Reading Support

Reading Support started in week 3 of term 1 with 36 students and 32 tutors. The majority of the students were in year 6, and all the students on the programme were reading at least 12 months below chronological age.

Tutors

Over the course of the year there were quite a number of changes among the tutors. Two new tutors started, another returned after a term’s break, 3 left for various reasons and, sadly, 2 passed away following time off while they battled with cancer.

Four tutors have come 2 days per week, and several have been available to cover for others while they were unwell or travelling around the country, or around the world!

We ended the year with a long-standing gap on Tuesdays and an expected retirement from 1 tutor who comes on 2 days.

Students

Most of the students on the programme were in year 6 at the beginning of the year, and all the students were reading at least 12 months below chronological age. During the year, 15 students graduated from the programme when they were tested as having a reading age of at least 10 years. These graduates were replaced by year 5 students who will continue on the programme into next year.

As an aside, a large number of students who qualify for the programme have been poor attenders or frequently late for school in the past. It has been noticed that for many, their attendance has improved since being on our programme.

Results

Just 2 students failed to make any measurable gain in reading. Both students came onto the programme during the year (1 quite late in the year), and 1 of them had very poor attendance at school.

The following graph shows the gains made by the 51 students who went through the programme and were still attending our school at the time of end-of-year testing.

The graphs below compare student reading age shifts in 2018 and in 2019:

Refresher Training

We were able to provide refresher training to the tutors while the students were on camp in March. Most of the tutors came on their usual day and the session was repeated.

Refresher training is an opportunity to share with one another what we notice about our struggling readers; why that might be so; and what we can do about it. Our goal is to support our students to become competent, independent readers.

Conclusion

The benefits of this programme are wide-ranging for students and tutors. Tutors often express how much they look forward to coming to reading, and that although the goal is to help the students graduate, they miss them when they do! They see themselves as contributing to society and making a difference in the lives of the next generation.

The students are provided with quality one-on-one time with caring adults who are willing and able to help them with vocabulary and strategies to become the readers they need to be to unlock their potential.

Jenni Clarke