STAGE 2 PROPOSAL FORM FOR DFE GRANT FUNDING TO PROVIDE KEY ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES
EOI Reference Number / 455
Please indicate which theme you are bidding for / Theme 3
Amount of grant funding requested in each financial year / £1,000,000 in 2011-12
£750,000 in 2012-13
Lead Organisation Name – include names of partner organisation(s) if applicable / Dyslexia Action in partnership with RNIB
Charity Registration Number (if applicable) / Registered Charity Number 268502 in England and Wales
Company Number (if applicable) / 1179975
Registered Address / Park House, Wick Road
Egham, Surrey TW20 OHH
Contact Name / Shirley Cramer
Position / Chief Executive Officer
Email /
Phone number / 01784 222321 (work) 07841672081( mob)
2. Overview of Bid
Maximum 150 words (5 marks)
We will rapidly establish a national service providing access to the curriculum for children with SEN, through accessible digital technologies that bring speed, efficiency, flexibility and scale. Drawing on international evidence and the learning from the DfE Accessible Resources Project the service will transform the experience of thousands of learners and release education professionals from the mundane tasks of scanning, typing or searching for texts so they may support pupils more effectively. An online system will allow for discovery of accessible texts and the sharing of specialist resources, supported by high quality training and advice.
The consortium partners bring expertise and capacity to deliver accessible text conversion, quality guidance and training, efficient exploitation of digital technologies to bring scale and efficiencies, strong relationships with publishers, technology companies and other stakeholders.
3: Track Record and Impact
Maximum 500 words (20 marks)
Dyslexia Action is the largest independent provider of educational services for people with dyslexia/SpLD in the UK, and pioneers identification and teaching of children with dyslexia, through promoting evidence based interventions via our resources, training and innovative programmes. Our Partnership for Literacy initiative is a whole school programme improving literacy standards for all children (5,000 across 38 schools), particularly those 20% struggling with literacy. This programme reaches the widest group at the lowest cost through apprentice training for teachers and Teaching assistance (TA’s). To ensure sustainability mainstream teachers access appropriate training cost effectively through specialist e-learning modules. Dyslexia Action worked with the National Strategies to develop the IDP programme and with I CAN to test these models of national training with Local Authorities (LA).
We have worked closely with Government (LSC/ SFA) to develop the Hidden Disabilities Questionnaire, a unique screening tool used by non-specialists to pick up those with specific learning difficulties. This tool is used by all those delivering offender education to identify those who need extra and specific support. It has also been adapted to work for those with speech language and communication difficulties and has been tested with Youth Offending Teams across the country.
All Dyslexia Action projects involve a user/beneficiary survey element and children receiving tuition (over 3,000) are invited to complete a survey. Our online platforms gather feedback (5,000 on Facebook) and the Its ME! website invites engagement from the wider dyslexic population to help our strategic thinking.
Established in 1868 RNIB is the largest charity representing visually impaired (VI) people. Last year the RNIB group had income of over £115 million secured from diverse sources including: Statutory grants and tender; Big lottery Fund; EU funds; trusts; Corporates. Eg Embossed Literature Grant. RNIB provides a strong national lead within VI education, underpinning improvements in inclusive education through research, national conferences:
And professional networks: VITAL, for practitioners working with Children and Young people (CYP) with complex needs and a National Braille Literacy network.
Training: Accredited BTEC Partners in Learning course (trained around 1000 TA's over the last 10 years; mandatory course for teachers of VI; new course for mobility workers with CYP. Resources: 'Count Me In' DVD (2009) principles and practices of effective inclusion.
- Guidance: Work with QCDA and Ofqual on improving access to the curriculum and qualifications for VI learners. RNIB led on the DfES Early Excellence Programme 2002-2006, taking forward the inclusion of CYP with VI by working with 14 Early Excellence Centres across 9 LA's to support families and practitioners. This provided evidence for the model of early year’s specialist outreach workers services.
- RNIB's associate Action for Blind People provided information and support to over 3500 VI CYP and their families, in 2010 including a range of social and sporting activities
RNIB evaluations and recent new strategy include user/beneficiary surveys to demonstrate impact and guide future development. ( 480)
References: Mark Woodruff, Director the JJ Charitable Trust, Allington House,150 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5AE. Phone 0207 410 7049
E.A Draffan , School of Electronic and Computer Science, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ. Phone 023 8059 7246
4: Objectives and intended Outcomes
Maximum 500 words (20marks)
There are approximately 330,000 children with dyslexia and other SpLD’s in secondary schools in England and 7,800 with Visual Impairments Just over 100,000 pupils with dyslexia will have moderate to severe difficulties requiring texts in alternat formats. There are children with other specific learning difficulties and SEN with print disability who will also benefit from this new service.
We aim to provide children with SEN in secondary schools, with access to critical curriculum material at the same time as their non-disabled peers in a format that meets their needs, by means of a new on line digital book and resource repository that will enable the easy and timely delivery of curriculum material. Our objectives are:
To help ensure children with SEN achieve an increased level of curriculum access and participation, thereby improving both their educational and examination outcomes.
To ensure that children with SEN develop the necessary skills to use the material in a way that promotes independent study and learning.
To ensure their best possible life chances through a rewarding educational experience.
To help schools meet their obligations under the DDA by ensuring that children with SEN are not disadvantaged by delays in the delivery of curriculum material and are afforded equality of opportunity.
To secure 1000 titles in a flexible digital form available from the new service by the end of 2013.
To ensure maximum participation in the new service, the 5097 secondary schools heads will be made aware of the service. By 2013 we plan to ensure that at least 2 staff in 20% of secondary schools is able to use the service in order to fully support the needs of students with SEN.To this end, we will engage with Local Authorities, head teachers and other education professionals as appropriate to promote the service and it’s benefits to students.
To develop a range of training resources and courses for Sencos, teachers and teaching assistants, using both e-learning and classroom based delivery, To create an understanding of how to use the service to ensure the best outcome for students.
To develop a community of learners amongst those who use the service, in order to share best practice and improve student outcomes.
To create a sustainable and growing on line service that is recognised as ‘the’ one stop shop for resources to meets the needs of students with SEN.
To work with the CLA, publisher stakeholders and other interested groups to establish protocols for the depositing of curriculum and other materials and to create a fair framework within which the service can thrive while protecting the interests of all stakeholders.
To ensure a regular feedback mechanism for service users, and other stakeholders, so that the service is flexible and appropriate to the needs of the users
To ensure that we make available the most relevant titles to students to enable them to improve their learning and educational attainment.
.(480)
5: Methodology/Approach (High Level Delivery Plan)
Maximum 500 words (excluding High Level Delivery Plan) (20marks)
This partnership brings together the two leading charities in the UK representing beneficiaries with print impairments (Dyslexia/SpLD -Dyslexia Action and Visual impairment (VI) - RNIB).
The approach taken for this project will be that Dyslexia Action will act as Project lead due to their experience with delivering Partnership for Literacy, whilst RNIB will manage the conversion of curriculum materials and the provision of accessible titles. Both organisations bring a wealth of experience in web delivered services and e-learning.
Design
The design of the project is based on the recommendations of the DfE Accessible Resources Project and the considerable experience (including feedback from users) that exists in the two partner organisations and takes advantage of current developments (e.g. digital publishing, online shopping and library solutions, social networking, e-learning learning environments etc) to develop a unified world-class solution for curriculum access for learners with SEN and print-disabilities.
The design includes:
A) Creation of online portal and resources via a modular approach which will mean that there will be early availability of a basic service, with further benefits being added as they become available.
B) Training of education staff via a range of training tools and courses, using both e-learning and classroom based delivery, increasing skills on how to use the service and ensure the best outcome for students
C) Support for education staff via the collation, development and sharing of best-practice guidance, standards and presented in ways which meet their needs for time-efficient and distributed staff development
D) World class technologies and techniques in digitising and structuring published materials to produce accessible and flexible files for use by a wide range of users
E) Engagement of educators/ learners and their families will be by a coordinated and targeted promotional campaign
F) Evaluation: all aspects of the activity will be evaluated by stakeholders
Delivery
The delivery of the project will include users and stakeholders on advisory groups, and evaluation panels, to ensure we meet the diverse range of user requirements for print-impaired learners, their educators and families. This includes the design of the content material which will be based on open, flexible standards in order to protect the legacy of the investment and ensure maximum opportunity for reuse on future technologies, whilst taking into account the interests of publishers and other rights holders.
The service will be a partnership between Dyslexia Action and RNIB. For the purposes of the grant, Dyslexia Action will be the lead party and responsible to the Department. A Project Director will be appointed by Dyslexia Action, and work packages will have identified and accountable leads. The partnership will be set out in a Memorandum of Understanding, and governed by a Project Board of two senior representatives of each organisation.
Where there are choices to be made in the project, these will be considered with best public value in mind, and services will be procured following established good practice. The partnership will explore the optimum structure for a long term sustainable business model. ( 494)
6: Management, Governance and Risks
Maximum 250 words (10 marks)
Both Dyslexia Action and RNIB have experience of working in partnership with a range of stakeholders to deliver Government priorities and have provided strong management and governance arrangements.
The Project Director will be responsible for coordinating the project team and ensuring that the plan is delivered on time and on budget. The Project Director will communicate with the DfE on progress. Detailed delivery plans, timelines and budgets will also be monitor regularly by the steering group. Customer satisfaction will be regularly evaluated and digital operations will be closely monitored for ease of use and efficiency. The finances and risk register for the project will be reviewed at least monthly by Dyslexia Action’s Finance Director who will provide oversight for the finance /risk register and will support the Director in all financial matters.
We will work with schools, senco’s and teachers to evaluate the impact of the digital texts on a variety of indices,
· .the cost benefit of the new service in comparison with previous ways of supporting pupils with print disabilty.
· the effectiveness of the new service from both a student and teacher perspective
· .the progress of the students in relation to their experience of learning with the new service
· We will evaluate which students find the service most valuable and in what ways so that we can improve the impact of the service. These evaluations will be done by the project team with some outside consultancy support.
Description of Key Risk / Probability (H/M/L) / Controls
Issues with the publishers leading to difficulties acquiring appropriate texts / L / Early and regular consultation with publishers as partners
Early priority of key texts
Loss of director or other key staff through staff changes or illness / L / The project will be operated through team work where everyone would have knowledge of all areas of the project so that cover would be available. Interim staff could swiftly be provided by Dyslexia Action or RNIB through secondment until a permanent solution is found.
Lack of take up by secondary schools / M / Careful and detailed monitoring of marketing activity and relationship building
Increased targeted marketing
Increased PR and departmental activity on the importance of the service re: equality of opportunity.
Difficulties with website leading to discontinuity of service leading to dissatisfaction by schools/ individuals / L / Contracting with a reputable and large website host who has a plan to mitigate risk of discontinuity of service
Close attention to customer service by the project team.
7. Staffing
Maximum 250 words (10 marks)
· Project Director (FT): Dyslexia Action will recruit (with RNIB) an experienced manager with a track record in delivering high quality projects and with leadership skills. The project director will liaise with the DfE and key stakeholders
· Financial management (PT) Dyslexia Action’s Head of Finance is an experienced finance manager with a staff of 10 to support specific activities/ analysis/ and risk. She will support the service part time
· Content development: RNIB is the world leader in content development. Key staff will manage the content through RNIB’s own production facilities and online conversion houses.
· Service management: We will recruit two staff to work alongside RNIB’s experienced team, in order to build capacity into existing workflows. They will manage content acquisition, project development and manage relationships with publishers and other content creators.