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Reading is much more than a skill—it’s a gateway to understanding the world, unlocking potential, and building a foundation for lifelong learning. For school leaders and educators alike, prioritising literacy is key to fostering both academic success and personal growth in pupils. Confident readers often become confident learners, and in turn, this confidence supports better engagement, wider progress, and positive outcomes across the curriculum.
In this post, we’ll explore the link between literacy and learning confidence, discuss its impact on pupil outcomes, and provide actionable strategies to promote reading at the school and classroom levels.
The Connection Between Literacy and Confidence
Children who are confident in their reading abilities tend to carry that confidence into other areas of their learning. The ability to read fluently allows pupils to engage with texts across all subjects, from science experiments to history lessons. This understanding fosters a sense of achievement and autonomy, empowering pupils to participate more actively in discussions and group activities.
The ripple effect is profound. A child who feels capable when tackling a challenging book will often approach other tasks, such as solving maths problems or writing essays, with the same belief in their abilities. Confidence in reading equips children with the self-assurance to persevere, problem-solve, and explore independently.
Literacy: The Key to the Curriculum
For many pupils, the ability to read and comprehend written materials is essential for accessing the full breadth of the curriculum. From deciphering exam questions to following instructions for a science experiment, reading underpins success in every subject.
Yet, pupils with low literacy levels face significant barriers. A lack of reading confidence can lead to disengagement, frustration, and a widening gap in achievement. The good news is that focused reading interventions can transform not only a pupil’s academic outcomes but also their overall attitude towards learning.
By prioritising literacy, schools can create an environment where all pupils—regardless of their starting point—have the tools they need to thrive.
Adopting a Literacy-for-All Mindset
Equity in literacy means ensuring that every pupil—regardless of background, ability, or starting point—can develop strong reading skills. For many schools, this requires a shift from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more personalised and inclusive strategy. To achieve this, the following steps can be taken:
- Identify Needs: Use data to pinpoint groups of pupils who may face barriers to literacy, such as those with English as an additional language (EAL), pupils with special educational needs, or those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Once you’ve identified these groups, ensure that interventions are designed to address their unique challenges.
- Personalise Support: Offer tailored interventions that cater to different skill levels and learning styles. For example, visual learners might benefit from graphic organisers or illustrated texts, while auditory learners may respond better to listening activities or group discussions.
- Provide Diverse Resources: Use a variety of materials, including digital tools and age-appropriate texts, to engage learners at all levels. In addition, offering a mix of group activities and one-to-one support ensures that no pupil is left behind.
- Create an Inclusive Culture: An inclusive school culture that celebrates diversity in literacy can make a big difference. Use texts that reflect the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of your pupils, making reading relevant and relatable.
Integrating Reading into Every Subject
Embedding reading across all subjects is essential to fostering confident learners. Disciplinary Literacy, which focuses on the specific reading and writing skills required within each subject, can help children make connections between their literacy skills and their understanding of various subjects.
Here’s how to integrate reading seamlessly into every subject across the curriculum:
Adapt Reading Strategies for Each Subject: Each subject has its own language and methods of communication. For example, history often involves analysing text with a focus on cause and effect while science relies on reading technical vocabulary.
Create Cross-Curricular Reading Opportunities: Incorporate reading tasks into various subjects to show pupils how literacy skills apply beyond English lessons. For example, use non-fiction texts in science to explore topics like habitats or forces, or historical letters and diary entries in history to bring key events to life. By embedding reading into different areas of the curriculum, pupils develop a deeper understanding of subject content while strengthening their comprehension and critical thinking skills.
Foster Vocabulary Development Across Subjects: Teach subject-specific vocabulary explicitly, incorporating morphology to help pupils understand and use academic language. For example, break down terms like “photosynthesis” into its Greek roots—photo (light) and synthesis (putting together)—to deepen understanding. This approach not only builds confidence in using complex vocabulary but also equips pupils with tools to decode unfamiliar words independently.
Integrating Reading into Every Subject
Embedding reading across all subjects is essential to fostering confident learners. Disciplinary Literacy, which focuses on the specific reading and writing skills required within each subject, can help children make connections between their literacy skills and their understanding of various subjects.
Here’s how to integrate reading seamlessly into every subject across the curriculum:
- Adapt Reading Strategies for Each Subject: Each subject has its own language and methods of communication. For example, history often involves analysing text with a focus on cause and effect while science relies on reading technical vocabulary.
- Create Cross-Curricular Reading Opportunities: Incorporate reading tasks into various subjects to show pupils how literacy skills apply beyond English lessons. For example, use non-fiction texts in science to explore topics like habitats or forces, or historical letters and diary entries in history to bring key events to life. By embedding reading into different areas of the curriculum, pupils develop a deeper understanding of subject content while strengthening their comprehension and critical thinking skills.
- Foster Vocabulary Development Across Subjects: Teach subject-specific vocabulary explicitly, incorporating morphology to help pupils understand and use academic language. For example, break down terms like “photosynthesis” into its Greek roots—photo (light) and synthesis (putting together)—to deepen understanding. This approach not only builds confidence in using complex vocabulary but also equips pupils with tools to decode unfamiliar words independently.
A Vision for Literacy with Confidence
Schools that prioritise literacy see a profound impact on their pupils’ outcomes. When reading is embedded in the school’s culture, pupils gain not only the skills to access the curriculum but also the confidence to be curious, explore and express themselves.
This transformation often starts with leadership. By championing literacy initiatives, school leaders can create a school-wide focus on reading that benefits every child, fostering a thriving, inclusive community where all learners can succeed.
Partnering with LexiaUK for Literacy Success
At LexiaUK, we believe in Literacy for All. Our mission is to empower schools with evidence-based tools and strategies to transform reading outcomes for every pupil. From targeted interventions to whole-school solutions, we provide the support schools need to make literacy a priority.
If you’re ready to unlock your school’s potential through reading, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us today to discuss your needs and discover how LexiaUK can help you achieve your vision for school-wide literacy success.
Real Schools, Real Stories
Find out how we are helping schools to accelerate their literacy progress.
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Our Star School for January is…
Meersbrook Bank Primary School, Sheffield!
We spoke to Claire Brammer, Teaching Assistant at Meersbrook Bank School. She told us how they have utilised Lexia Core5 and the myLexia reports to boost reading skills and motivation in pupils of all abilities.
How did you first come across the Lexia program and what led to the school’s final decision to purchase?
Lexia was introduced to us by our SENCO at the time. It came into school as just a few licenses at first and that’s how I adopted it, by testing it with some of the children that I supported at the time. The children really got into it. They made great progress, and before long, we rolled it out across the school. We quickly worked out that it wasn’t just for SEN children, by actually, our gifted and talented children could be pushed by using Lexia because it worked at their level. It didn’t matter if they are above their year level because it worked with them. It then quickly became a thing that we used across the school with a focus on our older children.
What do you feel makes Lexia stand apart from other reading skills software products on the market?
I think it’s the fact that it assesses the child and works at their speed. If they are succeeding, it will move them through the levels faster and when they reach their ceiling or a sticking point, it then focuses on that skill until they have got it and allows them to move on. One thing I really like about Lexia is that it isn’t just a multiple guess. Some online programs tend to work on a ‘trial and error’ model which allows them to guess, but Lexia doesn’t let them do that. It will take them back when they are struggling and give them more practice based on that skill, rather than just giving them the same questions over and over.
I also like that it provides you with the one-to-one interventions if you need them. So, it will flag up that a child is stuck and at that point you can print off a one-to-one intervention lesson. They can be delivered by anybody because they are so self-explanatory, you do not have to be au fait with Lexia to deliver it. You can print it off and hand it to any adult in school and ask them to spend 5 minutes on a skill with a child. It just help support them within that skill set that they are struggling with. It’s not just a computer-based intervention.
The children also like that it marks them instantly, so it gives them that instant feedback. They haven’t got to wait until the teacher marks their work and gives it back the next day which for a lot of our children is too long and they can lose interest. With Lexia, its an instant reward or correction for them and I think that seems to work really well.
It’s also the way that we can track it easily. It isn’t something that we have to then assess and analyse. It does it all for you and you can print out all your reports just be clicking the right button!
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.
We’ve used Lexia in many different ways over the years and we have used Lexia for quite a few years now! The current model we are running, which at the moment we feel works well, is that the children will have access to the computer suite for the first 20 minutes of the day. The children come straight into the Lexia Lesson so they have got 20 minutes of Lexia in the morning. We can facilitate all of our Key Stage 2 children in this way, whether it’s Year 3’s or Year 6’s, there is always an adult on hand in that room to support those children, usually myself. Once they know how to use Lexia, we give them the opportunity to have at least 3x 20 minutes slots within the school week.
We also, particularly with our younger children, build it into our guided reading carousel within the classroom. So at least once a week they will have a Lesson session in Guided Reading as well.
When a child is added to Lexia, the information is sent home to parents for them to be able to access it from home. We have having quite a good uptake this year. We’re not a school that sends home homework beyond reading and spellings. So, for our Lexia children, they can access Lexia from home as a homework. A lot of the parents like it especially since you can get it in different devices like iPads.
When they come in first thing in the morning, they settle down and get on because they enjoy it and they want to get their next certificate and show they have completed a task.
I will then keep an eye on where they are using myLexia and if there is anything that needs to be delivered individually, I will either pull them aside during that morning slot, or it will be passed to the class teacher to deliver during the day.
Describe the impact that Lexia has had on your pupils. Have you noticed a positive change in their motivation to succeed in literacy?
They absolutely love Lexia and will ask me every day if they can do more tomorrow! You can see them in class, doing a piece of writing and suddenly they will say ‘I know how to spell this, it was on Lexia yesterday!”
We have some Year 3 children who are quite new to Lexia this year, but since leaving the phonics programme, were struggling with phonics and reading. Now, I’m watching them fly through the Lexia levels. Lexia seems to be the way that they prefer to access phonics teaching.
Children who have found phonics and reading difficult, they can be a bit down and they don’t want to read, but they want to come in and do Lexia and earn their next certificate. They are coming to me on a Monday morning to let me know they earned a certificate over the weekend.
Also, the parents are messaging saying that their child is wanting to read at home now, and wanting to do Lexia at home now so they can read them the sentences and passages to show them what they can do.
We are only at the end of their first half term with Lexia, but it’s nice to see their attitude towards phonics, reading and spelling is very different to what it was at the end of Year 2. They are much more positive about what they can do.
We even have Year 6’s asking if they can continue Lexia in Secondary school!
Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?
At the beginning of last year we had a new child starting who joined us from Korea so English was a second language for him. We popped him on to Lexia because it gave him that daily input of the English language that the teachers was not always able to give him one to one. By the end of the year, he completely caught up with the rest of his class and he is flying high now!
We used Lexia with him, not because he was a low ability child, but just to give him that exposure to the English language, the spellings, the written word, and everything he needed to be able to access the classroom learning.
How have you used rewards to motivate and celebrate success on the Lexia program?
The Lexia Certificates are very popular. They really like having their Lexia certificates.
For the children that have progressed slower through the levels because they have reached their ceiling so they are not getting certificates quite so often, we use Class Dojo in school. We can use those smaller rewards when they have completed a section or activity, or if their attendance in the Lexia sessions is good and they have managed to complete plenty of minutes. They will earn points for those types of things.
Like a lot of schools, we do special mentions and stars of the week at the end of the school week, so we make sure to include the Lexia children into things like that as well. Often, I will include a child who has reached their target for the week or have completed all their minutes as my star of the week. Things like this can really motivate the children and they will start coming to me the following week telling me they have 50 minutes so far this week and it’s only Wednesday! They want to be recognised for their work too.
How useful have you found the myLexia reports in terms of demonstrating progression and informing planning?
The reports are totally invaluable. They’re absolutely brilliant!
We use them to inform our parents at meeting and parents’ evenings. If we have parents’ meeting coming up, I will always make sure that I’ve printed off the most up-to-date reports for teachers to talk through in their meeting.
For SEN pupils who have EHCPs, it’s always printed off and fed into their paperwork there.
I like to be able to log on and see which children have been accessing and for how many minutes. The fact that dates when they have completed it, it makes it easy to see when they are accessing from home too.
Last year, for the first time, we printed the parent reports and sent them home. The parents absolutely loved having those and I think it encouraged some of our parents to get their children to access it from home. We noticed a big uptick of use over the summer which was great!
If we get a message from a parent asking what they can be working on with their child, its great to be able to log on to myLexia as see they need to work on prefixes and suffixes, for example. So, it really helps with them.
I like how much is available with myLexia. I am a bit of a button-clicker so every time I open it up I will find something else that’s useful. At first, some teachers saw it as a bit of an extra job within a teacher’s week but, it can be time-saving. Now, teachers are accessing it during their planning sessions to access the additional resources, reports and Lesson Plans. Lots of the resources and activities can be used with a group of children or whole class so it doesn’t just have to benefit the Lexia children. myLexia has become integral to feeding into teachers’ classroom planning. It’s helped get more of the teachers on board with Lexia. Instead of the students disappearing off to their Lexia sessions and coming back, teachers are understanding what is happening in those sessions and take part in it more.
What main piece of advice would you give to a school that was just getting started with Lexia?
I think the main thing is fitting it into the school day. Giving it that time and fitting it well into the school day is important. Lexia is not very adult labour intensive so it’s about not being afraid to use it with larger groups. Now that the children are trained up and know how to use it, I can have 40 children come to me in the IT suite at the same time. It doesn’t matter whether they are in Year 3 or Year 6, for those 30 minutes, all 40 are engaged, they’re all progressing and they’re all learning at their level. Giving that time to training the children to use it and giving them that input means that in the long run, you can reach so many more pupils.
What feedback have you had from your Lexia pupils?
The children absolutely love it. They are always asking me if they are doing Lexia today. We don’t close our register until 9am and a lot of our students didn’t show up to school until 9am. Now that they know they’re doing Lexia on certain days, they are the first children at the gate because they want to get in quickly to get their full 20 minutes on the program. It has significantly improved their motivation, they are eager to come in and get logged on so they can get started.
They love that it is so visual and the cartoon style, as well as the little animations they get when they finish a task. They also love that they can learn some facts about the animals on their level screen, They want to get to the next level so they can learn some new facts and take them back to class to share with their teachers! They don’t see it is as work, they want to come and ‘play’ Lexia.
They also like that its catered to their level. They know it’s not going to give them something too difficult and, if it does get too difficult, then it’s going to guide them through at their pace and give them the information they need.
Is there anything else you would like to add regarding why you think Lexia has been a success in your school?
I’ve worked in this school for over 20 years, and I have done Lexia for quite a few of those years. But every year, when we come back, it looks slightly different, and it has been updated. It doesn’t use the same content and images that were used 10 years ago, it keeps changing with the children’s interests. Every year, I am excited to see what has been updated and how it keeps growing.
Step into the Literacy Spotlight
Allocating a dedicated Lexia Coordinator is one of the most effective ways your school can get the most out of Lexia Core5 Reading or Lexia PowerUp Literacy. A Lexia Coordinator oversees the day-to-day running of the program, making sure it’s been implemented effectively. But what does that look like in practice, and how can schools ensure this role has the impact it deserves? In this post, we’ll explore the benefits of having a Lexia Coordinator and offer practical tips for success.
The Key Role of a Lexia Coordinator
A Lexia Coordinator is the key link between your Lexia program and your school’s operations. Their primary responsibilities include:
- Ensuring Consistent Program Usage: A Lexia Coordinator keeps the literacy program at the forefront of teachers’ daily plans. They encourage regular usage across classrooms, ensuring students are engaging with Lexia consistently to make progress.
- Data Monitoring and Reporting: myLexia provides detailed data on student progress. The Lexia Coordinator monitors this data to identify where pupils need additional support and shares these insights with teachers to shape interventions.
- Supporting Staff: The Lexia Coordinator acts as a resource for teachers, answering questions, offering guidance on how to use the program, and sharing strategies to improve results.
- Liaison Between School and LexiaUK: Coordinators bridge communication between your school and LexiaUK, keeping staff informed about updates or best practices and ensuring any technical or educational queries are addressed quickly.
- Celebrating Success – The Lexia Coordinator plays a vital role in promoting the celebration of milestones among staff and students—whether it’s printing and awarding certificates, posting celebrations on social media, or sharing achievements with parents. This recognition helps keep students engaged and proud of their progress.
Tips for a Successful Lexia Coordinator
Assigning a Lexia Coordinator is the first step, but how do you make sure the role is as effective as possible? Here are five practical tips:
- Choose Someone with a Passion for Literacy – Your Lexia Coordinator should be someone who is committed to improving literacy outcomes and has strong relationships with staff and students. A literacy champion can inspire others to engage more actively with the program, making sure it becomes an integral part of the school’s learning environment.
- Allocate Regular Time for the Role – It’s crucial that the Lexia Coordinator has dedicated time to manage the program effectively. Whether it’s during planning periods or INSET days, ensure there is time set aside for them to monitor data, review student progress, and address any challenges.
- Encourage Regular Data Reviews – Lexia’s data insights are one of its most powerful tools. Regularly reviewing student progress allows the Coordinator to identify trends and patterns, ensuring students who are falling behind are given the right support. Set up weekly or fortnightly data reviews to keep everything on track.
- Offer Ongoing Training and Support – The role of Lexia Coordinator isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ position. Make sure they have access to ongoing training from LexiaUK, including resources, webinars and videos. Annual training is included as part of your school’s Lexia package, so there is nothing further to pay to access ongoing support.
- Maintain Open Communication – It’s vital for the Lexia Coordinator to provide regular updates to staff and leadership. By sharing progress reports, celebrating student successes, and addressing areas for improvement, the Lexia Coordinator keeps everyone engaged and aligned with literacy goals.
Why Your School Needs a Lexia Coordinator
Allocating a Lexia Coordinator is a practical way to maximise the benefits of Lexia programs in your school. With a Coordinator in place, you ensure that Lexia is being used effectively, student progress is regularly tracked, and teachers have the support they need to succeed.
If your school has already appointed a Lexia Coordinator or is thinking about doing so, we’re here to help. LexiaUK offers comprehensive training designed to empower your Coordinator, helping them to thrive in their role and ensure your school gets the most out of our programs.
Get in Touch for Lexia Coordinator Training and Support
To learn more about how LexiaUK can support your Lexia Coordinator with training and resources, reach out to our team today. Whether it’s through our webinars, one-to-one support sessions, or detailed guidance on data usage, we’re here to ensure your Lexia Coordinator is fully equipped to make a lasting impact.
Contact us to get started and boost literacy outcomes for all your students.
Standardised assessments like SATs are a crucial milestone in every pupil’s journey, assessing core areas such as reading, writing, and maths. However, for many students, especially those struggling with reading proficiency, SATs can be a daunting hurdle. Reading is the foundation upon which other subjects rest. Without strong literacy skills, students will find it challenging to interpret questions, follow instructions, or engage with written content, ultimately affecting their performance. Addressing this challenge early on can make a big difference to overall performance in SATs and as they enter secondary education.
The Literacy Challenge in SATs
According to the Department for Education, around one in five children leave primary school without meeting expected reading standards. This literacy gap not only impacts SATs but also influences long-term academic success and self-confidence. A lack of reading proficiency makes it harder for students to understand exam questions, which are often embedded in complex text. Students who struggle with reading comprehension may also face difficulties in grasping key concepts in other subjects such as maths or science, as these areas frequently require interpreting written instructions or problem-solving questions.
Schools are increasingly focusing on how they can bridge these gaps early on, particularly through reading interventions. Developing strong literacy skills is not just about preparing for SATs; it’s about empowering students to access the entire curriculum, engage with learning, and feel more confident in their abilities.
Supporting Reading in Preparation for SATs
- Identify Early Literacy Gaps
Conduct regular assessments to identify students who may be falling behind in their reading development. Early identification allows for timely interventions that can prevent the gap from widening as SATs approach. - Targeted Reading Interventions
Provide focused reading support that addresses students’ specific needs. Tailored interventions targeting areas such as phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension can ensure that pupils receive the specific instruction required to strengthen their literacy skills effectively. - Encourage Reading Across the Curriculum
Encourage reading beyond English lessons. Engaging with texts in science, history, or maths builds familiarity with academic language and the types of complex texts they will encounter in their exams. - Monitor Progress Regularly
Use data-driven approaches to track progress and adjust support as needed. Regular monitoring helps teachers understand whether interventions are working, and which areas still need attention. - Boost Confidence with Measurable Success
Encourage students to celebrate their reading progress. Building confidence through small, measurable achievements helps students feel prepared and capable when they face the challenges of SATs.
How Lexia Core5 Reading Can Help
Supporting your pupils’ reading development is crucial for unlocking SATs and future academic success, and Lexia Core5 Reading provides practical solutions to each of these key steps. With built-in formative assessment, Core5 helps teachers identify early literacy gaps by automatically evaluating students’ reading skills and adjusting instruction accordingly. The program’s targeted interventions offer personalised support, focusing on specific areas like phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension to ensure that students receive the instruction they need most. Core5 also encourages reading across the curriculum, providing practice with a variety of texts and academic language, which helps students tackle subject-specific challenges in SATs.
Additionally, Core5’s real-time progress monitoring enables teachers to track student performance, making it easy to adapt support as needed. Finally, the program’s measurable progress features help build confidence, offering students regular opportunities to celebrate their reading achievements, ensuring they are prepared to succeed in SATs and beyond.
To learn more about how Lexia Core5 Reading can help your students unlock their full potential and succeed in their SATs, explore our programme and discover why thousands of schools have confidence in Lexia to deliver results.
Learn more about Lexia Core5 Reading
Proven Results
Backed by independent research and trusted by thousands of educators, our literacy programmes are research-proven.
Real Schools, Real Stories
Find out how we are helping schools to accelerate their literacy progress.
Blog
Keep up to date with the latest industry news from LexiaUK.
Our Star School for December is…
Herne Junior School, Hampshire!
We had a fantastic conversation with Lynne Tandy, Lexia Coordinator and SEN Assistant at Herne Junior School. She shared her journey with Lexia, from first discovering it over lockdown to cultivating the positive, successful and energetic Lexia sessions she runs today with her pupils.
Watch and read the full interview below.
How did you first come across the Lexia program and what led to the school’s final decision to purchase?
When I came into the school and interviewed it was already in place. I had never come across it before and the school were keen to continue using it. It was a big learning curve for me to look into it and at the time, it was being used as an early morning intervention with Year 4 and Year 5.
I started in 2019 and, when COVID hit, I used that time to look in depth at Lexia and that’s when I found that all the doors opened. I started to properly grasp how it worked and where we could go with it.
As the children were working at home, I started up by contacting parents to try to encourage them to continue on Lexia at home every week. I emailed every child via their parents to let them know that I was checking up on their success, their minutes, completed units and if there was anything they were struggling with. I could email home the Skills Builders or Lessons and certificates. I would also put positive images and gifs in the emails. It inspired the children and I could see when I looked back on their progress how much more they had done because they knew I was monitoring it. That was how I first really hit Lexia.
From then on, as we gradually came back into school, my role was to deliver it to Year 4 -6 for 2-3 mornings a week each. Once I started that, I noticed that not completing Lexia every day was having an impact on their learning. I suggested instead that we have each year group complete Lexia Monday to Friday morning for a half term each. The children would come in early and we would provide a breakfast snack and complete some units on Lexia. I found it worked well to celebrate the units they were completing rather than their minutes. It would blow their minds finding out just how many units they were able to achieve!
What do you feel makes Lexia stand apart from other reading skills software products on the market?
I originally came from an infant’s school so I’ve never really come across a reading program like Lexia. Obviously, they do phonics in Key Stage 1 but Lexia is the complete package that breaks everything down. I often find that when they do their Auto Placement test, some of then can find their starting level fairly easy but there are some clear gaps that need to be plugged. I have found in the past that if those little gaps aren’t plugged, they can become wider, immeasurable gaps by the time they get to upper Key Stage 2. I feel that when they do Lexia in their first half term, they are plugging the gaps but they are also gaining confidence because they are achieving and setting themselves up to succeed. I think that is really important.
I think Lexia is just the whole package. I find the Skill Builders helpful too. I had a child that I was working with this morning who was struggling with High Frequency Words, so I gave them the Skill Builder to do at the start of the session as a warm up. Once he returned to the program, he was no longer struggling and he was able to move on.
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.
Each term we use an assessment tool that tests the children’s reading ages. We have a cut off for each year group and any children that are below that reading age will be identified as needing Lexia.
Most children are able to attend the early morning sessions, but for the children that can’t we still give them Lexia but I will work with the class teacher to fit it around their day in class. I will still monitor them in the same way and pop into class or leave them a little note letting them know that they are doing well and acknowledging the units they have completed. It really helps!
Describe the impact that Lexia has had on your pupils. Have you noticed a positive change in their motivation to succeed in literacy?
They are very keen to share their progress. In the past, I felt that some children were just sitting there struggling and not asking for help. But now, they ask for help and there is more positivity. They are keen to share their achievements with teachers and I will go into their classrooms to present their certificates and prizes, so that success is shared in the classroom. The other children notice and you can see them physically lift out of their chair because the feel so proud of their achievements.
We’ve got 2 children in particular this term who have moved up 3 levels and one has done 1119 minutes and the other one has done 936 minutes. It blows me and my colleague away! It is just an absolute joy to see their faces and their determination. Whereas before when they were only accessing it for 2 or 3 days, the continuity wasn’t there. I feel now we’ve got it right for us here at Herne and our children. We are definitely on a journey, a positive learning journey for them.
It’s a team effort, really. It’s not a stand-alone thing and we are not just on our own. It’s shared with the whole school, and everybody knows about it.
It was important that we got the teachers feedback when we increased the Lexia time and they were behind it 100%. They said that they could see that improvement and they were keen to maintain it. I know that the teachers next half term will do everything they can to ensure the children continue to get access to Lexia once they finish with me. Any spare time in class will be used and we send letters home, reminding them how to access it at home.
Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?
We had one young lady who came in very quiet. She needed a big boost of self-esteem. Now she bounds in every day. She has completed 1119 minutes on Lexia and has gone up 3 levels. She was recently off school for over a week due to illness and she was still working from home. When she came in this morning I was able to say; “Even though you’ve been poorly and its great to have you back, you have been working at home and that is impressive!” I love the way that no matter where I am and I can check at any time.
This is the first term she’s done Lexia, so it has been all new to her and her family, but they have really taken it on board. It’s nice that the family have encouraged her as well. It’s been a team effort to encourage and promote her reading.
How have you used rewards to motivate and celebrate success on the Lexia program?
We celebrate success every day! Both me and my colleague work together to bring humour and 100% positivity into the sessions. We encourage them to celebrate each other’s successes, so they all clap for each other and say well done when they reach the next level. They share it and we make it a total team effort. They respond to it well.
Any little thing that I can think off, I will do. I might print some stickers out that say ‘Ask me why Mrs Tandy gave me a house point.’ So that they can say ‘because I did so many units in Lexia today’.
Next Friday, I have a rewards session for them so I have some sensory play with some slime and bouncy balls. Before they log on they will have a quick sensory play session and they will go and do their Lexia.
At the end of this term, they will make a Christmas tree decoration that they can take home and share with family. It’s about showing them that there is a reward for their hard work. I think that is really important for them to feel that they are recognised.
I also do headteacher certificate so if they blow me away, at the end of term, I will give them a big certificate and they will go and share it with the Head, the Deputy or the Assistant Head as well because it’s important to share that success around the school.
It has got to be 100% positivity. I can’t let it drop. I want the sessions to be positive, energetic and enthusiastic all the time. It really sets them up for the day as well. They have got to leave the session in a positive frame of mind. If we notice that they are not feeling like they have achieved, we will sit with them and talk it through. Sometimes I will make visual prompts for anything they struggle to remember, like consonants and vowels. That way they can take it back and use it in class and transfer those skills.
How useful have you found the myLexia reports in terms of demonstrating progression and informing planning?
What I find interesting is all the detailed reports that you can get. I put it in date order and find the reports that can be adjusted to see the date, area of learning, the rate at which they are learning, their accuracy and whether they need support. I find it all really, really helpful. I love the way that no matter where I am, and I can check at any time. It’s an absolute bonus.
Before everyone comes in, I look at all the reports and check their attendance and how their minutes are going. If they are dipping, I can find ways to address it and speak to the children. Recently I had one child who did their auto placement activity and was placed lower than I was expecting. I let her work through and monitored her using the reports but found that she was zooming through. Using the data we decided together that, actually, should we try the auto placement test again? She improved and came back to it at a better level for her. Therefore, she’s going to start her Lexia journey much more confidently feeling like she is placed where she needs to be.
The teachers use the reports for parents’ evenings too. I will print out the parent reports so they can share it with the parents as well.
We are now trying to implement training for our Learning Support Assistants to help them understand it a little bit more and to encourage them to have a look because it is available to all the staff.
What main piece of advice would you give to a school that was just getting started with Lexia?
Give yourself the time to properly look at the program and how it works. If you know a school that is already using it or if you’ve been recommended it by another school, it’s good to have a look at the results they have had. Before you start, it’s good to start off with a small group of children or even create a test account for yourself so you can really discover what is available on Lexia because it is so vast and varied. Giving yourself that time is important. You need that personal input time to understand the content and be able to deliver it properly to promote confidence and that positive learning experience.
I felt that my Annual Review with LexiaUK was really helpful as well. It’s something that I hadn’t engaged in before. I had had the initial training, but I found the chat about our Implementation plan helpful to enable me to target. My adviser emailed me a copy that I was able to take to my review with SLT and use to create goals for my personal achievement.
What feedback have you had from your Lexia pupils?
They absolutely love it! I have just sent letters out to Year 5 who will be starting Lexia next half term. I think they got a bit confused because they came in early this week ready for their breakfast snack, They couldn’t wait to get started! I’ve given them their details and completed auto placement with them already so they can do it in class if there is time.
We’ve just stopped one 7-week block of Lexia with one group, and they are constantly asking ‘when are we coming back?’ Even if they are coming in early and the weather isn’t so great, they still come in with enthusiasm and just crack on. There is no hesitation. I have to be there at the door before the Lexia time starts because I know they are going to be early!
Is there anything else you would like to add regarding why you think Lexia has been a success in your school?
I think changing the timetable to it being a daily program has made a massive difference because of the continuity. When they finish in the morning, they know where they are up to when they come back the next day.
I also make sure to keep an eye on the progress bars in the program. They have to complete the green line before they log off so they keep their progress. It’s a good way to end the session too because they have ended on a positive and they can come back the next day knowing exactly where they are up to and apply learning from the day before. I’m always talking about the green line and use it to encourage them to keep going. They pick up on everything that you say so it has to be positive!
Step into the Literacy Spotlight
As secondary school educators work to close literacy gaps and raise academic achievement, the increasing complexity of the curriculum often leaves some students struggling to keep up. Literacy challenges don’t just impact English lessons; they affect learning across all subjects. Addressing these gaps is essential for ensuring every student can access the full curriculum. However, with tight schedules, limited resources, and the broad range of ability among students, providing tailored literacy support is a significant challenge.
So, how can schools efficiently support diverse student needs without overwhelming teachers or stretching resources?
Understanding the Literacy Challenge in Secondary Schools
When students enter secondary school, they are expected to handle more complex texts and subject-specific vocabulary. Students still developing basic literacy skills often have trouble engaging with the curriculum, hindering their performance across many subjects. This makes it critical to ensure that students continue building foundational literacy skills alongside developing more advanced ones.
Providing consistent, individualised literacy support within the constraints of a packed school timetable is a common struggle. Teachers need strategies that are practical, efficient, and capable of addressing varied learning needs in the classroom. This is where technology can step in to provide a meaningful solution.
The Role of Technology in Supporting Literacy Development
Many schools are finding that digital tools offer valuable ways to extend support to students without overburdening staff. Technology provides a way to supplement classroom instruction and support self-directed learning, particularly with literacy interventions.
One key advantage of using educational technology is that it allows students to learn at their own pace. Adapting to individual learning needs, technology-based programs can target specific gaps in a student’s skills, helping them make progress without falling behind their peers. This personalised approach also frees up time for teachers to focus on students who require more direct intervention.
Personalising Literacy Support with Adaptive Learning
When it comes to literacy, no two students are the same. Some may struggle with basic reading skills, while others need help refining their comprehension of complex texts. Schools are often aware of these literacy challenges among their students, but find it daunting to identify specific issues then implement tailored solutions—especially with limited time and resources. Furthermore, delivering a one-size-fits-all solution is often ineffective and can lead to students falling further behind.
Practical Steps for Implementing Technology-Based Literacy Interventions
Here are some practical steps for schools looking to implement technology in their literacy strategies:
- Identify gaps early: Regular assessments can help identify students who are falling behind. Digital tools can automate this process, providing real-time insights into students’ progress.
- Blend Learning approaches: Combine classroom instruction with self-paced learning activities. This allows students to work independently on their literacy skills while still receiving guidance from teachers.
- Utilise data: Technology offers a wealth of data on student progress, enabling teachers to make informed decisions about interventions and focus their efforts where they are most needed.
4. Engage students with interactive content: Digital literacy programs often include interactive activities that keep students engaged and motivated to improve their skills. These features frequently offer effective reward schemes that enable progress milestones to be celebrated.
By adopting these strategies, schools can provide more tailored support to students, helping them build the literacy skills needed for academic success.
Why Lexia PowerUp Literacy?
At LexiaUK, we recognise the importance of personalised literacy interventions that support a range of needs in secondary students. This is why we offer Lexia PowerUp Literacy. Designed for secondary school students, PowerUp offers personalised literacy support in three key areas—word study, grammar, and comprehension.
Using adaptive technology, PowerUp adjusts to meet the unique needs of each student, whether they’re struggling with foundational skills or working on higher-level comprehension. Lexia is backed by trusted research and has been proven effective in real-world classroom settings, providing educators with confidence in its ability to deliver results.
The program provides real-time data and progress monitoring, helping teachers identify where additional support is needed without adding to their workload. By integrating technology like PowerUp, schools can enhance their literacy strategies, ensuring every student gets the right support to thrive academically.
Leveraging the right technology can make a significant difference in how schools address literacy gaps. Lexia PowerUp Literacy offers a scalable, effective solution for delivering tailored, impactful interventions, making it a valuable tool for secondary schools aiming to raise achievement and ensure literacy for all students.
Discover more about Lexia PowerUp Literacy
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The early years of primary school are pivotal in shaping pupils’ long-term literacy success. As educators, our mission is to help children become confident, independent readers by the time they leave primary school. However, for many pupils, the journey to mastering reading is not a straightforward path. While phonics, particularly Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP), has been a fundamental part of early reading instruction, recent research and feedback from teachers suggest that a more balanced approach can yield better outcomes.
The Role of Phonics—and Its Limitations
SSP has become the cornerstone of reading education in Key Stage 1. For many pupils, this systematic approach works well, helping them decode words and build early reading fluency. However, research suggests that solely focusing on phonics can sometimes stifle a pupil’s broader engagement with reading. Teachers often find that pupils progress at varying rates, making it difficult to maintain the same pace for all learners. This can lead to frustration among both pupils and teachers, especially when a purely phonics-based approach isn’t enough to capture the interest of students who are ready for more comprehensive reading challenges.
Moreover, research reveals that while SSP is essential, it should not be the only method of reading instruction. Pupils also need exposure to higher-level comprehension skills, vocabulary development, and the enjoyment of reading for meaning and context from an early age. A balanced approach, where phonics is supplemented with explicit teaching of comprehension and critical thinking, is increasingly seen as more effective in the long term.
Why a Balanced Approach to Literacy Matters
A growing body of research suggests that while phonics is essential, it should be one component of a broader reading strategy. In addition to decoding skills, pupils need to develop vocabulary, comprehension, and the ability to engage with text on a deeper level. This balanced approach, where phonics is complemented by explicit teaching of these higher-level skills, can help pupils become more confident, well-rounded and engaged readers.
For example, reading comprehension tasks encourage pupils to make sense of what they read, going beyond phonics to develop skills like inference, prediction, and summarisation. These skills are crucial for navigating more complex texts in later years, and starting early can prevent pupils from hitting a plateau in their reading development.
Enhancing Phonics Instruction with Additional Literacy Support
For schools dedicated to SSP, the idea of introducing supplementary methods can be daunting. Yet, many educators have found that supplementing phonics with other literacy resources doesn’t detract from their existing core curriculum approach, but instead enriches it. A balanced approach—where phonics instruction is complemented by comprehension, vocabulary knowledge and critical thinking tasks—helps prevent reading from becoming dry and formulaic. Instead, it turns literacy into a more engaging, multi-dimensional experience for young learners.
By supplementing their chore SSP programme with additional skills like fluency and comprehension, schools can provide pupils with opportunities to develop all the essential skills that work alongside phonics. For example, by engaging with reading comprehension activities, pupils can start applying what they have learned in phonics to new contexts, making reading both relevant and enjoyable.
Supporting Teachers with Practical Solutions
One of the greatest challenges teachers face is accommodating the varying learning speeds of their pupils, particularly in a phonics-heavy curriculum. Not all pupils will grasp phonics at the same pace, and some may need additional support to keep up. This diversity in learning needs can put pressure on teachers, who may feel that they need to create extra interventions or adjust their lesson planning to ensure no one falls behind.
Using adaptive tools that personalise learning can help alleviate this pressure. By offering tailored support that adjusts to each pupil’s individual needs, teachers can ensure all pupils make progress without the need for additional planning or resources. This can be especially helpful in schools where time and staff capacity are already stretched.
Preparing Pupils for Key Stage 2 and Beyond
The ultimate goal of any Key Stage 1 reading program is to prepare pupils for the more complex literacy tasks they will encounter in Key Stage 2 and beyond. By embedding a balanced approach that includes phonics and comprehension from the start, schools can ensure their pupils are not only proficient decoders but also confident, independent readers.
Introducing Lexia Core5 Reading: A Balanced Literacy Solution
For schools looking to enhance their phonics programs with a balanced approach, Lexia Core5 Reading offers a proven solution. Core5 seamlessly reinforces existing phonics instruction while also providing explicit teaching in comprehension, vocabulary, fluency and text analysis. This ensures pupils develop a full range of reading skills from the start, setting them up for long-term success in literacy. Designed by educators for educators, Core5 offers personalised learning pathways, helping teachers manage diverse learning needs without adding to their workload.
By supporting both phonics and higher-level reading skills, Core5 ensures pupils not only learn to read but also understand and enjoy reading, making it a valuable addition to any school’s literacy strategy.
Learn more about Lexia Core5 Reading
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Faced with the diverse literacy needs of their students, secondary schools are grappling with the challenge of delivering the right level of support to every pupil. With tightening budgets and a shortage of literacy specialists, many secondary schools are facing significant challenges in providing the literacy support their students need.
Lack of funding means schools often struggle to hire enough teachers, teaching assistants, or literacy specialists, which in turn limits the scope for tailored literacy interventions. In response, some schools have turned to hiring primary staff to address literacy gaps in secondary students, but these staff are not always readily available or equipped for the complexities of secondary-level literacy demands. This highlights a critical need for innovative solutions.
Leveraging technology can offer a time-efficient and cost-effective way to meet these literacy challenges, enabling schools to provide personalised, adaptive support without the need for additional specialist staff. When literacy is prioritised across the whole school, it becomes a powerful tool for unlocking students’ potential in every subject—from interpreting complex instructions in maths to comprehending scientific texts. By integrating technology-driven solutions, schools can bridge the gap and ensure literacy remains a foundation for academic success, for all students, even in resource-constrained environments.
Prioritising Literacy as a Foundation for Success
Most students arrive at Secondary having been taught to read through Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP). However, when pupils reach Key Stage 3 and face the challenges of the secondary curriculum, it often becomes clear that not all have fully developed the foundational reading skills necessary to progress. In many cases, reading deficiencies are masked and the underlying issues are not always related to phonic knowledge. Some pupils may appear to be decoding words correctly but still struggle with comprehension, fluency or vocabulary.
When literacy is at the core of learning, students are better equipped to engage with complex materials in subjects like maths, science, and history. For example, understanding word problems in maths or grasping technical language in science depends heavily on strong reading skills. School leaders can play a vital role by promoting literacy as a key driver of academic achievement in every subject area.
Building a literacy-rich environment doesn’t just mean focusing on reading during English lessons. It’s about integrating literacy support into all subjects, helping students develop the ability to interpret and analyse text, communicate effectively, and understand subject-specific vocabulary. This is where the concept of disciplinary literacy becomes essential.
Disciplinary Literacy: Integrating Reading Across the Curriculum
Disciplinary literacy—the ability to read, write, and communicate effectively within different subject areas—has become increasingly important in secondary education. Each subject has its own specific language, texts, and conventions. Whether it’s understanding historical documents, interpreting literary texts, or solving word problems in maths, students need to develop subject-specific literacy skills to succeed.
One way to support disciplinary literacy is through interventions that expose students to a wide range of texts spanning multiple subjects. This approach helps students not only improve their reading comprehension but also learn how to apply these skills across the curriculum. In addition, explicit instruction in morphology—particularly in Greek and Latin roots—can be highly effective in building subject-specific vocabulary.
By understanding the structure of words, students are better equipped to decode unfamiliar terms, which enhances their ability to grasp complex concepts in subjects like science, history, and geography. For example, teaching a student the Greek form, ‘poly’ unlocks the meaning of several subject-specific words such as polygon, polysyllabic and polymer.
When schools integrate these literacy strategies, they empower students to navigate academic texts in any subject, helping them build the skills and confidence needed to succeed across the board.
Overcoming Time and Resource Constraints
For many secondary school leaders, a major challenge is finding the time and resources to dedicate to literacy support. As secondary schools face tight scheduled and a full curriculum, it can be difficult to allocate the focused time and attention needed to support every struggling reader. On top of this, the shortage of literacy specialists means that many schools lack the staff needed to provide targeted interventions.
While some secondary schools are turning to primary-trained staff to address this gap, these individuals are not always available or prepared for the complexities of secondary-level literacy challenges.
However, technology offers a way to make literacy support more accessible and efficient. Digital literacy tools can provide personalised learning paths for students, allowing them to work on the specific areas where they need improvement. These tools can also reduce the planning burden on teachers by offering ready-made resources and progress monitoring tools. By leveraging technology, schools can ensure that more students receive the literacy support they need without requiring additional staffing or class time.
Adaptive Teaching for Diverse Needs
Secondary schools often have a wide range of literacy abilities within each year group. Some students may still struggle with basic reading skills, while others are ready for more advanced content. Meeting these diverse needs requires an adaptive approach, ensuring that each student receives the right level of support to make progress.
One strategy to address this is through personalised learning, where students are assessed on their specific skills, and targeted interventions are provided based on their individual gaps. This kind of adaptive teaching can help all learners, regardless of their starting point, to make meaningful gains in literacy.
Literacy for All – How Lexia fits into your Whole School Literacy Approach
For schools looking to implement a practical and effective solution, Lexia PowerUp Literacy offers a research-proven approach that integrates disciplinary literacy, personalisation, and adaptive technology. PowerUp helps secondary schools support a wide range of literacy abilities by providing targeted instruction in reading comprehension, decoding, vocabulary, grammar, and fluency. Through its use of personalised learning paths, PowerUp allows students to work at their own pace while teachers receive actionable data to inform classroom instruction.
By integrating PowerUp into your school’s literacy strategy, you can take practical steps toward closing attainment gaps and ensuring every student has the literacy skills needed to succeed across the curriculum.
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As technology increasingly becomes an integral part of education, schools across the country are exploring how it can support reading and literacy intervention. However, for many, limited budgets and staff shortages pose significant challenges. The lack of funding often means fewer teachers, teaching assistants, and literacy specialists are available to provide targeted support, leaving schools struggling to meet the literacy needs of their pupils—especially those in Key Stage 2 as pupils’ needs become more varied.
In this environment, leveraging technology offers a new way to tackle these challenges. Scalable solutions that don’t require additional professional staff can help schools deliver high-quality literacy support, even with constrained resources. Adaptive learning tools, for example, allow schools to offer personalised reading instruction to every pupil without the need for one-to-one teaching or specialist support.
By incorporating technology, schools can address literacy issues at scale, ensuring that even with limited funds, pupils receive the support they need to catch up and thrive—without overburdening existing staff.
Moving Beyond ‘More of the Same’ in Key Stage 2
For most schools, the primary years focus on the systematic teaching of reading through Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP). However, when pupils reach Key Stage 2, it often becomes clear that not all have fully developed the foundational reading skills necessary to progress. In many cases, reading deficiencies are masked and the underlying issues are not always related to phonic knowledge. Some pupils may appear to be decoding words correctly but still struggle with comprehension, fluency or vocabulary.
Relying on ‘more of the same’ phonics interventions are not always effective for these learners. To truly help pupils who are behind in reading, it’s essential to identify specific skill gaps that may be preventing them from becoming proficient readers. These gaps could lie in comprehension, text analysis or vocabulary, and need to be addressed alongside any phonics challenges. At this stage, pupils don’t need a repeat of methods used in Key Stage 1—they need a real fresh start. Interventions should target their unique literacy needs while building their confidence. This equips them with the tools to catch up and make progress without falling further behind.
Catching Up then Keeping Up: A Targeted Approach
The importance of identifying and addressing literacy gaps early is crucial for ensuring long-term academic success. Pupils who enter Key Stage 2 without fully developing essential reading skills face a steep uphill climb. Without intervention, these gaps can widen, making it harder for them to engage with more complex texts and keep up with their peers as the curriculum becomes more challenging.
A targeted approach to literacy intervention is essential for closing these gaps. Schools should focus on revisiting the specific skills that pupils may have missed in Key Stage 1, whether it’s decoding, comprehension, or fluency. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all solution, it’s important to assess each pupil’s needs and offer tailored instruction that not only addresses their gaps but also moves them forward with more advanced literacy tasks.
In addition to catching up, pupils who have struggled to acquire reading skills, need ongoing support to ensure they can keep up with their peers. This means helping them engage with higher-level comprehension and vocabulary work that prepares them for SATs and the secondary curriculum. Schools can explore tools and strategies that offer ongoing assessment and personalised learning experiences, allowing pupils to make steady progress while teachers stay informed of their development.
By adopting a strategic, individualised approach to literacy support, educators an ensure that all pupils—regardless of where they started—can thrive in reading and beyond.
Preparing Pupils for SATs and the Future
While phonics is crucial in the early stages of literacy, Key Stage 2 pupils need more than just basic decoding skills. They must develop advanced reading skills, including critical comprehension, vocabulary development, and the ability to engage with complex texts. This prepares them not only for the immediate demands of the Key Stage 2 curriculum and SATs but also for the challenges they will face in secondary school.
Primary schools play a pivotal role in preparing pupils for these demands. Moving beyond basic literacy instruction and focusing on these higher-level skills ensures that students leave primary school as confident, capable readers, ready to tackle secondary-level texts and challenges.
Leveraging Technology to Achieve Literacy Equity at Scale
When tackling literacy challenges, schools often focus on pupils who are the furthest behind. These students are not only the most noticeable but also an immediate priority. However, there is another group that often slips under the radar or is left unsupported due to limited resources: pupils who are performing just at the expected level. While these students are generally competent with phonics, their progress can stall. This is usually because they lack exposure to a broad and rich vocabulary. Although they may show signs of progress, they are at risk of stagnating if their vocabulary and comprehension skills aren’t continually developed.
This “hard-to-reach” group might not display obvious literacy gaps, but they require just as much attention to prevent them from falling behind in the future. These pupils need support in building more complex vocabulary and developing deeper comprehension skills that go beyond basic reading proficiency. Without this enrichment, they may struggle to engage with the increasingly challenging texts they will encounter later in their education.
Technology offers an effective way to provide differentiated support at scale. Adaptive learning tools can assess not only the needs of struggling readers but also identify those who are at risk of stagnating. By delivering personalised learning experiences that challenge each pupil at their appropriate level, schools can ensure that all pupils—whether they are far behind or just on level—are continually developing their literacy skills. This approach allows teachers to focus their attention where it’s most needed while ensuring equitable literacy progress across the board.
Lexia Core5 Reading: A Comprehensive Literacy Solution
For schools seeking an efficient, scalable way to implement these strategies, Lexia Core5 Reading offers a powerful solution. Core5 blends adaptive technology with research-based pedagogy to provide personalised reading instruction that targets gaps in Key Stage 1 content while helping pupils advance through more complex Key Stage 2 literacy tasks.
Designed with the hard-pressed educator in mind, Core5 gives teachers real-time insights into pupil progress and provides the resources to support them, enabling targeted interventions without adding to their workload. By providing both catch-up support and advanced literacy skills, Core5 equips pupils with the tools they need to succeed—not just in Key Stage 2, but in secondary education and beyond.
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Our Star School for November is…
The Compton School, London!
We had the pleasure of speaking with Emily Walker-Nolan, Assistant Head, and Deeya Sharma, Lexia Lead. They shared valuable insights on how starting Lexia early with their Year 7 intake has significantly enhanced literacy outcomes and fostered strong engagement with the program.
How did you first come across the Lexia program and what led to the school’s final decision to purchase?
Emily: About 4 years ago, I put in a school development bid with the local authority for some of their post-covid funding. I decided to write something about the whole school reading strategy and Lexia was part of that tool kit. It was a three-tier approach; so there was a whole school approach that looked at the development of staff, making sure that every teacher was a teacher of literacy and reading.
Being a secondary school, we made sure that teachers understand how children learn to read and the specific barriers that they might have with their reading. Lexia was to be part of our targeted support following the screening of our young people. We wanted to have a licence at Key Stage 3 for our bottom 20% of readers as a catch-all to run alongside other interventions that we run as a school.
We have daily phonics instruction here at secondary level and paired reading for fluency practice and we call Lexia our ‘tutor in a computer’. It’s our way of making sure that the young people that aren’t getting one to one intervention or they just need a little bit of support, are getting a bit of extra help closing those foundational reading gaps.
We introduced it with 60 licenses, and we liked it so much that, in the second year of the strategy, we then purchased 120 licenses. We now have three trust schools that have Lexia and that all started with us here at Compton. It’s great!
What do you feel makes Lexia stand apart from other reading skills software products on the market?
Emily: I think that because it’s an adaptive programme and it’s bespoke to the needs of the particular student. I think that that’s a big sell for us in terms of making sure that the students are getting the correct level of instruction, making sure that they’re closing the specific gaps that they have in all areas of reading. That’s an excellent part of the programme. I think another part of it is the gamification.
Deeya: Yes, since the start of term, we’ve had a couple of weeks with Year 7 now, they have been really competitive with keeping up streaks! They come to tell me about their high streaks and it’s a real treat for them to be able to compete with their friends and get a high score. They also keep track of it themselves and show me and their other teachers what they have achieved. It’s a real sense of achievement for them!
How is Lexia used in your school?
Emily: Lexia forms an in integral part of our Year 6 transition. We’re relatively stable in terms of student intake so we get students to take their CAT test early. So, the prospective Year 6 pupils come in around May to do their CAT which is much earlier than our other schools. We then use the Verbal Reasoning Score and start to have a look at data before they even do their SATs to identify if they could have some reading barriers.
In the summer term, after they have had their induction day, we invite usually around 50 students who will make up our new Year 7 cohort, and their parents, into school for an afternoon. The young people will go and do their Lexia Auto Placement test, and we will speak to the parents to get them on board with the program and what to can do. This is to avoid the ‘summer slide’ and ensure that there are no gaps even before even start secondary school and that the parents buy into our school ethos of reading.
We give each of these students a Lexia licence and give them the ambitious project of who can do the most minutes over the summer holidays. The winner gets a £10 Amazon voucher. They just love it and they go wild for it! In fact, in previous years, we’ve have children actually graduate and finish the program even before they start secondary school! It’s great for the students because they have been successful in an area they potentially haven’t been before and then we can reuse the license with another student which supports us financially as a school. It’s really powerful!
A good thing about the program is that it is a finite program so the students don’t feel they are chipping away at an endless task. Some interventions can feel quite arduous but the fact that there is an end goal with Lexia, its quite motivating for the students.
After the Year 6 transition, we then do our more forensic screening to make sure we’ve got the right children. At the moment we heavily load Year 7 so we are probably going to use about 70 of our licenses in Year 7.
Last year, we created a Lexia Lead position who is the head of Lexia and we run a breakfast club because we found that the children we were targeting were getting quite dysregulated at the end of the day. We found that Year 7 parents were more keen to drop their children to school a little earlier and the turnout have been very positive. They can come, have a biscuit, they can do half an hour on Lexia and it means that they have already achieved 30 minutes of their Lexia time.
We also have 30 minutes of personal development time (PDT) at 10:30. Once a week, they come out of one of their personal development times and they are with Deeya in the computer room, completing Lexia for another 30 minutes. We target each student to do 90 minutes a week, so it means that we’ve given them an hour to build up their minutes and they only have to do 30 minutes in their own time.
Having it structured in this way means we can be supportive in giving them this time. Deeya then also has protected time on her timetable to do interventions so the young people are withdrawn during this time to complete interventions.
Deeya: They are motivated to do well. During the breakfast clubs and the PDT, I give them highest streaks rewards like chocolates and postcards, so that also helps with their motivation. During the PDT, I will have a look at the minutes that they have achieved in the past week and multiple students are getting above 200 minutes in the week which is incredible! They are so motivated to achieve a high number of minutes each week.
We also have Lexia prefects in Year 11 who come and help in the sessions during PDT that are incredibly supportive. They help with giving out headphones and making sure that the biscuits are given out while I take the register. They help make that session run smoothly. The students come in and sit down immediately. They genuinely enjoy it.
Have you noticed a positive change in your pupils motivation to succeed in literacy?
Emily: Lexia forms part of a very broad package of support that we offer. We had our reading meeting this week and there are 8 or 9 of us around a table sharing information and Lexia forms one critical part of that. For me, it’s a safety net. It catches everybody regardless of whatever other interventions are happening.
At the start of the year, I review the data and I can clearly see a correlation between a child’s engagement with Lexia, the minutes and units gained, and the reading progress over the year. There are several case studies that we have had within our school, particularly with disadvantaged students, with one student making nearly 4 years progress in her reading age!
In terms of SEN outcomes as well; very strong. I think as a school we have had a 20% uplift in students reaching the expected benchmark for reading last year as a result of the suite of interventions, including Lexia, we have put in place.
I think for me, as a leader, I don’t teach Key Stage 3 that much, but of those 60-70 target students in Year 7, I know them really well because of Lexia. Because they have had that licence and we’ve had those interactions, I know their reading profile and where they placed in the Auto Placement. It’s powerful as a leader. There is a lot of positive impact.
We find that a lot of readers may be positioned as potentially having quite low motivation from never being successful with reading. We position them as the most successful people in the room. It’s often the weakest readers that have bought into it. It’s accessible. So, for the first time in potentially across all of primary school and into secondary school, they are successful at something that they haven’t been successful at before, and that’s incredibly motivating! You can start to see those sparks on intrinsic motivation starting now.
Deeya: I am a Year 7 form tutor and teacher of a different Year 7 class, so I have lots of positive interactions with Year 7. Having those students pass me in the corridor or in the playground, they will ask me ‘Do we have Lexia today?’, even if it is not our timetabled Lexia day. I have been very impressed with the continuous motivation that they want to do Lexia outside of school.
They will come up to me and tell me that they are trying to beat their highest streak or pass their highest number of minutes. It’s had a very positive impact on their motivation. I’ve even had a few students ask me if they can join Lexia just because they have heard about the positive impact of it from their friends. I don’t think the students view it as an intervention and I think it’s to do with the way that it is packaged.
Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?
Emily: We have had one young man who was in our first cohort of Lexia and he was placed in the foundational level for every stand. He graduated from Lexia at the end of last year. He is on the SEN register and has additional needs and ASD but Lexia was a safe and structured part of his day. It really supported him with his reading and feeling successful in this area. Now that he’s finished the program and in Key Stage 4, he saying to me that he wishes that he could do Lexia again and he misses that part of his day.
I think, particularly for children with additional needs, it provides that routine, that structure, that safety and that success. I think that’s extremely helpful for him.
Deeya: We have just started the Year 7 cohort for this year and some of the students started off a bit unsure about the program. Now we are a few weeks in, they are so positive around it. They are coming to breakfast club and additional sessions in the middle of the day, they are completing sessions and home and getting certificates already. I think that positive turn around bodes well for the end of the year where we will probably have some more success stories to share!
How have you used rewards to motivate and celebrate success on the Lexia program?
Emily: We have a rewards pyramid structure. First, we have weekly rewards such as a biscuit for being logged in with your headphones on and, when the student achieve over 90 minutes, they will get a chocolate. We also give out Lexia postcards and prizes and positive praise, making sure that the students are praised across the school.
We then have termly awards, like last year, when we noticed that the students were completing a lot of using in the Word Study and Comprehension strands but the Grammar units were behind anything else. So, we had a Grammar challenge over the holidays and the person that completed the most Grammar units over the half term holidays won a £20 Amazon voucher.
We normally set them for the holidays because we want the children to keep practising over the break and it’s a great way to connect with home. We saw a massive uplift in the students completing Grammar units and the prize was given out in assembly. It’s a win-win! We have a few termly initiatives like this, usually a £10-20 Amazon voucher and, if students complete 1000 minutes over the term, they are entered into a raffle.
We also have end of year rewards trips. Last year, we took all our Lexia graduates on a trip to the cinema. It is just around the corner from our school. Tickets only cost around £3 per child so it was fairly cheap but it was motivating for all of them to try and finish the program so they could automatically come. We also took some of our high-engagers too so if you were in the top 30 to either complete the program or to have the most minutes on Lexia, you got to come out of school for the afternoon. We would walk them to the cinema, give them some popcorn and watch the film. It’s a lovely way to end the year and a positive way to celebrate their hard work and effort persisting with something and carrying on. I think its really powerful.
I think it’s that extrinsic motivation that you need to get them to buy in at the beginning. But then, I think they start to see the benefits for themselves. They can position themselves as a better reader. Eventually, you want to move away from the biscuits and postcards and you want them just to feel more positive about reading and to want to read more.
How useful have you found the myLexia reports in terms of demonstrating progression and informing planning?
Emily: Reading is the key to the curriculum, and it is very high on the agenda. I will report myLexia data to governors so the governors are aware of Lexia in school. Deeya is superb at communicating progress, particularly with those most critical students, with SLT so that we know who the top achievers are.
Deeya: In the Lexia sessions, I have myLexia open on my computer so I can see each group and their usage and minutes. I sort them from highest to lowest so I can congratulate the high-achievers and then and award their chocolates. Equally, I look at the bottom of the list which can highlight who is not engaging as well. It’s helpful to see and know who to speak to and have conversation about why that might be. Maybe they are lacking motivation or maybe they are not able to access Lexia at home due to a technical issue. It’s important data to see so that I can start the conversation and provide support. We also use the usage reports to see the units and minutes for a custom date range over the summer holidays.
Emily: It’s a particularly useful feature for monitoring engagement. For me, the Skills Status reports are really helpful in terms of measuring impact and who is engaging most across the year. We have also be able to see if Year 7 haven’t been moving forward with Grammar and that has told us we need to do a Grammar challenge. Often, I have it open on my phone and if I’m talking to young people around school I can pull up their name on myLexia and have a look at how many minutes they have done that week and congratulate them. It’s a very user-friendly portal, quite easy to navigate around.
It’s also easy to move licenses in and out and set up classes. I think our next step will be to share the platform with more teachers so they can monitor progress with their classes a little bit more. It’s handy to assign staff to each of their classes so they can see who in their class are engaging with Lexia and what their progress is like.
Deeya: When I do interventions one-to-one with students, its helpful for me to see. I print off the resources so I can have them in front of us when we go through it. The list of who has repeated units and who is struggling is helpful, especially when I see students appearing on it more than once.
What main piece of advice would you give to a school that was just getting started with Lexia?
Deeya: I wasn’t involved in the initial set up of Lexia like Emily was, but I think that the running of Lexia over the summer holidays is something that has worked for the cohort this year, especially with starting their engagement in the program early. I think that is something that a school should do if they want to be successful with it and have the cohort be so positive with it: Get started as early as possible.
Emily: If you can’t and you do not know your Year 6’s before they start, I think getting parental engagement and getting the parents on board is really helpful. Get the parents in and get them to look at it. Deeya held an amazing virtual workshop on Zoom for our parents. We sent links to the parents so if they couldn’t come in over the summer holidays, we texted out a link and they could join virtually. We recorded the meeting with all the relevant information like how they could use it, how it worked and the timetabling and all the operational things and then we stopped the recording and had a Q&A. We then emailed that recording to all the parents that couldn’t come so they had all the relevant information. That’s something that all schools could do.
We also had a ‘Welcome to Year 7’ evening this week and we normally have Lexia as part of that. I think parents want something tangible that they can do at home to support them, especially with English. This is something that is tangible. They can see that it’s happening in front of them and that is the way they can support, just by giving them access. I think that’s one way to be successful with the program, by getting that parental buy-in.
What feedback have you had from your Lexia pupils?
Deeya: It’s been overwhelmingly positive. I’m probably sounding repetitive but they just love it. They associate the sessions with so much positivity and warmth and they look forward to coming. Even the students that are hesitating at first to come to the sessions because of the potential stigma around it. I think they have overcome that and now most of Year 7 see the session as very, very positive.
I’ve had a few students ask to join Lexia just because they have heard from their friends about the positive impact of it. That obviously means that it is having a positive impact on their motivation. It’s not seen as an intervention. It’s seen as a group of people who want to succeed and do well.