Ofsted Success Stories
A rejuvenated reading culture leading to Ofsted recognised impact
Davison CE High School for Girls, West Sussex
Davison CE High School for Girls have been using the complete literacy solution from Renaissance Learning UK since 2013. In the 2019/20 academic year, Laylah Moore became the schools permanent LRC manager. Laylah brought with her an aspiration and goal to enhance the school's reading culture and ensure more students are reading for pleasure and academic opportunity in her new role. Since 2013 Davison CE High School for Girls has seen a steady rise in progress 8 scores for mainstream and disadvantaged pupils. Laylah wants to ensure that these high standards are maintained across the school and that all students can access cross-curricular resources confidently by acquiring proficiency in reading.
A New Strategy To Get Students’ Reading Back On Track
The Long Eaton School, Derbyshire
The Long Eaton School have been successfully utilising Accelerated Reader and Star Reading since 2013. In August 2020, new Qualified Teacher Librarian Althea Briers joined the school when engaging students with reading for pleasure and developing reading proficiency was more crucial than ever.
Due to school part-closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Althea and her colleagues had the challenging task of refamilalrising and reintegrating students with a library system that makes reading accessible and part of students daily lives once again.
A complete change in attitude towards reading with the results to show for it!
St Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School, Birmingham
In 2013 St Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School, part of the Lumen Christi Multi-Academy Trust, invested in Accelerated Reader (AR) and Star Reading (SR) to promote a love and motivation for reading amongst their students.
Since then, the school have gone on to see a year-on-year improvement in their Progress 8 score. Most notably, the Progress 8 score for their disadvantaged pupils has increased substantially over the last two years. In 2019, according to the DfE's latest published data, the school performed within the top 29% of all secondary schools in Birmingham based on Progress 8 Score.
How we changed attitudes towards reading with the Complete Literacy Solution from Renaissance
Boothferry Primary School, East Riding of Yorkshire
In 2017, Accelerated Reader and Star Reading was brought in to support the school's literacy strategy and promote more positive attitudes towards reading. In February 2019, the school received a 'Good' Ofsted inspection report, with specific recognition of the school's teaching of reading:
"The teaching of reading is a strength of the school. Teachers provide high-quality support for pupils to develop their reading comprehension. Pupils confidently talk about their whole-school reading challenge, which motivates them to gain rewards for reading regularly."
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.
The Complete Literacy Solution at Finham Park Multi-Academy Trust
Finham Park Multi Academy Trust, Coventry
In 2017, Finham Park School, Finham Park 2 and Lyng Hall School all invested in Accelerated Reader and Star Reading to improve literacy levels and develop a sustainable reading culture. In July 2020, they also invested in myON by Renaissance, the online digital library, to tackle a further loss to reading development to support the blended learning throughout the 20/21 academic year. This is their story.
The north east multi-academy trust with a new-look assessment strategy
Wise Academies, North East
We spoke to Natalie Fountain, Executive Head and Regional Hub Leader (Sunderland) who has been in her role at Wise Academies for almost two years about how the trust use Accelerated Reader.
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!
Helping to provide and nurture a lifelong core skill
Northampton International Academy, Northampton
Northampton International Academy first opened its doors in September 2016 and currently its Year 7 and 8 pupils use Accelerated Reader. In July 2019, Northampton International Academy had its first Ofsted inspection and was graded ‘Good’, with specific praise given to their strong reading culture. Tracey Frohawk, the Learning Resource Centre Manager at the school, has been instrumental in the integration of AR.
From ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Outstanding’ – a primary school’s journey
Florence Melly Community Primary School, Liverpool
Florence Melly Community Primary School was previously deemed Requires Improvement by Ofsted – until June 2019 when they achieved an Outstanding rating! Within the Ofsted report, there was specific mention of how strong the school’s system is for reading. We spoke to Ken, the headteacher, and Barbara, the school librarian, to find out what has worked so well with Accelerated Reader.