Reading Recovery

Reading Recovery is an early literacy intervention offered to children who have made slow progress with literacy learning in their first year of schooling. It is proportionally funded and supported by the Ministry of Education. The board of trustees may choose to partly fund Reading Recovery, if necessary.

This is only available if roll numbers and funding allow it to be viable.

The goal of the programme is to enable the student to work in class at the average text reading level of their peer group, and to become an independent reader. Reading Recovery reduces the need for specialist intervention when the student is older, and enables the class teacher to make effective use of their time.

Students are tested between the ages of 6 and 6½ if they are identified as falling behind, and are selected for a place on the programme according to certain criteria. The programme is started as soon after the student's 6th birthday as possible.

The programme is taught by a trained Reading Recovery teacher and consists of daily one-on-one sessions for approximately twelve weeks, until the student reaches their goal of working at the level of their peers, or is identified as needing alternative assistance. The sessions follow a standardised lesson format and consist of both writing and reading activities, which may include reviewing words, reading books, letter identification, and story writing.

Parents are kept informed of their child's progress, and encouraged to support it by:

• ensuring their daily attendance at school
• reading familiar books with them
• giving encouragement and praise.

Parents may be invited to observe their child working at various stages of the programme.

Selection

If a student is reading at Reading Recovery level 3, 4, or 5 when they are six, their test is recorded on the 6 year net register and entered into SMS (along with all 6 year net results). Selection for the programme is based on the student's reading level, with consideration of other factors, including the student's overall development in language, the result of a standard diagnostic survey, and their classroom teacher's input.

Students can be referred by their classroom teacher, the principal or deputy, a Reading Recovery teacher, or their parent.

Students who move to the school with a Reading Recovery programme partially completed will have priority entry into the school's programme.

Leaving the Programme

Students leave the programme when they have reached the average text reading level of their peers and are able to work independently in the classroom.

If a student's progress is poor, they may be withdrawn from the programme and an alternative programme established to increase their literacy. If progress is below average after 20 weeks, the Reading Recovery teacher and senior management may decide to consult with the Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour (RTLB), Resource Teacher of Literacy (RTLit), the psychological service, or other support service about a referral for the student.

The Reading Recovery teacher, or class teacher, monitors the student's progress for three years after they complete the programme, and may offer further individual help if progress is slow. Monitoring consists of running records, initially fortnightly by the Reading Recovery teacher, then gradually decreasing to one running record each term, until the Reading Recovery teacher and classroom teacher are sure that the student is continuing to make progress.

Parents are informed of their child's completion of the programme.

Monitoring and Reporting

The Reading Recovery teacher reports once to the board in term 4 on the implementation of the Reading Recovery programme, including:

• the number of children who entered the programme
• the number successfully reaching average levels
• the number no longer needing individual assistance
• arrangements made for the referral to an appropriate literacy specialist for those children identified as needing ongoing support
• planning for future needs.

National data is collected electronically.