Teach Primary Issue 18.2

Heather March, Director of Teaching and Learning at AimHigh Academy Trust, discusses the easy-to-evidence reading progress facilitated by Reading Plus, and how this prepares pupils for the Reading SATs. ABOUT US: NAME: Heather March, Director of Teaching and Learning, Aim High Academy Trust WILL IT WORK FOR YOU? • Reading Plus instils skills needed for end-of-year assessments. Talking About: HOWREADING PLUS PREPARES OUR STUDENTS FOR SATS Measurable results with Reading Plus Reading Plus’s comprehensive reporting data is very useful, allowing us to easily identify how our pupils are doing – quickly. Our children have increased their reading speed by an average of 32 words per minute in just two terms. Also, on average, our Year 5s have made 1.8 levels of progress in less than one term. I use these reports to illustrate our progress made and the areas we want to prioritise to governors. Not only are we now seeing an impact on fluency and overall comprehension, but we can also see how this has enhanced our reading-for-pleasure culture. Ready for SATs Reading Plus is an extremely effective teaching tool for fluency and reading comprehension – we can clearly see the impact this will have in accessing the end-of-year KS2 tests. For the children using the programme in Year 5, we now have 14 per cent achieving Greater Depth scores in our standardised end-of-year assessments. This is also backed up by teacher assessment judgements. In this year group, we had only two children (5 per cent) working at Greater Depth in Reading when they initially started the programme. How we use Reading Plus Reading Plus merged seamlessly with our established Reading Curriculum. We use the programme three times a week. This helps teachers save a lot of time as no planning is required – the usability of the site is a huge bonus. Furthermore, Reading Plus reports not only identify struggling pupils but also group those struggling with the same comprehension subskills and links to Teaching Tools for remediation. Teachers also use these reports to target individuals and inform class guided reading lessons. Our children enjoy Reading Plus. Engagement is excellent, and the children are motivated. Before Reading Plus Before Reading Plus, engagement was varied. For our lower-attaining pupils, progress was also low. I was looking for a reading programme to accelerate progress in reading fluency and comprehension. I knew from previous experience with the programme that it could have a huge impact on accelerating fluency progress and engagement - particularly for reluctant readers. Now, engagement is high, and children confidently talk about the texts they have read. They are also reading a greater range of cross- curricular texts they wouldn’t have previously accessed and can now make links between subjects and across their reading. Contact: Reading Solutions UK – home of DreamBox Reading Plus Phone: 0191 389 6078 Web: reading solutionsuk.co.uk Email: info@reading solutionsuk.com LOVE... WHY I • Diagnostic reports and targeted interventionmaterials identify and strengthen skills gaps. • Reading Plus bridges the ‘learning-to-read’ to ‘reading-to- learn’ phase. • Reading Plus’s student-centred experience offers children choice, control, and gamification elements. www.teachwire.net | 43 PARTNER CONT ENT