Patoss Basingstoke Local Group

Meetings

We have 3 termly meetings a year, with average attendance of 60 people. Recent speakers have included:

• Denise Thornton speaking about Attention and Concentration Difficulties,
• Gillian Hindshaw on Brian Gym,
• Dr Kate Saunders on How Dyslexics Learn,
• Julia Rowlandson on Readability (Educational Commissioning Editor of Barrington Stoke),
• John Dowling on Sol-Fa the Multisensory Way to Learn Music (workshop)

Cost generally £3 members and £5 non members (varies according to charge by speaker).

At a recent meeting, Julia Rowlandson, Education Editor for Barrington Stoke Publishers, offered a fascinating insight into the philosophy behind their books and their research with reluctant readers before a book goes to print. She discussed the difficulties which poor readers may encounter and offered practical strategies to help. After several terms of holding our meetings at Chalk Ridge Primary School we need to find larger premises. We would like to thank Chalk Ridge for their hospitality to us. In the Autumn we are moving location to John Hunt Secondary School in Basingstoke.

Our Chairperson, Rody Politt, has recently had her first book published, “Day to Day Dyslexia in the Classroom” by Joy Pollack, Elizabeth Waller and Rody Politt.

Future programme

Further information will be advised.

Notices
Please note new venue at John Hunt Secondary School

The book shop, Waterstones, is currently working with the Dyslexia Institute for their Charity of the Year and has produced a useful book, “Waterstone’s Guide to Books for Young Dyslexic Readers.” We approached the local branch manager in Basingstoke for copies of this book to distribute at meetings. He researched us by looking up the PATOSS website. He commented that he was very impressed with it and, as a result, kindly supplied us with the books, offering both discount prices and credit facilities to local members. This demonstrates the importance and influence of a clear, up-to-date website and we would like to thank the PATOSS committee for this.

Group contact:

Rody Politt
Tel: 01256 882209 or E-mail

Contact for Tutor Register:
Patty Burt
Tel:01256 850593 or E-mail

Chairperson: Rody Politt Email
Secretary: Meg Verrall Email
Treasurer: Sharon Fawcitt Email

Non members are welcome to meetings for a nominal entrance fee.
Meetings are held termly, and are open to any interested/involved SpLD professional.
All our meetings are 'twilight' sessions with a small charge to cover costs.
We usually have a specialist bookstall and other displays (eg Learning Loft).
Refreshments, after a hard day at the chalk-face, are always available, as well as a chance to network with others working in the same field.

Resources
Notes of our meetings.
Lecture notes from some of our local meetings are available to view and order copies.

National Conference Notes
Lecture notes and information sheets from last year's National Conference are available to view and to order at our local meetings. For those who can't make the Conference in March, we'll make this year's available as soon as we can.

Assessment Library
Recently we have invested in some up-to-date assessment materials that are available for hire. The system is as follows:

The test(s) can be hired for 2 weeks at a time.
We require a returnable security deposit to the value of the item.
Hire charges are £5.00 for the fortnight for each test borrowed.
Pupils' papers can be bought separately.
The materials are available from Sue at any time or at our local meetings.
The following materials are presently available:

The British Picture Vocabulary Scale II(BPVS)
Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB)
Wordchains (Louise Guron)
Matric Analogies

Past Events
Nov 2003 - How Dyslexics Learn by Kate Saunders
Jun 2003 - Brain Gym by Gillian Hindshaw
Mar 2003 - Attention & Concentration Difficulties by Denise Thornton
Nov 2002 - Handwriting by Kyra Bradbury
Jun 2002 - Social Communication Disorders by Elizabeth Mills
Mar 2002 - Early Development & its effects on learning by Gail Saye
Nov 2001 - Diet, Dyslexia & other Specific Learning Disorders by Dr Stordy
Jun 2001 - Training the Brain by Veronica Munro
Mar 2001 - "Please Miss - I don't understand!" by Mary North
November 2000 - SpLD? ADHD?, by Adrian Faupel
June 2000 - Concept of Time, by Wendy Rinaldi
March 2000 - Sound Therapy, by Hilary Green
November 1999 - OT and SpLD, by Vikki Haskell
June 1999 - The Autistic Spectrum, by Jenny Martin
March 1999 - Circuits for Life, by Hilary Green
November 1998 - Building Language, by Andrew McPherson
June 1998 - PAT, by Jo Wilson
March 1998 - Kumon Maths, by Hilary Lyne