Jessica Holstein, a Year 6 Teacher, and Karen Allen, a High-Level Teaching Assistant from Silver Springs Academy in Tameside, share the success they have experienced with Reading Plus – from improving their Year 6 SATs results to increasing reading for pleasure and even winning national awards.
Read how Reading Plus stood out from other programmes due to its ability to track reading speeds, improve vocabulary, and motivate children to read – with some pupils even choosing it over their Xbox!
SATs preparation with Reading Plus
The positives that we’ve seen from Reading Plus, I struggle to think of another programme out there that we would get the same impact from.
We’ve seen a massive improvement in our pupils’ reading speeds. For so many years, our children didn’t finish their Reading Year 6 SATs papers because they couldn’t get on to the third text.
We do use other programmes in school, but I’ve never seen anything that tracks the reading speed – and that makes such a difference to children as readers.
Vocabulary is also a big push school-wide, and we found that Reading Plus supports that. So, in addition to having a higher understanding during their tests, they are also using higher-level vocabulary in their writing.
Michael, Ben and Archie’s story
Year 6 pupils Michael, Ben and Archie were awarded Reading Plus Champion status for their reading achievements. This role recognises and rewards pupils who have completed the entirety of our programme and invites them to complete extra reading tasks – like interviewing a children’s author!
We are thrilled that three of our children have completed the whole programme – they are the first to do this at Silver Springs. They are all very self-motivated as part of their work ethic, reading at home as well as in school. In addition, they are always eager to use their new knowledge gained from reading.
Michael said: “I feel very excited to become a Reading Plus Champion because I am going to help others enjoy more books. I am looking forward to receiving new books that I haven’t read and the possibility of meeting my favourite authors. I really enjoy how there are different genres on Reading Plus. Also, there are different ways to help you read better, like the Guided Window, which shows a section of text at a time and adjusts to your reading speed. It’s helped me increase my knowledge.”
Pupil enjoyment
As a whole school, Reading Plus really does tick all the boxes. That’s why we like using it and the children love it.
We’ve just put our Year 3s on it and there’s one little boy going on it at home instead of his Xbox. Mum has said she can’t believe it. He loves it – and he’s doing brilliantly.
Reading Plus has had a very positive impact on reading at Silver Springs. The children are reading a wide range of texts and have a greater motivation to read. I would highly recommend Reading Plus to other schools looking to improve reading in their school.
Teacher enjoyment
I like that it keeps the children motivated. I think it’s because of the way the texts and genres are and because they can track their progress – they are very motivated by it.
We also have an internal competition to boost motivation. Even the teachers get involved in the fun, competitive nature. It’s a very good thing that we’ve implemented, and it is having a positive impact on the school, definitely.
Karen’s story
Karen won the national Reading Plus Awards ‘Teaching Support Staff of the Year’ for her dedication, initiative, and impact on reading within her school.
Olivia Hardy, Assistant Principal at Silver Springs, said: “Karen leads on the implementation of Reading Plus and works tirelessly to promote reading both inside and outside of school – managing this commitment alongside her already monumental timetable. She has created her own celebration display, weekly recognitions, awards, and regularly shares successes with the wider community. Without the dedicated support from Karen, we would not have seen such a positive impact on reading achievement in our school.”
Karen said: “For them to take the time out of their very full day to nominate me for this award is such a nice gesture. I’m absolutely over the moon. We don’t say ‘well done’ to each other every day – we just get on with it because it’s part of our job. So to actually be pulled to one side in a way and know you’re doing a good job – that really meant a lot to me.”
Effective customer support
Compared to another company I used to deal with, the support we get from Reading Solutions UK, like all the tracking and reports, is so useful to us. The Lexile report is brilliant.
If there’s something I don’t understand, I can get on the phone or have an online meeting. That helps us as well because if someone has a problem and I don’t know the answer, I know I can always go to the Customer Support Team at any time.
About Silver Springs Academy
The school wanted a programme that would:
- Improve reading speed and stamina to help pupils finish their Year 6 SATs papers.
- Support their school-wide vocabulary focus.
To implement Reading Plus…
“We have a team of four, with Jess and Olivia Hardy as the teachers and Karen and Hitesh Patel as the teaching assistants. We use Reading Plus both in school and at home. Most teachers assign it as homework to support the children rather than supplement the books that they take home.”
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When used as recommended, we expect students will:
- Make six months’ progress in comprehension.
- Increase their reading speed by 20 words per minute.