Close
Simon arrived at the school late in Year 1, when he was transferred to the care of his dad because his mum could no longer cope. His teachers remember him as very unsettled and hyperactive when he arrived, describing him as 'a bit of a scamp'.
His dad tried to help with reading but was puzzled that Simon could read a book when he brought it home from school, but the next day could hardly read a word of the same book.
"Looking back I thought he was being lazy, but when the Reading Recovery teacher talked to me about him, it clicked." Simon thought that reading meant memorising a story and retelling it from the pictures. This strategy had got him through his first year at school, where his problems had not been identified, but was leading him into serious trouble because he could not read anything independently.
What made the difference for Simon was the way class teachers and the Reading Recovery teacher in his new school worked together to screen children for literacy support.
"I dread to think what would have happened if he had stayed where he was," his dad says. "I'm so grateful that they picked up his reading problems so quickly here and had the facilities to help him... If it wasn't for his class teacher and Reading Recovery teacher, I wouldn't have known, I would have just thought he was lazy."
In Reading Recovery Simon picked up reading and writing very quickly, and as he made progress his behaviour changed. "Once he could do it for himself he seemed to settle down."
Now aged 10 he reads anything and everything without help. And the little scamp? His dad smiles, "every one of his teachers has said how helpful he is in class" and the teacher agrees, "the mischief turned into a really good sense of humour!"
