The Sean Connery Foundation Dyslexia Initiative
Supporting learners with literacy difficulties and dyslexia: Assessment, Reporting and Individualised Planning Strategies and Resources.
A unique partnership between the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC), Dyslexia Scotland and the Sean Connery Foundation has supported the development and successful implementation of the Sean Connery Foundation Dyslexia Initiative.
The aim of the programme was to enable more learners in City of Edinburgh Council schools to reach their full potential by benefitting from high-quality, targeted interventions which enhance literacy and build personal confidence, thereby improving life chances.
The support from the Sean Connery Foundation enabled the City of Edinburgh Council’s already established Literacy/Dyslexia Support Team to use their approaches and support to provide intensive tailored programmes to an increased number of learners.
The initiative enabled teachers and Pupil Support Staff (Pupil Support Assistants – PSAs) to benefit from bespoke training courses before being deployed on secondments to schools across Edinburgh. This led to a significant scaling up of identification and support for individuals and groups of learners with dyslexia.
Access the impact reports on Dyslexia Scotland’s website.
The programme legacy
Evaluations throughout the Sean Connery Foundation Dyslexia Initiative demonstrated the success of improved pupils’ literacy levels through a programme of teacher training which included a blended learning approach, with recorded training, online modules, face-to-face teaching, practical assessments, and opportunities for PSAs to shadow staff, and coaching and mentoring from specialist staff. The programme’s professional resources and materials will be freely available for schools and local authorities across Scotland to:
- support educators to develop an awareness of practical approaches and strategies that can be implemented to meet the individual literacy needs of children and young people.
- provide up-to-date practical advice, and guidance to support the assessment, reporting and individualised planning and teaching strategies for children and young people who experience literacy difficulties and dyslexia.
- further support children, educators, parents, and local authorities to build understanding of dyslexia and improve literacy levels.
The collaborative Sean Connery Programme was developed and implemented in Edinburgh and the City of Edinburgh Council ‘Literacy and Dyslexia – Identifying and meeting needs’ Guidelines and approaches were integral to the project. However, it is acknowledged that all Scottish education authorities have developed a range of similar guidelines and approaches to support literacy difficulties applicable to their additional support for learning and literacy, processes, approaches and contexts. Therefore, as you explore this resource you will recognise some approaches and strategies and reflect on the implementation of other approaches into your practice if some are not familiar.
Resources
Download related materials from the Resources section of this page
Diagnostic Literacy Assessment (DLA)
Early Years checklist
Literacy/Dyslexia Primary and Secondary checklists
Free online Professional learning module – coming soon!
In Spring 2026 a free online professional learning module and webinar focusing on the programme will provide educators opportunities to develop their understanding and implementation of a range of practical strategies to support literacy difficulties and dyslexia. The module will be available on the Education Scotland website. The development of this module was funded by a grant from HSBC UK bank.
