FRIENDS mind each other, says the poster on the classroom door. "This is a telling school." Inside the classroom in St Oliver Plunkett's National School, Malahide, Co Dublin, 11 heads are bent over their "Way With Words Four". The blinds are down to dampen the dazzle of the Valentine's Day sunshine but the room is still very bright, with walls covered in colourful posters and lists. Dinosaurs jostle for place on one computer screen while a drawing of a house is brightly outlined on another.

The fifth and sixth class children are pouring over a mock TV listing in their book. Teacher Claire O'Connor asks what the pupils' favourite TV programmes are. "I'd don't watch much TV... Pet Power and Animal Hospital... Third Rock From the Sun - you want to have seen it last night . . . Home and Away, the X Files..." Much laughter as the teacher tries, unsuccessfully, to second guess the next pupil's answer.

Then, it's time to answer the questions at the end of the text. But, first, a rather strange request: "Please, please, show us the boring books again, teacher." Obligingly O'Connor reaches up to take down her old school books - no colour pictures, no bright layout, lots of text and the questions at the end of each chapter invariably begin with "What was the title of the story?" More laughter.

The teacher explains that by the end of the book, she rarely needed to read the questions. "What's different now?" "Our questions get you to use your head."

The children begin to write painstakingly. "Best writing now... like yesterday." Only then does it become obvious that these bright, funny, intelligent children are, in fact, at a serious disadvantage when it comes to their education. They are all dyslexic.

This classroom at the end of the corridor in an `ordinary' school houses one of the newest revolutions in teaching children with specific learning difficulties - an integrated unit for dyslexic children. O'Connor explains that there are four other fifth classes in the school.

Like these classes, the children have their own room where they remain for the mornings. Here they get the extra attention and tuition they need. Things must be presented in as multi sensory a way as possible, according to O'Connor. At 12.30 p.m. they join the rest of the school in the yard `big break'. After lunch they are dispersed among the other classes where they do non academic subjects such as art, sports, music and religions.

THE special class has been in existence since. September and is the first of its kind in Ireland in terms of its location in a mainstream national school. O'Connor says that she is learning a lot every day. "I can't say that everything is ideal but what I see here are very confident, happy children. Their reading has improved immensely since September. They no longer see themselves as having a problem."

With small numbers, she has more time for each pupil and she can liaise effectively with parents. The classroom is well equipped with five computers and the pupils spend 15 minutes every morning learning to touch type. Most now have 12 to 15 words a minute - this is very important as their writing will probably always be slow.

O'Connor says that she would love to see a similar unit established in every area throughout the country. The unit at Oliver Plunkett school grew out of the determination of local parents to have their children's needs met. Mary McGrath, parent and chairperson of the Fingal Reading Workshop, explains that her son was diagnosed as dyslexic when he was eight years old.

"I have six children and I was spending four or five hours each night with this one child, trying to get him to concentrate. I was desperate." After his teachers suggested that he might be dyslexic, she paid £120 to have him assessed. "It's even more expensive now and many parents can't even afford this first step," she explains.

"We were in Galway for the summer and I sent him to a workshop organised by the Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities. It was run by two Irish girls who teach in a boarding school for dyslexic children in England. Those three weeks were the best three weeks of my life. He started coming to grips with his problem. He learned how to hold a pencil correctly, how to read along a line rather than allowing his gaze to drift downwards.

IN 1992, three parents got together and founded the Fingal Reading Workshop, which is affiliated to the Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities. In addition to private tuition, McGrath also enrolled her son in the workshop. "It was a great boost to his confidence to meet other children with the same difficulty." She became more involved in the workshop - it's run on a voluntary basis although there is a charge for tuition which, she says, barely covers the costs.

The workshop grew from an initial 17 children in 1992 to today's figure of 50 children attending two hour evening sessions every Tuesday.

But, this was not enough for the parents who saw their children struggling with mainstream schooling and the extra work entailed in the workshops. And these were the lucky ones. The waiting list for places in the workshop was growing.

They fundraised and lobbied every possible contact, says McGrath, until the unit in Oliver Plunkett school came into being. It was officially opened by the Minister for Education in December and it is hoped that the unit will eventually grow and extend to third and fourth class children also. It caters for north Co Dublin so children come from as far away as Balbriggan and Swords as well as from Malahide.

Ironically, by the time the unit was established, McGrath's son was too old to secure a place. But she is genuinely delighted to have helped put a service in place which will benefit others. She says that in the past four years, teachers have become much more aware of the problem of dyslexia. "The children need and deserve an equal opportunity in life," she says.

The next area that needs to be tackled is increasing awareness at second and third level, she says, as coping strategies can be devised but these children will continue to need help during their education.

There are more than 20 branches of ACLD around Ireland and each is running a specialist workshop similar to the Fingal Reading Workshop, providing tuition to children out of school.