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SEND Support: Graphic organisers to support students with dyslexia

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6-11 year-olds 'The Village'

Blended vocabulary, language structure and reading programme for EAL and multilingual learners

Image as the language of instruction for learners of ANY language background

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Author: Karen Wilson, SEND Specialist

Approximate reading time: 1 minute

Graphic organisers can be a powerful tool for learners with dyslexia. They enable learners to plan and structure their ideas in a visual and accessible way. Focusing on getting ideas organised before navigating challenges with grammar and spelling can be a positive approach. The visual scaffold reduces working memory strain by keeping ideas clearly organised and structured. This allows more cognitive space for sentence construction and spelling, which might be challenging.

Tip or Idea: Explore different graphic organisers to see which work best for your learners. These might include mind maps, paragraph planners with sentence starters, storyboards, or flowcharts. Learners can use notes, drawings, or colours to record their ideas.

Learning Village resource: Our article Why use a graphic organiser? explores the benefits of using graphic organisers and offers a range of potential designs to try in your classroom. Use our free resource for a graphic organiser template.

SEND support: Scaffolding from word to sentence level

Created: Mon 9th Mar 2026

Progressing from single words to full sentences is essential for learners’ confidence and access to the curriculum. The first goal is to build vocabulary and meaning. Start with key vocabulary using visuals, repetition, and word banks. Next, support learners with sentence stems and substitution tables to build phrases and gradually progress to expanding sentences with adjectives and conjunctions.

SEND support: Hygiene

Created: Wed 22nd Apr 2026

Hygiene is not only an essential topic for all learners, but one that can be made practical, visual, and repetitive, too - which is great for learners with additional needs. Teaching hygiene isn’t just a health topic; it builds essential life skills. When young people learn routines like washing hands and brushing teeth, they are developing independence, self-care, and personal responsibility as they move towards independent adulthood.

Colourful hands symbolising neurodiversity

SEND support: Supporting autistic learners

Created: Mon 24th Feb 2025

Learners, with or without EAL, may have special educational needs. These needs often require a range of carefully selected strategies and approaches to help learners reach their full potential.

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