The five-day course in October is designed to show teachers, therapists and parents how they can better teach children to read and spell using a systematic phonics approach.

The idea of bringing such a course to the Border was born from the community’s overwhelming response to the new Albury-Wodonga Dyslexia Support Group.

In less than a year the group’s Facebook page has swelled to more than 300 members, including parents of children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties as well as tutors, speech therapists and teachers.

Administrator and co-founder Sarah Allen said there was a “crying need” for more information and resources in literacy education.

“More and more children are being identified with learning difficulties and parents are pushing for more help,” Ms Allen said.

“There is pressure on schools to know more about how to help these children and we are noticing a shift in local schools looking for information and training in the MSL model.”

Ms Allen said while there was a lot of great training happening in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney, it was more difficult for parents and teachers from regional areas to access.

“Once you factor in accommodation, travel and course costs as well as the time away from home, it becomes prohibitive,” Ms Allen said.

“That’s why we were so excited when they said they would run a course here and we’ve already got strong interest.

“One Catholic primary school is sending five teachers and there have been registrations from Deniliquin and Corryong.

“Schools have said they can use their professional development budget more effectively because it’s within a closer radius.”

The course is delivered by the Institute for Multisensory Language Education and will run from October 2 to 6 at Saint Augustine’s Primary School, Wodonga.

Places are limited – go to the IMSLE website.

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