Dyslexia Aware Consortium (DAC)

The Dyslexia Aware Consortium (DAC) is a large group of Local Authorities in the North West of England and Birmingham which offers schools the opportunity to work towards the Dyslexia Aware Quality Mark. (DAQM) This Quality Mark recognizes excellent inclusive practice in meeting the needs of Dyslexic students in the classroom.

The DAQM grew out of frustration with national Dyslexia Friendly Schools schemes due to a perceived lack of responsiveness to local issues and cost.  DAQM accreditation is free of cost to participating Local Authorities with validation and Quality Assurance being  coordinated across participating Authorities through a team approach.

Participating schools engage in a supported self-auditing journey which has a combination of core DAC elements and which also reflects local imperatives and philosophies.  Feedback from a recent accreditation visit to a school in Manchester included:

 

“This has always been an inclusive school but this Award has taken it to another level.”

 

‘Parents are now far more proactive in coming to speak to us.’

More information will shortly be available through the Events page – including the philosophy of DAQM,  how whole school training can impact across the range of ability and need in a school, a list of participating Local Authorities, the DAQM Standards, the audit/accreditation process plus  feedback from participating schools and OFSTED.  For details of how to engage with the DAQM  please contact Neil Mackay via the website.