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Search forPupil wins £23,000 pay-out
Tuesday, October 07, 2008, 07:30
The pupil, who has not been named, was awarded the pay-out when their school did not fulfil its statutory duty to identify the condition.
The settlement was disclosed in response to a Freedom of Information request submitted to Lincolnshire County Council.
The authority is unable to respond in public to individual cases.
But when asked to comment on the procedures for identifying dyslexia Helen Longland, assistant director of children's services, said: "Schools respond to the needs of every child and where they identify a barrier to learning they put in place appropriate activities for that child.
"Schools are provided with training for a range of learning difficulties including dyslexia. They follow the processes within the national Special Educational Needs Code of Practice."
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty which affects areas including reading, writing and memory.
Several dyslexia organisations are currently campaigning to have a specialist teacher in every school.
Jennifer Owen-Adams, deputy chief executive of The British Dyslexia Association, said: "It is a school's statutory duty to identify a child's special educational needs, of which dyslexia is one.
"If a child's dyslexia is not identified and addressed within the school system, it is very likely that child will under-perform and not reach their full academic potential."
The council paid out a total £32,882 to four students in the 2007/08 financial year. One received £3,150 after an incident in which fingers were trapped in a door and another £2,100 after a fall from a climbing frame. Another received £4,289 after a lifting injury.
For more on dyslexia and how schools identify and help those with the condition, see Tuesday's Echo.
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