Millfield Headmaster Gavin Horgan was a special guest at Made By Dyslexia’s first World Dyslexia Assembly at the Swedish Royal Palace on 27 April.
Mr Horgan backs calls for systemic change to empower Dyslexic Thinking in every school and workplace. Made By Dyslexia is a charity founded by Kate Griggs, a Millfield Governor and Old Millfieldian, which is changing the way the world defines dyslexia. Mr Horgan joined a panel discussing how to empower Dyslexic Thinking in education and the workplace.
Mr Horgan was invited to the event by Her Majesty the Queen of Sweden, and their Royal Highnesses Prince Carl Philip (dyslexic himself) and Princess Sofia of Sweden, in partnership with the Prince Couple’s Foundation, Prinsparet Stiftelse. The guest list featured HRH Princess Beatrice and her husband; Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Eric Adams Mayor of New York and Sir Richard Branson.
Mr Horgan said: “Dyslexia is still too often seen as something that will set a child back in their development. It continues to be unidentified, unsupported and misunderstood in many schools, despite the creative industries and organisations such as GCHQ describing the power of being able to think differently as a vital workplace skill. 1 in 5 people have dyslexia and so we need to embrace it and support those children to flourish and change mindsets so that we view it as a superpower. It is a brilliance that can lead them on exciting paths.”
Millfield is known for its proactive approach to learning support for children with dyslexia and it is no coincidence that many former students go on to become innovators and entrepreneurs through harnessing their ‘outside of the box’ thinking. Multiple students have gone on to achieve places at top higher education institutions by learning ways to manage the challenges of their dyslexia and embrace the positive skills it brings them.
The current examination system in England brands 65% of dyslexic learners as failures every year when they do not pass GCSE English and Mathematics compared to only 29% of non-dyslexic learners.
The Assembly was hosted by Robyn Curnow, CNN News Anchor, and included representatives from Microsoft, HSBC, Meta, Randstad Sourceright, International Dyslexia Association, and many successful dyslexics including Space Scientist, Maggie Aderin-Pocock who will explain how their Dyslexic Thinking has helped them to succeed.
According to Made By Dyslexia, in schools, only one in five dyslexic children are identified with dyslexia and only one in 10 teachers understand Dyslexic Thinking skills. In employment, less than half of employers understand Dyslexic Thinking skills and four in five say recruitment is not geared up for those with dyslexia.
Despite this, a report published by Made By Dyslexia and EY argued that in a fast-paced and changing workplace, where machines are poised to take over many tasks, dyslexics have exactly the skills needed for the workplace of tomorrow.
This was further emphasised by a report published with ManpowerGroup stating that the COVID-19 pandemic has turbo-charged this digitisation and by 2025 humans and machines will split work 50-50, with 50 per cent of ‘human’ skills needed mapping directly with Dyslexic Thinking.
Acknowledging this, the world’s largest careers platform, LinkedIn, has added Dyslexic Thinking as a skill which their 810+ million members globally can add to their profile. And dictionary.com are adding the term to the dictionary.
The event will be held in New York next year, the first city in the world to pledge to train every teacher in specialist dyslexia skills.
Categories: Millfield School School News
