As part of a new approach to teaching English, St Elisabeth’s CE Primary School in Stockport planned to gradually implement Reading Plus over the course of this academic year.
After Deputy Head and Year 5 Class Teacher Kieran Roberts introduced our online reading programme to his class, the news of its impact quickly spread across the school – encouraging several teachers to try it well ahead of schedule. Now, St Elisabeth’s is full of engaged, enthusiastic and improved readers from Year 2 to Year 6.
“We realised very quickly that Reading Plus can personalise learning and provide us with data in ways that we could not possibly do ourselves. Therefore, we knew that by using it, we were giving our children the best they possibly could have in a bespoke reading programme.” Amanda, Head of School
Hear what else Headteacher Amanda Lancashire, Reading Lead and Key Stage 1 Class Teacher Ruth Bankier, and Kieran had to say about Reading Plus’s adaptive features, as well as its impact on assessments and reading for pleasure:
Improved reading results
AMANDA: We knew that our reading skills could improve and we wanted a greater proportion of our children to be reading at greater depth. Every class has had a full term using Reading Plus now and we did some analysis comparing reading scores in our Spring assessments compared to this time last year. In some year groups, we have seen up to a 50% increase in the number of children working at greater depth and the average scaled scores have risen substantially in every year group.
Pupil voice and incentives
AMANDA: My favourite thing about the programme is seeing the enthusiasm of the children for reading. When Kieran first used it with his class, the only sound you could hear was “Yes!” when the children were succeeding. They were so engaged – and I can honestly say that’s not changed.
We did pupil voice recently and there were only positive words said about Reading Plus. Some of the positive feedback we received was:
- “It helps me learn new words.”
- “It’s at the perfect speed for me.”
- “Mummy said I’ve improved.”
RUTH: Every month we award a Usage Hero and a Reader of the Month in each class. We also took part in the Reading Solutions UK New Year Challenge, where schools nationwide compete to complete the most lessons on Reading Plus.
It’s those incentives for reading for pleasure and encouraging them to read at home that we were really looking for, and Reading Plus has definitely helped.
Encouraging reading for pleasure and home reading
RUTH: Before Reading Plus, reading engagement was quite low in terms of reading for pleasure. That was really a big push for us – we needed an incentive because children weren’t engaging at home.
AMANDA: I was quite reticent about Reading Plus – I was concerned that the children weren’t reading ‘real books’. However, the sheer enjoyment and progress the children have made has removed any doubts I had. Now parents can’t believe how much their children have become interested in reading physical books because of the time spent on Reading Plus at home. It really has had a huge positive impact on reading in the school.
KIERAN: Like Amanda said, we were initially worried about Reading Plus being online, but as well as engaging our reluctant readers, many of our children who read more widely at home enjoy Reading Plus because they have such a wide selection of texts available at their fingertips.
“Reading Plus is worth every penny. You can’t do anything more impactful than teaching children to read.” Kieran, Deputy Headteacher
Fluency gains and preparing for SATs
KIERAN: My favourite thing about Reading Plus is the Guided Window feature and the way it’s increased fluency. The Guided Window guides pupils’ eyes across a page of text at a bespoke speed that gradually increases. I would say it’s impossible to have the same level of awareness and impact teaching reading whole class.
In our most recent assessments, all the pupils finished within the time given, which is amazing. Previously, it was common to have pupils miss the last five questions or so, but we didn’t have that this time around.
When we read with pupils, we’ve noticed they aren’t sounding out as much – there’s a lot more sight recognition, and their confidence is way up.
Their activity on Reading Plus needs very close monitoring to ensure that everyone is getting the most out of the software in every session but the amount of data teachers are provided with – from usage, comprehension scores and much more – really equips teachers to maximise outcomes.
Success for all pupils – from struggling readers to GD
RUTH: Reading Plus has moved us away from the traditional guided reading carousel. We already had the guided reading time, so the programme replaced that and ensured all children were fully active in every lesson.
AMANDA: We realised very quickly that what Reading Plus can do – we couldn’t do as a human being in a million years. Therefore, we knew that by using it, we were giving our children the best they possibly could have in a bespoke reading programme. It’s also particularly getting our disengaged boys into reading now.
RUTH: I did a pupil voice with our lower attainers, and all of them said they enjoyed reading and Reading Plus. With the greater depth children, the programme provides them with a wider range of text types and challenges them. Their reading fluency and speed have increased as well.
KIERAN: Because the programme allows children to progress at their own pace, some of the children in my class are on Level B (Year 3) and some are on Level H (Year 9) – they all say it is the right level of challenge.
You will have gaps like that between pupils in a class, but it’s allowed those more able readers to flourish. A very able reader in my class said she often skips ahead to the end of the page when reading a book. She loses her way and misses things, but the Guided Window ensures a focus on every word.
Strengthening reading comprehension and vocabulary
KIERAN: With Reading Plus, it’s easy to get a good snapshot into pupils’ comprehension as you walk around the class. I can quickly see on their screens how they are performing in the programme’s comprehension questions by whether the bar is green, yellow or red. That’s really helpful to monitor how every child is progressing at a glance.
Reading Plus has been effective for vocabulary progression too, because our pupils complete the sessions in the Vocabulary component every week. This has likely had an impact on our improved spelling scores too.
Utilising Reading Plus data for maximum impact
KIERAN: We share the usage and progress data with the whole class – it keeps them informed but also works as extra motivation. Knowing that we’ll share some of that data encourages healthy competition and knowing that the teacher can see exactly how much time they spend reading helps make sure they stay focused.
The Reading Plus data we primarily focus on includes pupils’ fluency (the number of words per minute), usage and comprehension scores from the assignments that pupils complete on the programme after each text.
Programme data also adds to our overall assessment and helps us further pinpoint the children who may need a bit more support from the teacher.
Improved cross-curricular attainment
KIERAN: The effects of Reading Plus have spread out into the wider curriculum. We hear anecdotal evidence all the time. Most recently in a history lesson I taught, a boy in my class who can be reluctant to engage was chipping in with facts about the Anglo-Saxons because he’d recently read about them on Reading Plus. He’s far more engaged because he’s got that background knowledge – he was proud to share it and you could see the impact on his self-esteem.
Reading Plus is worth every penny. You can’t do anything more impactful than teaching children to read.
How St Elisabeth’s uses Reading Plus
KIERAN: We implement Reading Plus in the same way for each year group – because it’s so personalised to them, they’re all reading at the right level and it doesn’t require any adaptation.
- On Mondays, the teachers deliver a skills lesson where the whole class reads an extract together and completes a comprehension activity modelled by the class teacher. The focus of the skills lesson is guided by the data provided by Reading Plus.
- On Tuesday to Friday, we deliver four half-hour sessions solely on Reading Plus. Children have half an hour a day with the expectation of completing six reading and two vocabulary sessions by the end of the week.
We held an information evening for parents when we launched Reading Plus and logins have been shared with parents. Many children use the software at home out of choice which speaks volumes about their engagement and enjoyment.
AMANDA: The word spread around the school and ended up being implemented a lot sooner than planned because every single member of staff was on board, wanted to be involved and was enthusiastic about it. I’ve never known that before, and a lot of that’s down to how Kieran championed it to the staff.
KIERAN: I think the reason it was so easy to implement was because its impact and effectiveness is so self-evident. Every teacher wants the best for their children and Reading Plus helps us provide that. We’re so enthusiastic about it – the staff, the children – and the more we see the impact, the more that enthusiasm grows.
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When used as recommended, we expect students will:
- Make six months’ progress in comprehension levels in text complexity.
- Increase their reading speed by 20 words per minute.
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