The Turnabout Programme
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Home Case study About Turnabout Demonstrating Progress to OFSTED Training & Support Contact

The current inspection process places a great emphasis upon how different groups of children progress and in this context, pupils with learning difficulties come under the Ofsted microscope even more than before. This scrutiny includes both the provision for these pupils and their achievement. Under-performance of any group of pupils can have a significant bearing on the inspection outcomes.  
‘Hard to move’ pupils
Within most schools there are pupils who do not reach the expected levels in literacy. In primary schools for example, these ‘hard to move’ pupils are usually targeted for additional support, including Government funding for some individual tuition. It has recently been recognised that the difficulties these pupils experience are very frequently associated with dyslexia, to a greater or lesser extent. To demonstrate ‘expected progress’ for these pupils continues to be a particular dilemma for many schools.
Difficult for schools to demonstrate progress
Schools are usually able to  show that they are making additional provision for such pupils but it may be considerably more difficult to present this to the inspectors in terms of the measurable improvement that is now expected. Typically, these pupils will have received years of additional costly support  encompassing word recognition for the basic words in the English language and extensive phonics training. Notwithstanding the dedication, commitment and skilled teaching that is usually applied, many pupils will have made insufficient progress. Their reading may still be lacking comprehension, their writing can remain slow and untidy and their spelling inaccurate. It can then be difficult for schools to show progress commensurate with the effort and resources that they have provided.
The matter of weak memory
The underlying reason for this lack of progress is that, for most pupils with learning difficulties, there is a neurological aspect to their problems. Much of this is related to memory: visual memory - memorising what is seen; auditory memory - memorising what is heard; retrieving information from memory and re-sequencing the information that has been stored. For many pupils, their working memory is too short to cope with the demands of the classroom. Pupils with a poor visual memory will not be able to spell common English words accurately . The recent emphasis on a phonics approach will not match some of the expectations that have been put on it for those pupils who cannot accurately remember and retrieve sounds. All of us who have taught reading will have known children who can remember, for example, the ‘ai’ sound one day and have completely forgotten it two days later. Pupils with poor memory retrieval skills will write a word incorrectly even if they know how to spell it verbally.
Addressing the underlying causes.
At Turnabout Education we believe that the way forward is to address the underlying neurological difficulties. After undertaking Turnabout training for an hour a week for some twelve weeks, pupils show great improvement in their memory.  This is quickly and directly reflected in their learning, such as a year or more rise in their reading age in just twelve weeks. Other changes also take place; pupils remember what they are learning, are more involved and are less easily distracted. Evidence from the schools we are involved with refutes the widely held notion that dyslexia is a condition that can only be ameliorated and not resolved.
A catalyst that enables literacy teaching to be effective
We always emphasise that the Turnabout non-linguistic activities are not in conflict with traditional teaching nor with any remedial programmes. Turnabout should be seen as a catalyst that enables literacy teaching to be effective for all pupils and the assessment systems allow schools to record real achievement  - and to be able to demonstrate this to the inspector, whenever he (or she) calls.
Demonstrating Progress to Ofsted