Local Authorities

We are currently seeking to build relationships with local councils, and have recently worked closely with many in the North West, North Wales and Scotland.

Between 2011 and 2014, we took part in a research project funded by the National Lottery called ‘Lifting Barriers’, involving 120 schools in the North West.  After using IDL for 26 hours, evidence showed pupils could increase their reading and spelling age, on average, by 11 months. Following the success of this project, we decided that it would be worthwhile to undertake similar studies in other parts of the UK, where possible.

We have recently worked with several councils, such as Wrexham Council in North Wales, and Rochdale Council in the North West to try and increase awareness and the usage of IDL in schools, which has been successful.  Partnership working has involved anything from simply presenting IDL at SENCo forums to more involved projects, such as pilot schemes.

In 2017, we completed a very successful pilot scheme in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, which resulted in over 90% of schools in the county using IDL:

Firstly, IDL was presented to North Lanarkshire schools at a council forum to try and generate interest in a proposed pilot project – interest from schools was overwhelming. Twelve schools were selected to participate in the pilot between January and June 2017.

The schools that weren’t selected were offered a FREE IDL trial plus a demonstration by one of our advisors at their particular school.  This allowed them to see how it could work in their own setting, and enable them to ask questions.