At a glance
Type of setting
Trust
Phase
Primary and secondary
Setting
6 primary schools and 1 secondary school in Birmingham
Led by
Amanda Shotter, Trust SEND Lead, with CEO Phillipa Sherlock-Lewis
Assessment used
Dyslexia screener (now Cognitive & Dyslexia)
Main use case
Universal screening
Themes
Universal screening
Inclusive Mainstream Fund
Cohort baseline
Teacher confidence
CPD
Triaging support
Referrals
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PACT’s CEO, Phillipa Sherlock-Lewis, wanted to screen every learner in the trust, driven by the idea that every pupil is someone’s child and deserves the very best support. Her aim was to work with school leaders to build a meaningful baseline of every child’s strengths and challenges.
Screening across several schools and year groups needed careful planning. The process had to be repeatable, the results had to be analysed well, and IT teams and staff had to be ready to manage a rotation of screenings for primary year groups.
Chose universal screening. The trust’s SEND team decided to screen all learners with Talamo’s dyslexia screener.
Planned a repeatable roll‑out. Amanda Shotter, Trust SEND Lead, led it with one of the trust’s headteachers, making sure IT teams and staff were ready to rotate screenings across primary year groups.
Trained staff to use the reports. Amanda and Dr Helen Ross, author and specialist assessor, walked SENCos and heads through Talamo reports step by step, building their confidence.
Moved from identifying need to planning provision. Leaders used the results to plan support, not only to find the pupils with the highest needs.
Triaged next steps. Screening results helped staff prioritise the pupils who needed a specialist assessment from Dr Helen Ross.
More teacher autonomy. Clear, practical strategies in the reports help teachers build targeted support into everyday teaching, rather than relying only on resource-intensive pull-out interventions.
Specialist help for those who need it most. Evidence-led triage means the pupils most in need of higher levels of support get what they need earlier.
A more sustainable model. The trust now combines universal and targeted provision in one approach.
Ahead of the SEND reforms. Phillipa and Amanda feel confident the trust is responding robustly to the SEND reforms. Its strengthened approach to identification, using Inclusive Mainstream Funding, means evidence-based support is prioritised earlier.
Next, PACT is extending screening to its secondary school. To keep SENCo workload manageable, it is focusing on two year groups: Year 4 in its primary schools and Year 7 in its secondary.
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More case studies
Inspire Education Trust
Trust
Targeted screening
Targeted dyslexia screening to look closely at pupils teachers had flagged for literacy challenges, and to improve external referrals.
Triaging support
Referrals
Parent engagement
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William Ford C of E Junior School
Primary
Universal screening
The Dagenham junior school from Jamie Oliver’s Channel 4 documentary Jamie’s Dyslexia Revolution, screening its new Year 3 pupils with Talamo since September 2025.
Transition
Cohort baseline
Ease of administration
Read case study
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