The Bloomfield Learning Centre is a specialist assessment and teaching unit for 6-16 year olds with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties.

We are a registered charity in receipt of no government funding.The Centre is managed by a head teacher supported by a board of directors. There are 6 further part-time teachers.Teachers at the Centre are amongst the best qualified and most experienced dyslexia specialists in London. They are all RSA and Sounds Write trained. They all have personal experience of dyslexia.

Based at Guy’s Hospital the teachers have the back up of professionals in the fields of child development, psychology and psychiatry.  

The Learning Centre can be regarded as a specialist, complementary educational service. We are often used to help those pupils who have not responded to in-school literacy intervention programmes.

OUR MISSION:

5-10% of children in every classroom have some degree of specific learning difficulty. The Bloomfield Learning Centre aims to provide the most direct route to literacy for as many of these as possible.

We believe in giving all children, an equal opportunity to learn, regardless of their parents' ability to pay . 

Children are referred to the Centre by schools, parents, GPs. Every child referred is assessed using a range of internationally recognised diagnostic tests. This includes analysis of a child’s reading, spelling and writing skills as well as ability, memory, alphabet code knowledge, phonological and visual processing.

The result is a comprehensive educational profile which highlights each child’s individual strengths and weaknesses in all areas of literacy.

Each assessment is followed by a diagnostic report and an individually tailored teaching programme.

If a child is under-achieving in reading and spelling and specialist teaching is required, lessons can be provided at the Centre. Pupils attend the Centre for between 1 and 2 hours/week. All teaching is multi-sensory and individual. Sessions are one hour long and during the rest of the time, the majority of pupils attend mainstream school.

Teachers make use of a mixture of literacy programmes. We are always up to date with the most recent research in the field of dyslexia and continually incorporate new material into our programmes. These include Sounds Write and “Touch, Type Read and Spell”.

Once functional literacy skills have been attained, some pupils continue to require ongoing support with writing, memory skills, essay planning, study and organisational skills. We often provide support for pupils upto GCSE level.

Quality Control:

How we measure Progress:

The main benchmarks are the number of children taught and the progress made by pupils in “catching up” with their peers and achieving their potential.

Last year we helped more than 200 children, providing 120 assessments and 84 hours of teaching each week.

The reading and spelling skills of every pupil are re-assessed every 6 months.

During the 6 months between October 2004 and April 2005, the average increase in reading age amongst Learning Centre pupils was 1.1 years following 15.1 hours of tution.

How to make a referral:

Please contact Mrs Priti Choudhary, Office Manager, on 020 3228 9766.

Anyone can refer their child to the Learning Centre either by phone or by post.

We  accept referrals from parents, schools, GPs and other health professionals.

The majority of assessments are carried out at the Centre which is based at Guy’s Hospital, London Bridge.

The assessment takes between 2 and 3 hours depending on the age of the child and the nature of their difficulties.

We currently help pupils with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, Asperger’s and language delay.

The cost of an assessment is £150-£250. This is means tested.

If you are unable to afford this fee your child’s school may be willing to contribute towards the cost. If not, please telephone and talk to the headteacher as we may be able to help. It is possible to pay for an assessment in instalments and, depending on your borough of residence, we may even be able to find funding to pay for your child’s assessment.

We aim to help every child referred, regardless of their parents’ financial position.