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Tom's family were very supportive of his learning, and his elder sister was exceptionally bright, so when Tom found himself struggling he felt it all the more keenly, and became very unhappy.
His mum described a vicious circle - reading was hard, so he was not interested and avoided reading, so it got harder.
Soon after Tom starting Reading Recovery she noticed a difference as the Reading Recovery teacher took the stress out of reading,
"When he didn't know something, it wasn't 'You've failed' but 'You've tried, here's something else you can try"
so he began to relax and to feel more confident.
Soon Tom was eager to pick up a book and to try to work it out for himself. Gradually he became more confident in class and when he had problems with maths, what he had learned in Reading Recovery helped him not to get stressed.
"Reading Recovery turned [the problem] on its head, [and] came at it another way."
Tom made excellent progress, and completed his programme in just 16 weeks.
By then he loved reading and when he took National Assessments at the end of Key Stage 2 he achieved very good results. His mum put this achievement down to the boost Reading Recovery gave him in Year 1.
“She was thrilled when he picked up and read the whole 800 pages of the last Harry Potter - "to see him reading something like that - your heart goes …Wow!"
Tom is now in Year 7 and doing well at secondary school. He has ambitions, although he's not sure whether he wants to be a policeman or an actor. Whichever he chooses, he stands every chance of achieving his dream.
