Dyslexia Friendly Quality Mark for Education
Contents
DFQM Reviews
Our Dyslexia Friendly Quality Mark has been successfully implemented in mainstream and special primary and secondary schools, alternative provision, and independent schools.
Read the impact it has had on their settings...
Chew Valley Headteacher comments
The Headteacher explained that, although strong SEND practice was already in place, the Dyslexia Friendly Quality Mark provided the structure, framework and processes needed to enhance and sharpen this provision further.
It helped the school spotlight dyslexia‑friendly approaches, build a more consistently dyslexia‑aware workforce and refine the Chew Valley lesson framework, which has been developed over four years. The framework also enabled staff to access clear support, resources and quality assessment, contributing to greater awareness and rigour in evaluating SEND provision.
The Headteacher felt that the Quality Mark has contributed to a stronger sense of belonging amongst learners, with positive effects on attendance, wellbeing and parental confidence; families increasingly choose Chew Valley specifically for its inclusive ethos. Looking ahead, he sees opportunities to share best practice across the Trust, encourage partner schools to engage with the Quality Mark and expand its impact across the wider community to ensure parents, carers and learners feel listened to and empowered.
Warrick Barton Headteacher, Pensford Primary School
We are delighted to have received the Dyslexia Quality Mark from the BDA. We feel that the impact of the support and guidance we have received in working towards this has been a great benefit to our pupils.
The understanding the staff now have of how to support children with dyslexia has grown very significantly. We now have a 'toolkit' of approaches, and a new-found confidence among teachers and teaching assistants that in turn feeds trust in us from the parents and pupils themselves. They know we can help the to achieve their 'personal best', which has always been our mission.
Perhaps the most rewarding part has been seeing children with dyslexia achieve beyond their own initial expectations and showing that the standard of their reading and writing is right there alongside that of their peers”.
William Tyndale School
Gaining the DFQM in 2021 and successfully renewing it in 2024 has instilled confidence in our whole staff team. We are proud to understand how to support children and families effectively.
When looking through the criteria form DFQM, I could see a couple of specific areas we needed to work towards.
The first was working with parents, specifically parents of children with dyslexia. We now meet termly and encourage their feedback about our provision, but we also share resources and updates. We share information on upcoming parent events provided by the BDA. Parental feedback has been very positive.
The second was working with children to develop their understanding of dyslexia and its impact on them. We created a group of ‘dyslexia ambassadors who meet regularly to think about the difficulties they encounter and how their strengths can be used to help them. The dyslexia ambassadors also plan and lead Dyslexia Awareness Week activities for the whole school every October.
Testimonials from Dyslexia Ambassadors
Simona: When I first was a dyslexia ambassador, it was weird at the start, but when we did dyslexia awareness week and it made me feel good and proud.
Anna: When I first became a dyslexia ambassador, I thought it was going to be boring and I wished I never had dyslexia but after some time, I realised that having dyslexia made wonderful things in the world and I realised that dyslexia was not a bad thing at all!