A CENTRE in York which helps pupils struggling with dyslexia is celebrating its fifth anniversary.

The Specific Learning Difficulties Centre based at Oaklands School is the only one of its kind in York.

Children with severe dyslexia can apply to become a pupil at Oaklands and benefit from about ten hours of teaching a week in and out of the classroom.

The centre is run by former primary school teacher Clare Winstanley who was instrumental in setting it up.

Clare and three teaching assistants give the students about ten hours of support each week, both in the classroom and in the dedicated centre within the school.

Because dyslexics struggle with sequences, the pupils are taught using less traditional methods such as the use of music and pictures.

Clare said: "Dyslexics learn better through a variety of methods such as music imagery and pictures.

"If you can use very visual things and tactile things it becomes novel and much more fun."

A barrier Clare comes across is trying to build pupils' self esteem as many have struggled for years with their learning.

She said: "They have a history of failure and you need to make their learning come alive and you have to make it fun.

"We need to build pupils' self esteem because they have had years of struggle - we are trying to change their experience."

The children can also get involved in an after-school club, which is purely for fun and not academic and which helps the students to develop a sense of belonging.

Clare says she has had many successes with the children, one being when a youngster picked up a newspaper and started reading for pleasure and another when the mother of another pupil said her son had started reading road signs which he had never been able to do before.

But Clare's star pupil has to be Jason Richardson, whose dyslexia was so severe he was told he would never be able to achieve a GCSE.

Jason is now studying to become a farrier after achieving a grade B in history and grade A in resistant material.

Former pupils went back to the school on Thursday for a party to celebrate the anniversary.

Updated: 09:11 Wednesday, July 09, 2003