Use a simple thermometer visual to show a character’s emotional intensity.
Pupils justify the character’s position using evidence from the text. A great scaffold for inference and emotional literacy.
Ensuring that every child develops confident reading skills is a priority for primary schools, yet pupils with special educations needs and disabilities (SEND) often face additional barriers to literacy.
For SENDCOs and school leaders, providing effective reading intervention requires a strategic, evidence-based approach that addresses diverse learning needs while working within the realities of curriculum demands and resource constraints.
Literacy for All: Strategies for Primary Pupils with SEND is a practical guide designed to support educators in implementing inclusive, research-informed literacy strategies. It explores key approaches to improving reading outcomes for SEND learners, with a focus on adaptive instruction, targeted support, and data-driven decision-making.
This guide will help you:
- Deliver more effective literacy support: Tailor literacy instruction to meet the needs of learners with dyslexia, ADHD, and speech and language difficulties.
- Save time and enhance impact: Explore the role of adaptive learning and technology in delivering personalised reading intervention.
- Make data work for you: Use assessment and real-time data to inform targeted interventions and demonstrate impact.
By embedding these approaches into literacy provision, schools can take meaningful steps towards closing the attainment gap and ensuring equitable access to reading development.
Want to experience the impact of Lexia Core5 in your school? We’re offering a free 30-day evaluation for schools interested in seeing how Lexia Core5 can support their students’ literacy skills development.
Simply fill out the form below to enquire about a 30-day evaluation of Lexia Core5 Reading.
See the Results for Yourself – Request a Free 30-Day Evaluation
And what to focus on instead
Reading remains one of the most powerful gateways to learning, wellbeing and future opportunity. It is no surprise, then, that literacy continues to sit high on the national agenda. With initiatives such as the National Literacy Trusts’ National Year of Reading, there is renewed focus on ensuring all young people develop the reading skills they need to thrive, both in school and beyond.
For secondary schools, this challenge is particularly complex. Each year, pupils arrive from a wide range of primary settings with hugely varied experiences, abilities and needs. Some students transition confidently into the demands of the secondary curriculum, while others struggle to access subject content because of underlying literacy difficulties that may not be immediately visible.
To identify pupils who need support, most secondary schools already undertake some form of standardised reading assessment. Reading age is by far the most commonly used measure, offering a quick snapshot of attainment. However, once schools have this data, a familiar question often follows: What can we actually do with it?
In this article, we explore why many secondary educators find Reading Age data difficult to act on and what can be done instead to gain a clearer, more useful picture of pupils’ reading ability, one that genuinely informs teaching and interventions.
Why Reading Age isn’t everything
Reading Age scores are popular because they appear simple and concrete. They allow for easy comparison between students and can quickly highlight those reading below their chronological age. In busy secondary settings, this clarity can feel reassuring.
But reading is far more complex than a single number suggests. It is not one skill that can be neatly captured by one data point.
The Simple View of Reading provides a helpful framework here. It explains that reading comprehension, the ultimate goal of reading, is the product of two broad skill sets: Word Recognition and Language Comprehension. Both are essential, and weakness in either can significantly limit a pupil’s ability to understand text.
Dig a little deeper, and each of these areas breaks down further into more specific component skills. These include phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary, background knowledge, inference and other comprehension strategies. Together, these skills enable pupils to become fluent, confident, curriculum-ready readers.
Reading Age assessments rarely allow teachers to explore these components in enough detail. While a score may tell us that a pupil is reading below expectations, it does not explain why. Is the difficulty rooted in decoding? Slow or inaccurate fluency? Limited vocabulary? Weak comprehension strategies? Many assessments focus heavily on a pupil’s functional ability to read words, rather than their deeper understanding of meaning, structure and purpose. Without this insight, it becomes challenging to plan effective support.
There are also broader limitations to consider. Reading Age scores can imply that there is a single ‘normal’ level of reading for each age, when in reality, there is a wide and natural range of ability, particularly in adolescence.
Finally, an over-reliance on Reading Age can unintentionally affect pupils’ confidence and engagement. Labelling texts (or pupils) by age can limit book choice, discourage risk-taking and undermine motivation to engage with a wider range of challenging and interesting material.
We spoke to Martin Byrne and Jo Stevenson at Kings International College. A non-selective secondary school, Kings International College have been a Lexia customer for over 6 years. Martin and Jo share with us how they implement PowerUp Literacy across a broad student cohort, share myLexia reports with concerned parents and keep students motivated on the programme.
How did you first come to across the Lexia programme and what led to the school’s final decision to purchase?
Martin: I know in the early stages; we weren’t using Lexia effectively. I think during that time it was used for very small, group SEN interventions only. Part of the challenge for us is that we didn’t have a very robust set to cohort level reading age data. As our use of Lexia started to develop we became better at benchmarking and assessing the whole school literacy in our incoming cohorts. Once we understood it more, we began to recognise the great value it provided in our interventions. We started on a small scale, felt the impact, and felt like it was worth investing in.
Which cohorts do you use Lexia with how and do you identify pupils to put on the programme?
Jo: We use the NGRT to initially assess the student’s reading age in Year 7, and regularly as they progress through Key Stage 3. We use that to determine what type of intervention they need. Obviously, we’re looking directly at students that need support with the relevant lexia strands of Word Study, Grammar and Comprehension. Once we’ve determined those students, I then run 3x 50-minute sessions with those students in a classroom. This usually goes on for a ter.
Martin: The actual selection of student we vary on the intake. We look at a combination of the NGRT data, standardised reading score and a difference between chronological reading age and reading age. This identifies a gap. Depending on how many student we’ve got in different cohorts, typically we’ll classify students’ literacy abilities as “wave one” in a similar way we would with SEND.
Wave one are students that can access the curriculum and are at their reading age. Wave two are between 18 months and 2 years below their chronological age and here is where Lexia intervention begins. Finally, wave three is where there is a much bigger gap, and we use Lexia here amongst other literacy interventions. Lexia we find gets students on track quickly. We use Lexia to arrest the narrow gaps.
What makes Lexia stand out from other interventions you’ve used in the past?
Martin: It’s impactful, it’s evidence-based and it has built in diagnostic tools that help track student progress. The reports get quite granular in terms of student engagement, what progress they’re making, and what areas they need to target to make meaningful improvement. Lexia isn’t a broad-brush approach. Once you’ve got students on this intervention, it’s tailored to their individual need.
Jo: The ability to pick out individual needs and how they need to be addressed. The myLexia reports are absolutely invaluable. Every Friday I run reports on each individual student, and this allows us to monitor students on an ongoing basis and have these conversations of “you need help in this area i.e. comprehension”
Describe the impact that Lexia has had on your pupils
Martin: I’ve found that we see less anxiety about attending lessons, more willingness to engage and really give it a go in mainstream lessons once the students return from the intervention. There is less regression and backsliding too, year on year the data comes through and we find that once a student has been through Lexia they hold ground better than they did with other previous interventions.
Jo: It’s the increase in confidence too. For example, I was in a lesson the other day that involved reading aloud, and one of the last year’s Lexia cohort had the confidence to stand up and read aloud. Sometimes this gets lost in you’re only looking at the data, but to see it in practice that they have increased confidence in the classroom is really good to see.
Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?
Jo: I think with this it’s important to start with the context of when they start on Lexia. Often the students are quite concerned – “Oh does this mean I have low reading ability” – so that knocks their confidence a little. The Year 11’s I’m working with now started Lexia when they were in Year 8, and some of them begrudgingly admit that “Yes Lexia did have an impact, and it was worthwhile”!
Martin: When the student has been through the Lexia programme, and the programme has been delivered with integrity, then it has lasting impact. There are a lot of variables that affect educational outcomes, and a lot of barriers. In our school, Lexia removes on of our barriers. What stands out about the students on Lexia is that there isn’t really a standout. The become the standard.
How have you used rewards to motivate and celebrate success on the Lexia programme?
Jo: As part of our school award system, we have achievement points, and when students on Lexia hit their targets then they receive an achievement point. What we’re careful to do is avoid only rewarding those students that have completed the most work, because quite often we find that lower ability students may have only completed a few units a week. We look more for if time has been well spent on Lexia and reward that instead, so we like to reward effort as well as achievement.
Motivation changes from year group to year group too. The Year 7’s really like the more gamified aspects and the streaks and comparing who has done the most work. They’re very eager to know if they’ve made the most progress! We have a boy at the moment that has a streak of 1200!
We have other rewards too; it’s a silly thing but having my chair, the teachers chair, is rewarded to the student that I feel has made the most effort that session!
How useful have you found the myLexia reports in terms of demonstrating progression and informing planning?
Jo: In terms of informing planning, the autoplacement at the beginning of the Lexia process is invaluable. All of the planning at early stages is built around that feature. It allows us to easily see what we’re dealing with.
The reports are great for feedback for parents too. We find that parents tend to get quite interested when they’re told their child is being given literacy intervention, and voice concern of “Oh gosh, I wasn’t aware there was an issue!”. We can then use the data in the reports to reassure them that we’re doing 100% of what we can for their child and show them their progress as the student moves through Lexia. It helps us to establish a relationship with the parent that feels more like a team.
What main piece of advice would you give to a school that was just getting started with Lexia?
Martin: What we’ve learned over the past six years, and the past three years of implementing the programme impactfully, is that it’s vital to get your student selection correct. Your Lexia cohort needs to be based on rigorous data. This is key.
We look not only at reading gaps, but attendance too. In secondary schools you need to be asking the question “Are they actually going to turn up and be present, or will we just be wasting our resources?”. Sometimes that is a hard call to make, but we have learned through experience over the years that it is necessary.
Lexia implementation staff do advise what works, and how to implement the course effectively. With any intervention there is a cost implication, be staffing or time. Trying to deliver Lexia without dedicated, well-trained staff will not deliver the full impact that the programme can have – that is recognised by the EEF.
I think that for any school leadership out there thinking about trying Lexia, I would recommend that you take the hit, invest financially in staffing and protect the time in the school day for it. If you ensure this from the beginning, then in pays dividends.
Step into the Literacy Spotlight
Engaging reluctant readers in Key Stage 2 can feel like an ongoing challenge. Many pupils approach longer texts with hesitation, lack confidence when faced with unfamiliar vocabulary, or struggle to retain key information. Yet strong comprehension skills are essential, not only for reading success, but for accessing the full curriculum and achieving their potential in SATs examinations.
To support teachers in building confidence, motivation, and mastery for every learner, we’ve put together ten practical, classroom-ready comprehension activities. These approaches offer structure, repetition and visual scaffolds to help even the most reluctant readers engage meaningfully with texts.
To make things even easier, we’ve created a free downloadable KS2 Comprehension Activity Pack, featuring sample passages at a range of ability levels and accompanying tasks to build comprehension and writing skills.
“Before, During, After” Guided Reading
A simple and highly effective structure for supporting focus and independence.
- Before: Predict using the title, preview vocabulary or carry out a picture walk.
- During: Pause at planned checkpoints to summarise, clarify tricky words or anticipate what might happen next.
- After: Ask targeted questions or complete a short retell.
This framework helps pupils develop the habits of active, reflective reading.
Vocabulary Match-Up
Provide pupils with:
- Key word cards featuring SATs-style vocabulary (e.g., “inference,” “phrase,” “significance”)
- Definitions
- Example sentences
Students match them up or create new examples. This builds crucial exam readiness and helps reluctant readers feel more prepared for SATs question wording.
Plot ‘Dominoes’
Write the key plot points of a text on separate cards.
After reading, pupils organise them into the correct sequence.
This offers a hands-on way to support working memory and reinforces the sequencing skills often assessed in SATs questions.
Character Feelings Thermometer
Find-The-Feature Scavenger Hunt
Give pupils a short non-fiction text and a checklist of features to locate, such as:
- Subheadings
- Captions
- Topic sentences
- Evidence or examples
This develops pupils’ understanding of text structure and prepares them for non-fiction comprehension tasks across subjects
‘Author’s Intent’ Cards
Present a set of cards showing author intentions such as to inform, to persuade, to entertain, or to build tension.
Pupils choose the most appropriate intention and justify their choice. The repetition builds confidence and helps reluctant readers quickly recognise common text purposes.
The “Evidence Collector” Game
Turn retrieval and inference into a fun detective challenge! Provide magnifying glass cut-outs or “evidence badges” alongside comprehension texts and questions and ask pupils to:
- State their answer
- Underline the evidence
- Explain how the evidence supports their view
This reinforces systematic, structured thinking.
Question Creation Carousel
Pupils write their own SATs-style comprehension questions about a text, swap with a partner, and answer each other’s.
This encourages metacognition, deepens understanding and builds familiarity with common question formats.
Comic Strip Reconstruction
After reading an extract, pupils create a 4–6 frame comic strip summarising the key events.
The visual nature of the task makes it particularly supportive for reluctant readers and helps solidify sequencing and summarisation skills.
Inference “Emoji” Coding
Provide a range of emoji cards and ask pupils to choose those that best match:
- A character’s emotions
- The atmosphere of a setting
- The author’s tone
Pupils then justify their choices using clues from the text. This low-barrier activity offers an accessible entry point into inference.
Download Your Free KS2 Comprehension Activity Pack
To help you put these ideas into practice, we’ve created a free downloadable comprehension pack. It includes:
- Short fiction and non-fiction passages at a range of reading levels
- Ready-to-use comprehension tasks for each text
- Teacher notes to support classroom delivery
Introducing The Big LexiaUK Survey 2026!
“How do other schools implement Lexia?”
It’s a question we hear often from schools looking to maximise their impact on reading.
During the National Year of Reading, it feels like the perfect time to ask a wider question too:
How are schools supporting reading and what challenges are they facing along the way?
That’s why we’d love to hear from you.
Take part in The Big Lexia Survey 2026 and help us better understand how reading is being supported in your school, how Lexia fits within that approach and where the biggest pressures and priorities lie. From targeting and timetabling to tracking progress and overcoming reading barriers, we’re keen to learn what’s working well and where you’d value more support.
In return, you’ll be entered into our prize draw to win £250 of National Book Tokens for your school library.
Your feedback will help shape future resources, guidance and support, ensuring Lexia continues to support schools effectively during the National Year of Reading and beyond.
Click below to take part. It only takes 15 minutes, but your insights will make a lasting impact.
Giveaway Rules
- Only one entry per person.
- Entrants from the UK and Ireland only.
- Entrants must be teaching staff in a school that is a current customer of LexiaUK.
- We are unable to accept entries from anyone connected with any schools participating in empirical studies relating to Lexia..
- Winner will be selected using a random number generator and checks to ensure all entry requirements are satisfied will take place until an eligible winner is chosen.
- Prize will only be sent to a school email address. Winner must provide a valid school email address upon selection for prize to be delivered.
- Winner will be notified by email where email address will be confirmed for prize delivery. A follow up phone call to the school will be made in a further attempt to make contact. If no response in received within 7 days of initial contact, the prize will be withdrawn and a new winner selected.
- All entry requirements must be satisfied for successful entry into the prize draw.
- Giveaway submissions will be accepted between 4th March 2026 at 8:30am and 24th July 2026 at 4:00pm after which a winner will be selected. We cannot accept entries submitted after this time.
- Winner will be announced from 1st September 2026.
- In the event of unforeseen circumstances beyond reasonable control, LexiaUK reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the competition or these terms and conditions, either in whole or in part, with or without notice.
Giveaway Entry Requirements
To Enter, participants must:
- Complete The Big Lexia Survey 2026.
- Provide contact details at the end of the survey.
- Be a member of staff at a school that is currently a LexiaUK customer.
Reading engagement plays a vital role in nurturing a lifelong love of learning and supporting literacy development across school. By focusing on the factors that spark intrinsic motivation, we can better understand how to encourage active engagement in the learning process and help pupils become confident, motivated readers.
The Power of Engagement
Research has consistently shown that students who are deeply engaged in their own learning not only adapt better to the classroom environment but also perform significantly higher academically. Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris (2004) highlight the pivotal role of internal motivation in successful learning, emphasising the need for students to be both motivated by and deeply engaged in their educational journey.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
Before we can develop strategies for motivating our students, we must first understand that not all strategies are created equal. One common way in which motivational strategies are categorised is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from within the student such as the activity being personally rewarding or enjoyable, while extrinsic motivation may come from factors such as an external reward scheme or incentives.
Delving into the debate of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, a meta-analysis of over 100 studies by Deci et al. (1999) revealed that intrinsic motivation is correlated with higher levels of effort, satisfaction, and learning. But how can we inspire intrinsic motivation in our students?
What Drives Intrinsic Motivation?
Pillars of intrinsically motivated behaviour include:
- Autonomy: Instilling a sense of control, agency, and independence.
- Competence: Fostering feelings of effectiveness, capability, and internal reward in tackling challenges.
- Relatedness: Meeting the need for meaningful interaction and connection with others. This sharpens social skills and provides an external motivation for the child.
Harnessing Intrinsic Motivation with Lexia
How can we guide our students towards intrinsic motivation when engaging with the Lexia program? Here are some different ways that you can employ these key drivers of intrinsic motivation in your Lexia sessions:
Autonomy
- Choice Matters: Provide students with choices, allow them to select their activities or strands during sessions. Both Lexia® Core5® Reading and Lexia® PowerUp® Literacy offer students a choice of activities, promoting their autonomy.
- Interactive Engagement: Encourage participation in the varied opinion polls and questions embedded throughout the program. Look out for these appearing and ask the student why they answered that way. Encourage their independence in their responses.
- Goal Setting: Enable students stay actively involved in their learning by setting their own personal goals. The myLexia Resource Hub provides downloadable Goal Setting Worksheets to empower students to set themselves actionable goals and the Student Programs dashboard gives students to the tools to track their progress towards these goals.
- Involvement: Share data with students, allowing them to play an active part and clearly see the growth that is occurring due to their effort.
Competence
- Personalised Learning: Lexia’s Auto Placement feature ensures the right level of challenge for each individual pupil. If a student has continual difficulty on the program, consider reassessing them to see if their needs have changed. You can also manually place a pupil at a level based on your own knowledge of their needs.
- Celebrate Success: Acknowledge every success, whether it’s completing levels, units, or dedicated usage goals. Verbal reinforcement can be a powerful tool to highlight each small achievement as they occur in the classroom.
- Certificates of Achievement: Utilise Lexia certificates to mark students’ achievements and let them know they are succeeding. A range of different types of certificates can be download from the Resources Hub by visiting the Student Achievement section.
- Regular Monitoring: Keep up with myLexia reports to intervene when students face challenges. This can prevent too many unsuccessful attempts in an activity, potentially leading to reduced motivation.
Relatedness
- Open Dialogue: Engage in open conversations with students about their Lexia progress, levels, minutes completed, and goals. Most pupils enjoy the opportunity to talk about their most recent achievements in the program.
- Peer Sharing: Encourage students to share their experiences with each other, fostering a sense of community. Allowing students to share what they are covering in their new level can motivate others to get to that level too!
- Competitions: Host competitions at the class or individual level, showcasing individual achievements to the class. You can utilise myLexia data or information from the Student’s dashboards to introduce a ‘Streak of the Week’ or ‘Units Leaderboard’.
- Classroom Environment: Leverage the classroom environment to display Lexia progressions and successes. Timelines can be used to provide a clear visual of your pupils progress through the program while certificate displays and leaderboards give students a space to celebrate each other’s achievements.
- Social Media Sharing: Capture and share success stories on your school’s social media. This helps to create a sense of pride within the wider school community. Make sure to use #LexiaUK to share these achievements with us too!
Crafting a Lexia Engagement Plan
To ensure a holistic approach to fostering Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness, consider creating a Lexia Engagement Plan for your school to ensure that these strategies are tailored to your unique environment. Follow the steps below to begin:
- Build Autonomy: Detail how the school will empower students with choices, goal-setting, and transparent data sharing.
- Promote Competence: Outline the school’s commitment to celebrating every success, utilising personalised learning features, and monitoring progress proactively.
- Promote Relatedness: Describe how the school will encourage open dialogue, peer sharing, and the use of the classroom environment and social media to enhance the sense of community.
By implementing these strategies, your school can unlock the full potential of Lexia programs, creating an environment where students are not only motivated but deeply engaged in their learning journey. If you require any support in developing your Implementation Plan for Lexia, get in touch with our knowledgeable and friendly Customer Care team.
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With the first inspections now underway under Ofsted’s updated 2025 framework, many leaders are taking stock of what the changes mean for their schools. The shift to a more detailed report-card model, the introduction of new evaluation areas and the sharper focus on inclusion all represent a significant adjustment to the inspection landscape.
For reading and literacy, particularly for pupils who may face barriers to learning, these changes bring renewed attention to how consistently and effectively schools support progress. While the framework continues to evolve in response to feedback from the sector, one thing remains clear: strong, joined-up literacy provision is essential for ensuring all pupils can access the curriculum.
This blog offers a clear overview of the reforms now in place and provides practical strategies to help your staff and wider literacy provision feel confident and well-prepared for the months ahead.
Overview of the New Ofsted Framework
From December 2025, all routine school inspections transitioned to the updated Education Inspection Framework (EIF). Key developments affecting reading include:
A shift to detailed report cards
Schools are no longer defined by a single headline judgement. Instead, each setting receives:
- a 5-point grade across several evaluation areas
- a short narrative describing strengths and priorities
- Contextual information that acknowledges pupil need and school demographics
This more detailed approach gives leaders richer feedback, but it also means inspectors are looking more closely at the quality and consistency of provision.
Evaluation areas
ding and literacy now contributes evidence across multiple areas, most notably:
- Curriculum and teaching
- Achievement
- Inclusion
- Leadership and governance
Because reading and literacy underpins curriculum access, practices in this one area now influences outcomes in several parts of the report card.
A new 5-point grading scale
The scale is designed to recognise sustained excellence and identify improvement needs more transparently:
- Exceptional
- Strong standard
- Expected standard
- Needs attention
- Urgent improvement
The expected standard reflects effective, consistent teaching aligned with statutory guidance. Most schools are likely to sit between expected and strong.
Stronger emphasis on inclusion
The introduction of a standalone Inclusion evaluation area signals a national commitment to addressing gaps in attainment and curriculum access. Inspectors are paying close attention to:
- How quickly needs are identified
- The quality of adaptations and scaffolding
- The impact of targeted support for disadvantaged, SEND, and vulnerable pupils
What These Changes Mean for Literacy Leaders
With reading and literacy threaded throughout the new evaluation areas, leaders have a clear opportunity to make literacy a central strength of their school. Strong literacy provision directly impacts Curriculum and Teaching, by ensuring pupils can access lessons across all subjects; Achievement, by supporting measurable progress in reading and comprehension; and Inclusion, by addressing barriers faced by disadvantaged or SEND pupils. In practice, inspectors will look at how well reading is taught and supported, how gaps are identified and addressed and how all pupils are supported to make meaningful progress, making literacy a key factor in multiple aspects of a school’s report card.
1. The need for a coherent, school-wide approach
Inspectors are looking for:
- shared understanding of reading progression
- consistency in lesson design and support
- routines that help pupils build secure, cumulative knowledge
Inconsistency between classes or phases will be more visible under the new toolkit.
2. Confidence in demonstrating impact
Because outcomes are reported across multiple categories, leaders need:
- timely, accurate data
- clear evidence of progress over time
- specific insight into the experiences of disadvantaged groups
Being able to talk confidently about how your pupils are reading and how quickly they improve supports several inspection areas at once.
3. Sustainable support for teachers
The new framework also recognises teacher workload and wellbeing. Approaches to literacy need to be:
- manageable
- repeatable
- aligned to existing routines
Teacher confidence is a key part of demonstrating a strong standard. When staff know what to prioritise, pupils benefit and inspectors notice.
How Technology Can Support
While digital tools are not always required, many schools are now turning to technology to help manage the increased emphasis on evidence, early identification and targeted support.
Technology can help by:
- Improving assessment accuracy, giving teachers precise information without additional workload.
- Providing adaptive practice, supporting diverse needs at the right level.
- Reducing differentiation burden, helping teachers plan in a way that supports all abilities without additional workload.
- Generating clear progress evidence, which can strengthen inspection narratives across multiple evaluation areas
Used thoughtfully, technology enhances teacher effectiveness and ensures pupils receive consistent, well-targeted support.
Leading Literacy with Confidence
The new Ofsted framework introduces more detailed reporting and new evaluation areas, but the fundamentals remain consistent: clear, structured reading provision supports pupil progress, including for disadvantaged learners.
Focusing on reliable routines, targeted early identification, and consistent teaching allows schools to manage inspection expectations effectively. The reforms provide a framework to demonstrate the quality and consistency of your reading provision and the practical impact of your teaching and support.
Building strong phonics skills is essential not only for passing the check but for fostering confident, independent readers.
Here, we’ve gathered a range of tried-and-tested phonics activities designed to support sound recognition, blending, segmenting and spelling, all while keeping learning fun and interactive. Plus, we’ve included a free phonics tracker template to help you monitor pupils’ progress and plan targeted support.
Sound recognition and blending
Helping pupils identify and blend sounds is a crucial step in developing early reading skills. Try these activities in your classroom:
Sound-to-Letter Matching: Use flashcards of letters and sounds. Pupils match the correct sound to the letter or digraph.
Sound Boxes (Elkonin Boxes): Pupils segment words into individual phonemes by placing counters or tokens in boxes as they say each sound.
Robot Talk: Teachers say words slowly, separating the phonemes (e.g., /c/ /a/ /t/), and pupils blend them to read the word.
Segmenting and Spelling
Once pupils can hear and blend sounds, segmenting and spelling helps solidify their understanding:
Segment and Spell: Pupils hear a word, segment the phonemes and write each sound in order.
Sound Swap Games: Pupils use letter tiles to change a phoneme in a word to create a new word (e.g., swap /c/ in “cat” with /h/ → “hat”).
Word Ladders: Start with one word, pupils change one sound at a time to make a new word and see how high they can make their word latter!
Segmenting and Spelling
Once pupils can hear and blend sounds, segmenting and spelling helps solidify their understanding:
Segment and Spell: Pupils hear a word, segment the phonemes and write each sound in order.
Sound Swap Games: Pupils use letter tiles to change a phoneme in a word to create a new word (e.g., swap /c/ in “cat” with /h/ → “hat”).
Word Ladders: Start with one word, pupils change one sound at a time to make a new word and see how high they can make their word latter!
Grapheme/Phoneme Games
Make phonics practice more interactive with games that focus on graphemes and phonemes:
Phonics Snap: Pupils play snap with cards showing graphemes or words.
Phoneme Fishing: Pupils “fish” for words or letters that match a particular phoneme.
Odd-One-Out: Pupils listen to or read a set of words and identify the word that doesn’t share the target phoneme.
Nonsense or Alien Word Practice
The phonics screening check includes ‘alien’ or nonsense words, so it’s essential pupils are comfortable reading unfamiliar words:
Alien Word Games: Pupils read nonsense words aloud to find out the name of the alien, use visuals like “alien characters” to make it fun.
Alien Word Sorting: Pupils sort nonsense words by phoneme or spelling pattern.
Listening & Discrimination
Developing pupils’ listening skills ensures they can discriminate between similar sounds:
Phoneme Spotting: Pupils listen to a sentence and identify the target sound.
Odd Sound Out: Pupils hear three words and identify the one with a different initial, medial, or final sound.
Sound Detective: Pupils distinguish between words that differ by only one sound (e.g., “pin” vs “pen”).
Phonics Fun and Games
Finally, make phonics practice engaging with activities that feel like play:
Phonics Treasure Hunt: Hide cards with words or phonemes around the classroom for pupils to find and read.
Interactive Whiteboard Activities: Use the interactive phonics activities in Lexia Core5 Reading on the whiteboard to engage the whole class
Phonics Board Games: Create simple board games where pupils read words to move spaces forward
Phonics Fun and Games
Finally, make phonics practice engaging with activities that feel like play:
Phonics Treasure Hunt: Hide cards with words or phonemes around the classroom for pupils to find and read.
Interactive Whiteboard Activities: Use the interactive phonics activities in Lexia Core5 Reading on the whiteboard to engage the whole class
Phonics Board Games: Create simple board games where pupils read words to move spaces forward
This term, we invited schools across the UK to take part in our Lexia in Action competition, a celebration of the creativity, commitment and impact behind high-quality Lexia implementation.
We were overwhelmed by the thoughtful submissions showcasing how educators bring Lexia to life in their classrooms, intervention spaces and wider school communities.
Today, we’re excited to announce our winners, three fantastic examples of Lexia in Action, each demonstrating how purposeful, data-informed practice can transform pupils’ literacy confidence.
Winner: The Forest School, Wokingham
Submitted by: Lisa Hollands, Learning Support Assistant
Our winning submission stood out for its creativity, consistency and inspiring whole-school culture of celebration.
Two years ago, Lisa took on the responsibility for Lexia interventions and immediately found ways to tailor the experience around pupils’ needs. One of her first changes was transforming the intervention rooms:
“Many of our students particularly struggle with the grammar section of Lexia, so I filled the walls with simple explanations and examples… Students regularly refer to these visuals, and they have proved extremely helpful in supporting their understanding and confidence.”
Lisa didn’t stop there. She revamped how progress was celebrated by handing out certificates daily, paired with a small treat to recognise success in the moment.
“This simple change has had a huge impact—students are much more motivated, and they now push themselves to complete levels.”
Her weekly “Longest Streak” challenge keeps pupils focused and encourages them to ask for help when they need it, building both independence and resilience. Even staff get involved:
“We make it a point to model that mistakes are normal, even staff don’t always get the answers right! The students… take great joy in catching us out.”
A termly staff–student competition added a sense of fun and community and as the school has grown, so too has the Lexia cohort.
Congratulations to Lisa and The Forest School for an outstanding, learner-centred approach to Lexia!
Runner Up: Holy Rosary Primary School, Belfast
Submitted by: Pame Muñoz-Cabrera, Newcomer & Diversity Leader
Holy Rosary impressed us with its deeply embedded approach to supporting newcomer pupils and learners with diverse needs.
Lexia plays a central role in the school’s blended literacy strategy:
“We embed Lexia daily as part of a blended approach to reading instruction.”
Direct teaching works hand-in-hand with Lexia’s adaptive tasks. Pame uses Lexia’s resources to plan small-group interventions focused on phonics, vocabulary, and reading strategies:
“Lexia adds to their learning journey by reinforcing these skills digitally and giving them confidence through personalised practice.”
To keep engagement high, the team at Holy Rosary do the following:
- Support pupils in tracking their own progress through Lexia’s dashboards, which motivates them to reach milestones.
- Celebrate achievements weekly with certificates, shout-outs and treats.
- Use Lexia’s data to plan interventions and ensure every child gets the right level of challenge.
This thoughtful, consistent approach has made a real difference for pupils at Holy Rosary.
Runner Up: King Edward VI Community College, Totnes
Submitted by: Yasmin Biggins, Literacy Lead
Our second runner-up demonstrated powerful, whole-school consistency from Year 7 all the way to Year 11.
“We have been using Lexia for two years, and the impact it has had on our students has been truly life-changing.”
Anchor charts and display materials support literacy across the intervention space, and older pupils benefit from bespoke GCSE-aligned targets. The end-of-year data tells a compelling story:
“Many demonstrate significant gains in their reading and spelling ages, with some even exceeding age expectations.”
Motivation is boosted with generous prizes, many donated by the local community. Highlights include skip-the-queue passes, food vouchers and an end-of-term raffle. Sharing progress updates with donors has strengthened community relationships as well as pupil engagement.
The most meaningful impact, however, is on students’ confidence:
“When a child who previously struggled with low self-esteem and confidence feels secure enough to raise their hand and read aloud, it is a clear sign that the programme is making a meaningful difference.” Yasmin Biggins, Literacy Lead
The festive season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than by infusing the festive spirit into your classroom literacy activities? Christmas-themed literacy exercises not only engage students but also make learning more enjoyable.
Here are 5 Christmas-themed literacy activities to keep your pupils reading all the way up to the end of term:
1. Santa’s Spelling Workshop
Transform your classroom into Santa’s Spelling Workshop by organising a spelling competition with a festive twist. Include words related to Christmas, winter and festive traditions. To add an extra layer of excitement, you can offer small rewards or certificates to the winners.
2. Christmas Story Writing Contest
Encourage creativity and imagination by hosting a Christmas story writing contest. Students can craft their own festive tales, incorporating characters like Rudolph, Santa, or even mischievous elves. Display the winning stories in the school library to showcase the budding literary talents of your students.
3. Seasonal Poetry Contest
Introduce the art of poetry by organising a seasonal poetry contest. Students can compose and perform poems that capture the essence of Christmas, winter landscapes, or their own experiences. This activity not only hones their literacy skills but also builds confidence in public speaking.
4. Festive Book Club
Start a festive book club where students can choose and read Christmas-themed books together. This not only promotes reading but also encourages thoughtful discussions about the plot, characters, and themes. Consider inviting local authors or storytellers to share their festive tales with the students.
5. Elf on the Grammar Shelf
Create an “Elf on the Shelf” inspired grammar game. Place a mischievous elf figurine in different spots around the classroom, each time with a note containing a sentence with a grammatical error. Challenge students to find and correct the error, turning it into a fun and interactive grammar lesson.
Embracing the festive season in your literacy activities adds a touch of joy and enthusiasm to the learning environment. These Christmas-themed activities not only promote literacy skills but also foster a love for reading and writing.
As you plan next year’s curriculum, don’t forget include Lexia Core5 Reading and Lexia PowerUp Literacy in your plans to support students in their literacy journey.
Merry Christmas and happy reading!