Mary Akehurst

Our daughter was struggling at school particularly with English comprehension for some time. After approaching our GP and being referred to the Dyslexia Foundation, we were introduced to Mary who is a Dyslexia Tutor very experienced in programs such as ‘Cracking the ABC Code’. Under Mary’s guidance and tuition our daughter greatly improved in her class results and ability to comprehend her school work. My husband and I both fully endorse and highly recommend Mary for her abilities to help children such as ours overcome such disabilities as Dyslexia. Thank you Mary for your dedicated help and patience. We wish you all the best.

Mary started working with my son late last year and has helped him to improve his reading to above age level, Mary is a great teacher with boys and encourages them constantly. She engages students is a way that challenges and supports them to reach their potential. Thank you Mary!!

I became interested in learning about the fabulous programme 'Cracking the ABC Code' after Mary approached me about becoming a mentor. I was extremely fortunate to have been able to 'shadow' Mary for a term and watch her teach the programme.
Mary has been such an inspiration, her dedication to the programme and all of her wonderful students is something I would like to aspire to. Each lesson was tailored to meet the students' needs and was made fun and engaging through her enthusiastic, patient and passionate nature.
Thank you Mary for this wonderful opportunity, you have certainly given this programme a great impression as it has made me eager to learn more. You will be hugely missed. I wish you all the best for the future.

5 stars is not enough to rate Mary!

Mary worked with both my two son's to improve their reading and spelling. Her enthusiasm and persistence has been amazing. Devoted to children's learning, the boys made incredible progress all due to Mary's constant, positive encouragement and guidance.
We will all miss you and wish you the very best.

My son was diagnosed with dyslexia at the beginning of 2019 at the age of 10. I knew he needed intervention but I wasn't sure where to start. After talking to a friend who was a teacher about a dyslexic student in her class and the progress he was making using the 'Cracking the ABC Code' program we decided to give it a go. From the first moment we met Mary we loved her. She explained everything to my son and her kind, encouraging way of teaching him helped his confidence grow.
In December 2019 we moved to the Uk and continued working with Mary via Skype and Scribbler. I was worried that this might be difficult seeming we were on the other side of the world but Mary put herself out to make sure she could work with my son at a time that worked for us. The improvement in my sons Reading, Writing and Spelling skills is truly amazing. We can't thank Mary enough for all her help and couldn't have asked for a better tutor for our son.

Mary was an excellent teacher for the "Cracking of the ABC code" - she is absolutely passionate about helping kids gain confidence in reading and spelling and because of this my son Daniel improved his reading age by leaps and bounds due to her continued dedication and enthusiasm with Daniel. Well done Mary!!

Our primary school age son has been in supported learning through school, had hearing tests, eye tests and more recently tests around Dyslexia. Prior to the Dyslexia test we had to call on a private tutor. We chose Mary and our son connected with her immediately. Mary has been excellent in building his confidence we have noticed huge improvements in his reading since we started 6 months ago. As a parent I enjoyed Mary's guidance, communication, flexibility and enthusiasm. Great teachers like Mary plant the seed of knowledge that will grow forever. Thank you for everything Mary, all the best.

Our son was 11 years old when he was finally diagnosed with dyslexia. It was a relief in many ways, as he has always struggled with spelling and writing at school. Despite numerous interventions, his skills did not improve, but worse than that, he was giving up, believing he was 'useless'. Whilst the diagnosis was helpful, we didn't want excuses, we wanted help. This is where Mary literally changed our lives. She was so confident that she could help, we started to believe it ourselves! It wasn't very long before the results spoke for themselves. Every tested parameter improved. In 9 months his ability to decode went from a 8yr old level to exceed the level expected by a 12 yr old. However the most immeasurable and important parameter – that of self confidence and self worth has been off the scale. He has regained his willingness and enthusiasm to learn – surely a life long gift. Without Mary's constant support and teachings, her incredible optimism and creativity, her understanding and persistence, and her unwavering faith that the the program would work, Owen would not be where he is today – a confident and capable student. His school has acknowledged his progress and subsequently have sent most of their teachers to also train with Dr Lillian Fawcett to learn how to 'Crack the ABC Code'. The program is a massive undertaking, but well worth the effort. Our sincerest thanks to Lillian and Mary for their life changing work.

Mary has been a fantastic teacher for both my girls, overcoming their dyslexia problems with her patience, enthusiasm and positive approach. We will miss her!

Mary was amazing at helping my son learn to read. He was in year 7 and was having major difficulties with reading and spelling. After completing the program with Mary he went from not being able to read, to being able to read my university books. Breaking down the sounds and going back to basics, reteaching him the English language which he had lacked to understand at school. Mary’s passion for teaching children showed through every session, with her constant encouragement and praising my son strived to succeed.

Our son improved 18 months in his reading accuracy, 27 months in his comprehension, 22 months in his word recognition, 18 months in his nonsense words (reading), 14 months in his spelling and 20 months in his nonsense words (spelling). This was from having Mary do the "Cracking the ABC Code" program with him. Three years later he still applies what he learnt. I cannot recommend Mary and this program enough.