejoice and tell them that they will have a little bit of a difficult time at doing some of the fundamentals at school but they should be concentrating soon after that on the things that they are good at.' She also previously said she found her difficulties 'shameful' as a child during an episode of This Morning in 2021. 'For me, because I'm not very good at spelling, for years I felt shameful about that', the host reflected, before she revealed the turning point in her journey came when she went to college. She opened up about how she struggled with her experience during her younger years, revealing: 'Dyslexia is such a broad spectrum, people have so many different forms of it. 'Yes, I'm dyslexic also and I had to find my own tool kit and for me it was finding somebody who understood this who could teach me how to access those tools because at school it wasn't really that well known then. 'I wouldn't write down in front of people because I didn't want them to see, but it doesn't bother me now that I can't spell.'
CTV News
07-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Centennial Academy secures funding for future survival
It's been a stressful year for staff and students at Centennial Academy, with the threat of closure hanging over their heads. But thanks to a coalition of private donors, school will be back in session next year and the foreseeable future, according to the school's director, Angela Burgos. 'The Leger Family Foundation has initiated a coalition with the support of the Molson Foundation and with the support of these foundations. We have been able to regulate our situation and we are going to be good for next year and the years to come,' she said. The school caters to students with learning difficulties, including ADHD and dyslexia, and has developed models that aren't offered in the public system. It moved to its current location on 2075 Sherbrooke St. West in 2020, but the heritage building required significant renovations, and the school's debt grew to nearly $9 million. Burgos said the crisis drew the community together, including the students who demonstrated to save their school. Ellie Girard, 16, who suffers from mental health and learning difficulties, has only been at Centennial Academy for two years, but said it's the only school where she's thrived and she wanted to do whatever she could to support the effort. 'We did a protest recently where we were holding up a bunch of signs. We have no Plan B help because a lot of us, we don't have any Plan Bs,' she said. Girard said she's filled with relief now knowing the school will be open next year. 'I can finish everything without having the anxiety of being a new kid again at another new school. And I get to finish my year here with the teachers that I know and the system that works for me,' she said. But there are still future challenges facing the school, according to Burgos. With the help of Liberal MNA Jennifer Maccarone, they are currently lobbying Quebec for funding for its French sector. In 2008 the province stopped accrediting new francophone private schools, and Centennial launched its French side in 2016, and they make up nearly half of the 300-student body. They are asking for special status for the school since it serves a population with unique needs and has an 80 per cent graduation rate. 'What we're doing is unique and has for many years provided a solution for many families with great successes of students that have gone on to all kinds of careers,' she said, adding that they still have spaces available for the 2025-2026 school year.
Irish Times
03-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Leaving Cert 2025: Record numbers to sit State exams
A record-breaking 140,000 students will begin their Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle exams today. It means the delivery of this year's State exams is an even bigger logistical exercise than ever before, involving the secure distribution of about four million exam papers to hundreds of second-level schools and other settings across the State. A combination of factors is behind the record numbers, including a demographic bubble of young people at second level and greater numbers staying on in school to complete their exams. The number entered to take the 2025 exams is up by 3 per cent (+4,297) on last year's entry figure of 136,160 candidates. The most significant increases are in the numbers entered for the Leaving Cert (+5 per cent) and Leaving Cert Applied programme (+11 per cent). READ MORE The volume of students in receipt of additional supports has also climbed to a new high. [ Classroom to college: our essential Leaving Cert guide for parents, guardians and students ] While exams will take place in more than 5,800 sports halls and other large settings, there are almost 10,000 smaller settings this year, known as 'special examination centres'. These are aimed at students with additional needs or who may suffer from anxiety. Most education experts put the bulk of these increases down to greater awareness of learning difficulties, more access to expert advice and a broader definition of some developmental conditions. This year's exams will run until Tuesday, June 24th for Leaving Cert and Monday, June 16th for Junior Cycle exams. Once the Leaving Cert exams are marked, the State Examination Commission (SEC) will apply a 'postmarking adjustment' to students' papers. This follows a direction from the Department of Education to implement a 'gradual return to normal Leaving Cert outcomes', beginning this year. Grades soared during the pandemic when teacher-predicted grades were introduced and marks have been artificially inflated since 2021 to keep them at 7 per cent, on aggregate, in advance of pre-Covid grades. This year, the SEC will apply a postmarking adjustment to bring overall Leaving Cert results in the aggregate to a point broadly midway between the 2020 and 2021 levels, or about 5.5 per cent above pre-Covid grades. The move has sparked some controversy on the basis that it means the class of 2025 will be competing against an estimated 10,000-15,000 students from previous years with bumper grades for college places. Minister for Education Helen McEntee has defended the move on the basis that a very gradual pace of returning to normal will minimise the impact on students as far as possible. Universities have also complained that inflated grades risk undermining the integrity of results and make it difficult to differentiate between top candidates for high-points courses. The SEC, meanwhile, intends to issue this year's Leaving Cert exam results to candidates on Friday, August 22nd, which is in line with the date of issue of the results last year, but later than pre-Covid times. The SEC said developing and applying the postmarking adjustment adds time to the results process in comparison to normal years. 'The results issue date of Friday, 22 August, takes account of the time needed for this additional step. The timeline for results must also allow sufficient time for an extensive range of quality assurance checks to be undertaken,' it said.
