Latest success stories from Renaissance Learning

South Success Stories

Logo for Accelerated Reader

Ofsted: “Reading is at the heart of the curriculum”

Guston Church of England Primary School, Kent

Guston Church of England Primary School has been using The Complete Literacy Solution from Renaissance since July 2021. In October 2021, the school received a 'Good' Ofsted Inspection report with specific recognition for their reading development strategy. Literacy Coordinator, Jonathan Wells writes about how Accelerated Reader and Star Reading have supported the school maintain a successful culture of reading for all pupils which have since been acknowledged by Ofsted.


Logo for Accelerated Reader

Providing structure to every child’s reading pattern

New Barn School, Horsham

Accelerated Reader and Star Reading have helped teachers to monitor progress by observing their change of Reading Age as well as looking at how strong they are in the different components of Reading.


Why we chose myON

Devizes School, Saltergate Junior School, and Prescot Primary School, Nationwide

Members of staff from three different schools across the country explain why they invested in myON during school closures. They explain how myON has enabled their pupils to continue reading development while learning from home, and discuss how their schools will continue to use myON going into the new academic year.


Logo for Accelerated Reader

The Trust with the new Reading and Assessment Strategy

Chiltern Learning Trust, Bedfordshire

Seven schools across the Chiltern Learning Trust use Renaissance solutions. We spoke to Nicola Hickton, Associate Assistant Head and Director of Standards for English in the trust, and Klaudia Jablonska, Literacy Lead at Putteridge High School. They shared their experiences and how Accelerated Reader and Star Reading are used both within the school and across the trust as a whole.


Logo for Accelerated Reader

Transforming the way our Trust supports learning

David Ross Education Trust, Schools across the UK

We spoke to Lyndsay Bawden, Trust-Wide Subject Lead for English at the David Ross Academy Trust, since 2018. Lyndsay explores the decisions that were made at trust-level to utilise Accelerated Reader and Star Reading as a learning enhancement programme.


Unlocking the value of Star Assessments

River Beach Primary School, Littlehampton

River Beach Primary School is part of Schoolsworks Academy Trust and is located in Littlehampton, West Sussex. It has one of the largest percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals in the local authority. We spoke to Joe Neale, who was the English lead during the implementation of Accelerated Reader in 2015 and has since gone on to become an assistant headteacher and the lead for English and AR at the school, about the success they've had with Renaissance!


Logo for Accelerated Reader

Measuring progress: 14 months of reading progress in 10 months!

The Raglan Schools, Enfield

The Raglan Schools is a federation of Raglan Infant and Junior Schools, having approximately 930 children and 120 staff. They have been using Star Reading for five years and recently reported 14 months of reading progress in only 10 months! Head Teacher Martin Kelsey shares his story of discovering and implementing Star Reading Assessments in his school.


Logo for Accelerated Reader

Part 1: Going beyond AR with Star

River Beach Primary, Littlehampton, West Sussex, England

Joe Neale, English Subject Leader at River Beach Primary School talks about how Accelerated Reader has made a real impact on pupil progression in his school, and also shares the start of his journey on delving deeper into Star Reading and key findings he is making along the way.


Logo for Accelerated Reader

Improved reading across all year groups at Surrey independent school

Cranleigh Preparatory School, Cranleigh, Surrey

Using Renaissance Accelerated Reader since September 2015, Cranleigh Preparatory School has seen a large impact on reading across the ability spectrum.


Logo for Accelerated Reader

‘Hitting the reading for pleasure button’ at Mill Chase Academy

Mill Chase Academy, Bordon, Hampshire

Mill Chase Academy is a secondary school in Hampshire in its fourth year of using Accelerated Reader and Star Reading. Dominic Carney, the school's library practitioner, believes the programmes have enabled the school to closely track reading age and progress, while empowering the library.