Our Star School for February is…
Bury CE High School, Greater Manchester!
We spoke to Kevin Blood (English and Literacy Learning Mentor) and Natalie Davies (SpLD Teacher/Exam Access Arrangements Assessor), who use the Lexia program with a broad range of students between Year 7 and 11.
How did you first come across the Lexia program and what led to the school’s final decision to purchase?
Natalie: It was me that initially found the program online and was given the task of researching different products. From my research, I found it to be the best in terms of the features it offered and how it could help children at our school. The research was passed on to the previous Head of English who then went on to submit a bid to the Headteacher and Lexia was purchased. We have had the programme around 3 years now. We really rate it!
What do you feel makes Lexia stand apart from other reading skills software products on the market?
Natalie: It’s very targeted. The targeted learning pathways mean that each pupil is doing work that is exactly targeted to them at their level so it’s not too hard. It gives them exactly what they need to know. I think it is also better than other programs out there because it caters to such a wide range of ages and abilities.
Having Core5 aimed at primary level and PowerUp aimed at secondary is a great bonus. Other programs don’t seem to offer that; its usually one program for everyone with sometimes quite ‘babyish’ graphics which aren’t suitable for high school pupils. PowerUp offers the same level of support for our pupil’s but the graphics are more appropriate.
Kevin: Another thing we discussed that made the Lexia program stand out is that it was originally developed in 1984 so it is both long-standing and has updated with the development of new technology. Lexia has set the trend but has also kept right up to date.
What I like about it is that the pupils make progress quickly. We know that practice makes permanence, and Lexia doesn’t let a student move on with an ingrained error. It will always take them back to the skill and enable them to practice it until they get it right.
One of the challenges we have at the secondary level is that, for whatever reason, certain issues can become ingrained. So having Lexia to find those gaps they have and not letting them go until they are corrected is great. The Lexia Lessons are pre-prepared for us to deliver so it is really handy to address needs as and when they arise.
This supports teacher workload especially with all the stresses within the education system at the moment. The Skill Builders are helpful as well. They consolidate knowledge and ground their learning really well.
As Natalie said, it’s age appropriate. The content is right for each year group and having a separate program, dedicated to secondary-age pupils stood out for us. We do have some of our learners that use Core5 as well if they come to us at a lower level and then we can prepare them to access PowerUp when they are ready. We have found Core5 particularly helpful for our pupils with EAL.
One other thing that makes it stand out is that it is looking for learner feedback all the time. We really like to focus on learner engagement as well as it being aligned to the college and career-ready standards. This is especially good for our Year 10s and 11s.
How is Lexia used in your school? Please provide details of your daily routine and how you ensure that you reach recommended usage as well as which pupils use the program in school.
Natalie: We currently have 71 pupils on the program across Years 7 and 11. They access Lexia during form time and they also have a dedicated one-hour session per week with either Kevin or myself.
So the way this works is that there are two 20-minute morning sessions a week per year group. Instead of going to their form class, they come to the library where we can facilitate two groups at a time because it is quite a large space.
For pupils that have been assessed and have been placed in our Urgent Intervention category, they also get an additional hour session a week, on top of the 20 minutes, so they get plenty of time to catch up.
We also send Lexia home as homework which the parents appreciate and the pupils like to do as well. It’s been good to email parents termly reports as it helps to bring up the usage they get at home. If parents get access to the reports, it helps to get them on board as they are more involved with their child’s learning. It is all about communicating with parents.
We have one pupil who has almost finished the program because they have been so engaged with it at home and because we have a good relationship with parents we can pass on that information.
We have found that Lexia can cover a lot of needs in school. We use it for SEN pupils and, as a dyslexia specialist, I have found it helpful to use Lexia to support these interventions too.
We have a large cohort of EAL pupils that it has helped and it has also covered the disadvantage gap too, supporting our pupil premium and Free School Meals students. It covers a wide range of needs and every pupil is getting the support they need.
Describe the impact that Lexia has had on your pupils. Have you noticed a positive change in their motivation to succeed in literacy? Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?
Kevin: Yes, we have. There are a lot of pupils who are currently accessing Lexia that now attend the library during social times and some are now even librarians! We have received positive feedback from teachers, saying pupils are engaging and performing better in lessons, with some pupils volunteering to read aloud who would never have previously. I think that has been a real positive.
Natalie: That is a massive achievement! Having pupils come to our sessions and telling us how they have read out loud in class, I couldn’t believe it! You can really see how it has affected their confidence.
Kevin: The engagement with the library has been very apparent this year, it has recently been improved and as soon as it opened again a lot of our Lexia students were straight in as they now have that confidence to use it.
Natalie: It is great. Having those basic literacy skills has massively brought the students confidence up across the school.
Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?
Natalie: We have had a few that we can think of! One pupil, which we will call A is now in Year 9. When they were in year 7, A’s reading age was 7 years and 9 months. A has been accessing the programme since Y7 and their reading age is now 11 years. They never read aloud when starting at Bury Church and during last year’s school Christmas Carol service, they read out a passage in front of the whole school and staff. A is also now a librarian and, because they have improved their confidence when speaking as well, they regularly volunteer to be a tour guide on Opening Evenings for prospective Y7 pupils and their parents.
Kevin: We have another pupil in Year 9, who we will call M. M came on the radar for intervention after a spring STAR reading assessment this year which gave her a result of 7 years and 7 months. M has been accessing the programme for 7 months during form time twice a week along with a 1-hour lesson per week with me. We recently retested them and their reading age is now 11 years and 5 months. M is now ‘At Benchmark’ and no longer needs to access Lexia. That is such a huge leap in such a short time. I was blown away when I saw the result!
They stand a good chance of accessing the whole curriculum now. One thing I noticed that helped this pupil in particular was the work they did on Greek and Latin roots. Having this knowledge has really opened up a lot of the science curriculum as well as the social sciences. Talking with the student about these concrete examples of where it can be applied to the curriculum made the student understand the benefit of the work they had done.
How have you used rewards to motivate and celebrate success on the Lexia program?
Natalie: We use the Lexia certificates, they are printed off monthly, so pupils’ achievements on the programme are continually reinforced. During the form time sessions, we hand out raffle tickets for pupils who are making good progress and engaging well with the program. On the second session of the week, we do a raffle for each year group and 5 pupils get picked to get a prize!
For small group 1-hour sessions, each student has their own bespoke literacy reward chart and receives stickers for working well which equate to prizes. This works very well. They go mad for it! They always want to show us how many stickers that have gotten each day. It has been a real motivator for them.
How useful have you found the myLexia reports in terms of demonstrating progression and informing planning?
Kevin: The Lexia Parent Reports are very useful for me for informing parents on where their child is up to, and it opens a channel to frequently communicate with parents without adding to teacher workload. I don’t have to go and compose an in-depth report myself, it is all there. They are clear and well broken down and, if there are any questions, parents can get in touch and we can discuss it further.
The Parent Reports also provide an good opportunity to promote home usage in a targeted and focused way. When a report goes back home, it encourages parents to keep their child using Lexia at home because they can see what it is the students need to work on exactly.
The Student Skill Reports are made available to teachers as they come off the programme, so, at that point, quality-first teaching can take place based on the information given which allows for differentiation. It is reinforcing good practice across the whole school.
We log on to myLexia up to 3-4 times a week to check on pupils’ progress and establish if any require further support with Lexia lessons. Lessons are completed during form and small group sessions with specific members of staff. We have found the lessons helpful in informing planning across the school. They are nice and quick to deliver which is particularly helpful during our form group sessions.
Natalie: It is good that the system also provides the answers to the Lessons and Skill Builders as well, especially when you are marking a lot of them at once. It’s a real time-saver!
What main piece of advice would you give to a school that was just getting started with Lexia?
Natalie: I think we both agree that there must be a structured approach to delivering this online intervention. It can’t just be a case of purchasing Lexia and putting pupils in front of a computer. That’s how we have been so successful at this school. You need to make sure that you set specific times, dates, constant monitoring for pupil engagement and the communication with home to promote home access.
The use of prizes alongside the certificates is a big thing that we would recommend. It really helps to motivate the pupils.
We also recommend staff that are using Lexia should complete the training offered by LexiaUK. We found that very helpful at the start to support us navigating through the different systems and finding out about all the features that make life so much easier, like the log in cards. Lexia provides the tools for the structure, you just need to know how to access it and apply it. That’s why the training is so important.
Having consistent staff delivering Lexia is also very important. For example, Kevin and I run the interventions and that works well because we understand the pupils needs and we know how to deliver Lexia effectively. It also helps in building that relationship with your Lexia pupils, because having reading difficulties can make students feel vulnerable and having that rapport can help them succeed. Parents appreciate having a specific person to go to as well.
Kevin: I agree, it all comes down to the structure of it. With limited time, a somewhat rigid structure is what makes it work well. Everything is there, you just need to build a structure and a routine around it.
What feedback have you had from your Lexia pupils?
Natalie: They love it! They are so enthusiastic about it. Quite a few of the pupils have said they like the videos and find them funny. They also really like the streaks, a lot of our kids call them strikes! They get excited when they get a strike! They also like the way they can track their own progress from their Student Dashboard and, of course, they love the certificates!
Do you have any additional comments on why you feel Lexia has been successful in your school?
Natalie: Lexia has had such a massive impact on our pupils and, in a recent Ofsted inspection, we were told that our pupils, from accessing the program and the support we deliver at school that ‘the school has improved its systems to identify the specific barriers that cause some pupils to have insecure reading knowledge.
The support that these pupils receive is effective in helping them to become confident and fluent readers.’ (Ofsted, September 2023) It just shows how much it has actually helped the pupils and, for Ofsted to pick that up, we were really impressed!
Kevin: Just to add a personal note as well; when I was in school, I struggled with reading as well. Reading intervention back then was much more basic but it changed my life. It has inspired me to keep going in my role as I know the impact it has on students’ lives. Us as a staff and Lexia are able to help these kids access a better quality of life. Particularly for pupils that have come from a disadvantaged background, that can make a world of difference.
I appreciate the value that Lexia has brought to our pupils. If I had Lexia when I was a kid, I would have made progress much quicker and may not have felt as self-conscious about reading too!
Step into the Literacy Spotlight
This month our Star School is…
Meden School, Nottinghamshire!
We spoke to Stephanie, who is the Lexia Lead at Meden School, and Emma, who supports Lexia sessions. They told us about the hugely successful launch of the program that they had this year.
How did you first come across the Lexia program and what led to the school’s final decision to purchase?
Stephanie: We came across it when we noticed from our termly reading tests that there was a large gap between where they were and where they should be. Our HLTA discovered the program and did some research into it. We then put a presentation forward to the Headteacher to tell them about the PowerUp program and that a certain amount of usage time has been proven to see results.
We started fully rolling it out in December as a trial to allow us to see if it worked. I was able to get enough data to prove to SLT that it was working really effectively with our students.
What do you feel makes Lexia stand apart from other reading skills software products on the market?
Stephanie: I think it is how interactive it is. Emma, who comes in and supports me 3-4 times a week, would also agree with me.
Emma: Yes. I also think as well, it’s the fact that it customises support to each individual student. It really is aimed at building their whole literacy skill set but in a really unique way that is designed just for them. I think that is fantastic skill that, even as teachers, sometimes we can find difficult to grasp and set those specific targets for students. The Lexia program does it for us which is amazing!
How is Lexia used in your school? Please provide details of your daily routine and how you ensure that you reach recommended usage as well as which pupils use the program in school.
Stephanie: We have 150 pupils from Years 7, 8 and 9 on the Lexia program now. They complete their 30 minutes, three times a week. Students who go on the program are determined by their reading test results that we run each term.
We split the students into small groups of about 10-12 so we can provide any support if needed. We have 3 groups of Year 7, 3 for Year 8 and 3 for Year 9 who all have timetabled slots for Lexia every week.
First thing in the morning, before the groups come in, I will log into myLexia and check who needs additional intervention, who needs Skill Builders and decide which students I will sit with as they work on the online program. Some of our students have SEN, so prefer to be actively working through the program with me supporting them side by side. We tend to offer differentiation in how we deliver the program depending on each individual child.
The Skill Builders are usually sent home as a homework activity so that we can include parents in the program. This helps us to encourage parents to sit down with them and be involved in their learning. It doesn’t always have to be a parent, a sibling can also help and get involved. We even joked that even the family dog could sit next to them while they do a skill builder! It’s all about building that independence and autonomy and not forcing the idea that it’s something ‘must do’ but something that can be helpful to them.
Describe the impact that Lexia has had on your pupils. Have you noticed a positive change in their motivation to succeed in literacy? Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?
Stephanie: I do a 4-weekly review of how the students are progressing. In my most recent review, it has showed that about 30% of pupils Year 7 have moved from the Foundational Levels to Intermediate. In Year 8 and 9 this figure was more like 34% that moved up into the Intermediate material. We have also just had our reading test results back in and as a result we have identified 12 students that can now come off the program and have caught up completely!
A couple of students I can think of started the program with their skills not even at Foundational level but are now working in the Advanced levels. Their progress has really flown since starting it even though they have had the same timetabled usage as the rest of the class!
How have you used rewards to motivate and celebrate success on the Lexia program?
Stephanie: I have created sticker charts for the student that have really encouraged students to interact with all aspects of the program. Some can be hesitant to complete some of the Grammar activities. So the sticker charts means that they have the chance, depending on the number of units and levels they complete, to get stickers, sweets and other incentives.
I have noticed that, since introducing the charts, they are completing more units because they have that incentive. The outcome at the end is that they get a school trip or something like a pizza afternoon near the end of term.
We have found this has really helped keep them motivated because it can be hard to keep up 3 30-minutes session every week so its been really good to offer both smaller and larger rewards. I didn’t think sticker charts would work so well but the love getting a sticker!
Of course, we have also folded the Lexia program into our wider school rewards system as well. They get Golden Tickets when they do particularly well, and the top achieving students will go on the reward trips at the end of the year whether it be a cinema trip, bowling or the theatre. We do all sorts!
We also share success with parents by sending home postcards. We can write on those small successes such as they have met their usage targets or have gotten to the next level. This really keeps parents involved.
How useful have you found the myLexia reports in terms of demonstrating progression and informing planning?
Stephanie: The reports are amazing! We both use it and the information it gives is to the finest detail. It has got everything you could need. The best thing for me is how it flags up what the students are struggling with. Some of our students aren’t the most confident in asking for help. It really helps to know which students might be needing some additional support so we can be more proactive in approaching them before they leave it too long without asking for help.
The usage reports have been very helpful to tell us who how many minutes students have achieved overall as well as the skills reports to see how everyone is progressing. I can print these out individually and as a group to help me use these as a comparison as well. They are very comprehensive and helpful!
How have you expanded Lexia into home-use? How have parents responded?
Stephanie: While we haven’t yet rolled out home use, we have been able to send home the parent specific myLexia reports. This helps the parents see the progress and see specifically how their children are doing and what skills they are working on.
So far, we have sent the Skill Builders home which have been great to promote self-regulated learning at home. We would be interested in finding out more on how they can access Lexia from home, and this could definitely be a way we could develop the use of the program further.
Is there anything else you would like to add? Please provide any personal comments on why you feel Lexia has been successful in your school.
Emma: The way it is moulded to each student is what I find so fantastic about Lexia. We have lots of students using it but they are all at different points on it, so we are assured that they are working at the appropriate level for them.
Stephanie: Something that I have noted is the videos. I can see the kids chuckling at them and they are really engaged with it. All the rap, poetry and songs within the videos, they seem to like it and respond really well to it. Those are the main things; it engages them but it’s also personal to each student which I think they like as well because it’s much better that always doing paper and pencil activities.
They do get really involved; I can see one student in the room with us right now bobbing her head to something, so I know she’s engaged!
What feedback have you had from your Lexia pupils?
Stephanie: We have some students working on Lexia with us now, would you like some live feedback?
Stephanie chooses 3 students in the classroom to give some feedback:
Student 1: “I like Lexia because it helps me learn what nouns and pronouns are and it helps me use grammar in my lessons.”
Student 2: “I think Lexia has helped me with my spelling because before I couldn’t spell some specific words but now I can spell some words that I didn’t know how to spell before.”
Student 3: “Lexia helps me do better in English and spell words better in my lessons. It also helps with my grammar and I understand where commas go a bit better now.”
Stephanie: There you go!
A huge thank you to Stephanie, Emma and their Lexia students for speaking with us and for implementing the PowerUp program so well in their school!
This month our Literacy Spotlight is on the City of Peterborough. We spoke with Karen and Rosie who coordinate and run the Lexia program with their Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils. They share their thoughts on how they have implemented Lexia so well and why they enjoy using it in school.
How did you first come across the Lexia program and what led to the school’s final decision to purchase?
Karen: Literacy in the school has been low due to the demographic of the area that we are in, and we hadn’t really been able to focus on it as much as we wanted to. So, they appointed a new Literacy Lead who is a Senior Assistant Principal and also an English Teacher. She wanted a provision for the students that were just below where they needed to be.
We have looked into other programs, but they were more games-based. PowerUp gives you the reports and the breakdown of where students need help. We trialed it with these students for a while and then fully implemented it with this group at the start of September. It’s going really well so far and the Literacy Lead is really pleased.
What do you feel makes Lexia stand apart from other reading skills software products on the market?
Karen: I think it is engaging. The songs and videos raise the students’ eyebrows at first but when they get into it, they really enjoy it. We hear them repeating the songs and encouraging phrases in the classroom. They also like using the tips tool built into the PowerUp program to get some extra support. Some of the students don’t like asking for help so we are able to point out all the things in the program they can use before they get to the point of asking the teacher questions. They are getting really good at working independently now! If they can’t work through themselves, we notice this when we are checking their progress on myLexia and we can step in if we need to.
Rosie: I think one of the biggest highlights for the students and for us is having that immediate feedback. It’s one of the really great things about this program. Other programs that we were running before really didn’t have the same level of confirmation and praise that goes with PowerUp. Having that immediate ‘well done’ or ‘good job’ as well as the immediate step back and support to look at it a different way has been great to have in the moment. It makes a big difference to our students.
How is Lexia used in your school? Please provide details of your daily routine and how you ensure that you reach recommended usage as well as which pupils use the program in school.
Karen: Lexia has been set up for Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students who have a standardised score between 85- 99, this means they are just below their actual reading age.
The students are timetabled to come out of one lesson a week in groups of no more than 12 students, so they have the best chance of focusing for the hour they are with me.
They come into the library and we use the space to spread out the laptops around the room with headphones. We also provide support sheets to students to promote independent learning. I have created definitions sheets and laminated them for the grammar section of the program, this is so the students have a visual aid. I have also printed and laminated the Lexia Powerup Anchor charts for more specific visual support for the students, these also encourage independent development as they are able to refer to the sheets before asking for help.
We have also made laminated log in cards from myLexia to help them get logged in quickly. They are colour-coded according to year group. We have our own Lexia registers so we are up to date with who has been to the Lexia sessions so it is a bit like a military operation!
How have you used rewards to motivate and celebrate success on the Lexia program?
Karen: I set the students targets and they get to win prizes from the “jar of dreams”. The students love the challenge of winning prizes and golden tickets which are part of the school’s reward system. In the jar is a selection of nice stationary and we also have some reading books the students can choose from.
We’ve had some specialised wristbands made with cheesy grammar slogans like ‘punctuation pro’ and ‘literacy legend’. They like those as well. We are trying our best to make it a positive experience to do literacy work.
How useful have you found the myLexia reports in terms of demonstrating progression and informing planning?
Karen: The Lexia reports are very useful when we are seeing where they are struggling but also when we are working with students who have EHCPs. They have reviews each year to establish if they have met their targets so we have been able to print the reports off for the SEN department to help. They can use the reports to show that they are receiving the correct intervention and the progress they are making in those sessions as well as all the areas that they need more support in.
The English department and the teachers communicate with us and ask how pupils are doing with certain skills and we can also provide them with reports that they can use for their lessons as well.
We have regular meetings with the school’s Literacy Lead where we review student progress and address any concerns. We sit and decide whether the student needs additional support within the lesson, one-to-one support or a referral being put into our SEN department for more specialised interventions.
Describe the impact that Lexia has had on your pupils. Have you noticed a positive change in their motivation to succeed in literacy? Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?
Karen: In September, we had the students complete an NGRT reading test to select the students for the program and towards the end of February they completed a second to track progress. Out of 148 students 96 improved their reading age. This is fantastic, and we are very proud of our students and our Head of Literacy is putting a Lexia graduation pack together for the students who no longer need the support of Lexia.
Since purchasing Lexia, we have seen steady progression from the students accessing the interventions, they arrive to the lessons enthused and asking what their target is for the session.
We have also seen a rise in these same students coming into our library and looking for opportunities to read for leisure, we promote book reviews and reward well written and punctuated reviews.
How have you expanded Lexia into home-use?
Karen: Before the Summer and Christmas holidays, Rosie and I create Lexia packs to go home. It includes a certificate, a skill builder, an activity like a word search or Lexia Bingo, a reading book, bookmark and some stickers to promote literacy even when the students are not in school.
Is there anything else you would like to add? Please provide any personal comments on why you feel Lexia has been successful in your school.
Rosie: For me, I also teach English lessons with small groups especially pupils that have larger gaps in their knowledge. I have found it helpful to look through the Lexia resources for some of the skills that they might have missed in Primary or don’t have a basic grasp of when they are expected in lessons to perform at a higher level. It’s nice to have the Lexia resources in the English department that we can pull from for things like ‘simple sentence construction’ and revisiting the word types. Having those paper resources there help us bolster our own knowledge and help the students that may have missed these elements of the curriculum and bridging those gaps in their English lessons as well. There a so many resources. I don’t think I’ve ever had a moment where I have needed a certain resource and I’ve not been able to find it.
Karen: They are useful. We have laminated a lot of the Anchor Charts for when the students come across something that they are not sure on. Instead of them having the resources on screen, they can have the physical sheet in front of them. Everything is used!
Finally, what feedback have you had from your Lexia pupils?
Rosie: We had a couple of students that, when they were retested, they had reached their expected reading age. We told them that they have graduated the program and that they would not need to attend sessions anymore and they had asked if they could continue coming to the sessions anyway, which was amazing to hear! They wanted to keep going and they wanted to keep improving. It was surprising but lovely!
Karen: It is always good to hear. They do love it. They are interested. Usually, I will take a look at the screen while they are working and see what levels they are all at to ensure that all move on from the foundation zone. The students are always asking for feedback of what strand they should do next so they can improve.