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Netherfield is a large primary school serving a disadvantaged small town on the outskirts of Nottingham. Forty-two percent of children at Netherfield take free school meals and we have a high number of children with Special Educational Needs. In 2007 our school was in special measures, with progress and attainment in reading throughout Key Stage 1 and 2 a particular area of concern. The Ofsted report that year stated that "pupils reach low standards and make unsatisfactory progress in English… Some pupils are reluctant to read and this contributes to their slow progress, but teaching does not help them overcome this."
Staff members at the school were faced with a huge challenge: the majority of both children and their parents were simply 'switched off' from reading. Many children simply did not see reading as fun or worthwhile and, for many, negative attitudes towards reading were deeply ingrained following years of struggling with the basics of decoding and comprehension.
The task was daunting. In order to raise attainment in reading we would need to change the reading culture of not just the whole school, but that of the community as well. And that is just what we did; in 2013 our school was judged by Ofsted to be 'Outstanding' in all areas.
In 2010 we began our journey as an Every Child a Reader school, and this is when things really began to 'take off'. The school made the decision to remove an experienced teacher from the classroom to train as a Reading Recovery lead, and also invested in giving the Reading Recovery teacher additional capacity during the afternoons to really drive forward the huge changes that would need to be implemented at whole school level.
We examined and overhauled our entire reading curriculum, to focus primarily on creating a positive school 'culture of reading' and ensuring the quality-first teaching of reading. In addition to this, we implemented rigorous, intensive interventions to support those who were not making expected progress in reading.
All adults worked together creatively to ensure that reading retained the highest of profiles in school and that there was always a 'buzz' surrounding reading. Given the negative attitudes of children towards reading, we knew that we needed to provide inspiring and inviting spaces where children could feel that there was always space and time for reading. We completely transformed our library area into a 'fairytale castle' with comfy cushions, armchairs and a cosy fireplace; the perfect place for children to snuggle up with a good book or tell stories with friends. In addition, we launched a special competition for which every class in the school had the challenge of designing a reading retreat. These are special places where children can go to read their favourite books on their own or with friends. Each reading retreat has a different theme, such as a beach hut, mermaid's grotto, or giant's chair. All are furnished with love and care, and the books are regularly changed and 'topped up'. The fact that the children were involved in the design of these reading areas really helped to grow their enthusiasm for reading in them.
Taking into account the large percentage of children reading at very low levels in every year group in school, we appointed two teaching assistants as dedicated Switch-On Reading practitioners. The impact of receiving daily Switch-On sessions on children's reading progress and attainment has been outstanding.
In addition to this, in the autumn term of 2011, the school had a purpose-built Switch-On and Reading Recovery area. The area has a two-way mirror allowing for focused observations of reading lessons, so staff members are able to evaluate their own and others' practice.
We established 'reading zones' in every classroom and corridor. Here, staff members have access to quality resources to support one-to-one reading, such as magnetic letters, mirrors, card strips, and reminders for quality praise and prompts.
Staff members at school have worked hard to encourage children to read at home and to encourage parents to take more of an interest in their children's reading. Children can win 'Reading Olympics' awards for the number of home reads they complete in a half term; then there is a special overnight reading camp as a reward for those who read regularly. This is presented as a treat both for the children and for their parents, who get a relaxing child-free Friday night when their children are at camp. We set up tents indoors, and the children play games and sing songs before snuggling up in their sleeping bags for bedtime stories.
We also train parents to work as Reading Partners, reading regularly with children in school. In many cases we have found that being invited to train as Reading Partners has transformed parents' attitudes to school and learning.
In addition to supporting children's reading, we provide additional one-to-one reading support for a number of parents throughout the school. The impact of this support has been simply staggering. Gemma, a parent who received reading support from one of our Switch-On reading practitioners, said that this support "changed my life". Her confidence has grown; she is now seeking employment and is able to read every night with her daughter. Providing this additional support for parents has had a positive impact on the amount of reading that children do at home, and we have seen improvement in the progress that children make in school as a result.
In June 2013 Netherfield Primary School was graded as 'Outstanding' by Ofsted. The report states that "Pupils' reading … skills are promoted exceptionally well in every subject, but also through homework and the ways in which the school involves parents in their children's learning. Pupils love to stay overnight in the 'reading camps' and their parents work hard too to help them to become eligible for these" (Ofsted, 2013). The work that has been done to create an outstanding reading school at Netherfield has had a profound impact on the children's reading and, most importantly, their reading enjoyment. The school is on track to achieve its best ever Key Stage 1 reading SATs results, with 92% of children achieving a Level 2 in reading; this is also a year group with 28% of the children on the Special Educational Needs (SEN) register. At Netherfield we have completely embraced the Every Child a Reader ethos of sharing good practice, and we now spend a large proportion of time supporting other schools, both locally and nationally, to improve their own reading curriculum. Support we have recently provided for other settings includes the following:
- running 'Outstanding Reading' workshops at the Nottinghamshire Reading Recovery conference in July, 2013
- working with Oxford University Press to create a film for the Pathways Area on the School Improvement website in January, 2014
- presenting our Netherfield case study at the Teachology National Literacy Conference in London, 2012
- running 'High Quality Reading Interventions' workshops at the ENGAGE National Conference, 2012
- working with Secondary schools to implement Key Stage 3 'Switch-On'.
