Neurodiversity Celebration Week at NLCS gave our community a chance to reflect on the many ways young people think, learn and experience school. With almost one in five pupils in England now identified as having special educational needs, this is not a peripheral conversation. It is part of everyday school life and with that in mind, we have launched a new Neurodiversity Society.
During the celebration week, Mr Sfakianakis spoke openly about growing up with dyslexia, and his talk gave students a vivid sense of how a difficulty can be recognised without being properly understood. He described a childhood in which spelling, writing and organisation were seen not as signs that he needed a different kind of support, but as evidence that he was lazy or not trying hard enough. Even after his diagnosis, that misunderstanding remained. He spoke movingly about the shame that came with it, and about how reluctant he was to use the support available to him because it made him feel exposed and separate from everyone else.
What came across most powerfully was that much of the struggle lay not only in dyslexia itself, but in the response to it. Rather than being helped to understand how he learned, he was often made to feel that he simply needed to work harder. For students listening, that gave real depth to the conversation, moving it beyond labels and into the lived reality of what it can mean to navigate school when your way of processing the world is not yet recognised.
He also reflected on what changed later. At university, he began to find methods of learning that genuinely worked for him. Audiobooks, video and audio-based resources opened up new ways of studying, and he started to understand more clearly the conditions in which he worked best. He spoke, too, about the unexpected discovery that his dyslexia affected him differently in English than in Greek, which reshaped the way he approached reading, writing and academic work. His wider point was an important one: learning is deeply personal, and no single strategy works for everyone.
JP from our IT team offered another perspective, speaking about sensory processing and the value of learning how to work with, rather than against, the way you experience the world. His message, that understanding your own needs can help you navigate challenges and recognise strengths, added a practical and thoughtful dimension to the week.
Students also turned their attention to the Ideas Hub, debating how well the space works for those who are neurodivergent. Their reflections on layout, noise and atmosphere were a useful reminder that inclusion is shaped not only by the support a school offers, but also by the environments in which students learn each day.
Set against a national picture in which pupils with SEN continue to face higher rates of suspension than their peers, these conversations may seem small but they are mighty.
The week created space for thoughtful discussion and for a sense of pride in the strength of our SEN community. It also made the launch of our new Neurodiversity Society feel especially meaningful: a positive step in building a culture in which students feel understood, supported and confident in the perspectives they bring. Thank you to Sonya Beale, Senior School SEND Advisor, and students Sri and Sofia, our Sixth Form Neurodiversity Society Chair and Secretary, respectively.
