December 2012 Newsletter - Oasis Academy John Williams

HRH The Countess of Wessex Visits the Academy
On Tuesday 2 October,
HRH The Countess of
Wessex visited the
Academy in recognition of
the excellence of its work
in the field of dyslexia and
literacy. During the visit,
HRH met students and
staff and unveiled a
plaque commemorating
her visit.
The visit was an
acknowledgement of the
partnership of the
Academy with the
educational charity
Dyslexia Action to deliver
their learning support
programme Partnership
for Literacy (P4L). As a
Patron of the charity, HRH
has worked with Dyslexia
Action since 2003 and has
been involved in helping
the charity to reach its
aims of supporting those
with dyslexia and raising
awareness of those with
the specific learning
difficulty. HRH the
Countess was very
impressed with the
Academy's work with
dyslexic students and
thanked the students and
staff "for recognising
those in need of a little
more help." Of the
students she met, she
declared them to be
"charming and a real
credit to the Academy."
Rebecca Clark said "We
are delighted to welcome
HRH to our Academy. We
are exceptionally proud
of the hard work, success
and achievement of all
our young people and
especially those who
receive additional literacy
support through
programmes like Dyslexia
Action's Partnership for
Literacy. Her visit is a
wonderful way to
recognise and reward
those students and staff
who have worked so
hard."
As she departed, HRH was
presented with a posy by
Rhys Fricker, a Year 10
student who has
participated in the P4L
programme. Rebecca
Clark said of Rhys, "He is a
great role model who
shows just what is
possible with great
learning support and
commitment. Not only
has he benefited hugely
from the programme; he
is also an active member
of the Academy
community attending the
youth club and our
community pensioners
club. As a member of the
Sea Cadets, it was a real
honour for him to wear
his uniform and represent
both the Academy and
the Sea Cadets."
The Countess is especially
interested in the national
educational charity's
Partnership for Literacy
(P4L). The project aims to
provide a flexible and
sustainable solution that
involves the whole
Academy community in
improving the literacy
standards of all children.
It offers different levels of
specialist dyslexia training
to all Academy staff and
leaves Dyslexia Action's
knowledge and teaching
materials with the
Academy.