Tom Colquhoun (Director), Becky Andrews (Reading Lead) and Tara Mulvey (Teaching Assistant) from the Blue School in Somerset tell us about their school’s experience of implementing the programme.
What is Switch-on Reading?
Switch-on Reading is an intensive 10-week literacy intervention. It’s delivered on a one-to-one basis by staff, most commonly teaching assistants, who have been trained in the approach. It’s designed to help as many pupils as possible achieve functional literacy, and so to close the reading achievement gap for children working below age-expected levels.
Why did you decide to sign-up?
There were two main reasons. First, as a Research School, part of our remit is to model engagement in evidence-informed practice. We knew the programme had shown promise in a previous EEF independent evaluation and given that it was subsidised (costing £800, 25% of the total cost), we decided to take advantage of the affordable, evidence-informed opportunity.
Second, like most secondary schools, we noticed students struggling with reading. A quarter of our Year 7 students arrived to us with reading levels that were below age-related expectations. In response to this, we improved our screening measures and identified the need for targeted academic intervention, alongside our universal offer in the classroom.
What was the sign-up process like?
It was quite a rush as we signed up in the summer, with only a month or so until the end of term, but the process itself was straightforward. We had some forms to fill in, then we attended an initial training session, followed by a second session in September. We were ready to deliver the programme by October half term.
What did taking part involve for you and your school?
Two of our teaching assistants were trained to deliver the programme. Then we identified the students who would most benefit from the intervention through a reading fluency test. These students were involved in two to three 20-minute sessions a week, for 10 weeks. The sessions took place with our teaching assistants during English and tutor time.
At the end of the 10 weeks, we swapped the students out so others could benefit from the programme. The teaching assistants selected texts from the resources that were applicable to the students, and we made sure they had time to plan the session each week.
How did you feel about taking part in the project?
Our students were enthusiastic about the programme and our teaching assistants enjoyed having greater independence. They were able to take what they’d learnt in the training to other lessons. We’ve kept the books that were provided as they’re a useful resource. Most importantly, we’ve also seen an improvement in reading ages and have noticed students are no longer guessing words but rather sounding them out.
What would you say to other schools thinking about signing up to a subsidised programme?
I’d wholeheartedly recommend it. Before signing up, you really need to establish what is going to make the biggest impact in your school. Don’t do it for the sake of it; it must be a priority area. Ultimately, the evidence base shows that it works, and progress has been made!
Scale-up programmes like Switch-on Reading offer schools the chance to enhance their practices with evidence-informed strategies at a substantially subsidised rate. By making such programmes accessible, the EEF helps schools to implement proven interventions that directly target and improve pupil outcomes.
As demonstrated by the Blue School’s experience, these programmes are straightforward to implement and can deliver tangible benefits, including improved attainment and increased engagement among pupils. Ultimately, such initiatives empower schools across England to provide high-quality education and equitable opportunities for all students.
If you are interested in taking advantage of subsidised opportunities, explore our currently recruiting programmes!