Blog

Above: Candeese, Jackson and Rylee

There is very little being done in New Zealand schools to address the academic and emotional needs of students who have dyslexia. There is no screening process available through schools and parents face enormous costs both in time and money, trying to seek a diagnosis and then trying to find a suitable programme to address their child's learning needs.

After owning the Kip McGrath Education Centre in Tauranga for 14 years, Judith Kramer decided to sell the franchise and specialise in Dyslexia and Irlen Syndrome. Irlen Syndrome is the visual perceptual aspect of dyslexia that can cause people to see print in a distorted way. Kramer has owned the license since 2008 and now operates the Cellfield Intervention primarily from Tauranga Intermediate.

Golden Homes have been the sponsorship partner since February 2015. Kramer says they are extremely fortunate to have their continued support as we are able to reach so many more students than we would have been able to, purely because of the cost and time involved. Being at Tauranga Intermediate is ideal, as the students come out of class for an hour per day for 10 sessions. They then have ten 1 hour sessions of follow-up tuition in reading and writing.

Golden Homes sponsor the majority of the programme, with a small fee paid by the parent. The programme is extremely effective and is at the cutting edge of technology as far as programmes for dyslexia go. The programme is a brain plasticity 'evidence based' intervention that simultaneously targets key visual, auditory and motor functions of the brain. It directly addresses the inefficient neural wiring underlying dyslexia.

Golden Homes has recognised the need for children with dyslexia to have the best chance at a good education - these students are our 'out of the square thinkers', the entrepreneurs of the future. We don't want them in prison because of low literacy skills and low self-esteem. Both parents and students are always very grateful for the opportunity to take part in the Cellfield Intervention.

The following is a letter written from a student to her teachers 6 months after doing Cellfield.

Mrs M and Mr C, my parents are so happy with my reading level so am I. I cannot believe I got a 4A! When at the start of last year, I got 2A. I am so happy with my improvement. Thank you so much
From J

The principal replied that he was thrilled and congratulated all involved, particularly Golden Homes. Golden Homes receives the reading test results pre and post Cellfield to see how they are tracking, as well as thank you letters from the students.