A mother of two children with additional learning needs is exasperated by the lack of in-school specialist support after wrestling with the education system for over a decade.
Anna's children don't meet the threshold for any support, despite having dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and an auditory processing disorder between them. She's turned to private screening and tutoring to get her kids through school - a luxury which many families she's spoken to can't afford.
The government has named learning support in it's top six education priorities and is overhauling the programme, but no new funding has been attached to it. Meanwhile schools are grappling with an array of curriculum changes, which teachers say will only take away from one-on-one time with kids who need it.
Kathryn speaks to Anna, as well as Hayley Read, an executive member of the Principals Federation and principal of Whangārei Intermediate.
Photo: Michal Parzuchowski for Unsplash
