School Spotlight – Oakwell Rise Primary Academy

How did you first come across the Lexia program and what led to the school’s final decision to purchase?

Grace: We’ve had Lexia now for a number of years. We were looking for something that the children could access with some independence. It’s fab for workload. With the placement test, it’s totally scaffolded and differentiated to the level that those children need. It’s helpful when you’ve got quite a few children within one classroom that need lots of different levels of learning.

I think we chose Lexia because it had really good results and it was totally tailored to those children’s individual needs. Even within one lesson on Lexia, it automatically shifts between independent practice and guided instruction without the teacher having to do that. It’s very visual as well so it is easy to see if a child is struggling and, of course there are the Skill Builders and Lexia Lessons if those children are still struggling and need teacher input.

So, it was really about ease of use for us. Not only did it have cracking results, but it was easy for us to deliver and set up.

What do you feel makes Lexia stand apart from other reading skills software products on the market?

Georgina: I think for me, it’s really visual for the children and really engaging for the children. They really enjoy all those elements, so it feels like a game. We never feel as if we are forcing them to do a really structured intervention. It’s something that they’ve got that ownership over. They can see those levels are ticking up and when they are getting those certificates, they feel they are achieving. I really like the way the levels are themed as well, its very beautiful as you work yourself around the world map. The kids really enjoy it.

Grace: I think it’s also the ease of use from both the students side and the staff side. It is so simple for the children to get logged on using the website or app. The myLexia staff area is really easy to navigate and really simple as well. You can pick it up and run with it.

Georgina: From a tracking perspective, it does it all for you. All the lovely tables and lovely graphs.  It shows you really visually where the children are starting from, where they’ve got to at this point and what we need to do to get them there next. It’s intuitive enough to know that it is doing that for us. So, we are not having to pull in other interventions because we know that Lexia is going to take us to that next level.

How is Lexia used in your school? Please provide details of your daily routine and how you ensure that you reach recommended usage as well as which pupils use the program in school.

Grace: The children that we target for Lexia are the children that are not currently working on their year group objectives so, we use it to give those children a push. We identify those children after assessments and based on teacher judgements.

Usually, children access Lexia at 8:30am each morning, so that is usually how those children start the day. We do also hold sessions in the afternoons which is monitored by a TA who checks and supports over the shoulder. We share the logins with parents as well so pupils are also able to access it at home. It’s a whole school approach and we really value it.

Georgina: During our Pride Awards, all of the certificates that the children have earned throughout the week are handed out. We really like celebrating their progress and the fact that those children have worked independently and have been achieving those goals for themselves.

I had one of the young men that I teach in Year 5 told me he had already gained 10 units that week and it was only Tuesday! I asked him how he had managed to gain 10 units already and he said, “I did it at home last night, I really want to get to the end of the program!”

That self-motivation is there and it’s in-build. I think it’s just part of our culture now. Because we are celebrating our Lexia children, we are noticing that children that are not doing Lexia are asking if they can do it too! They love it!

Describe the impact that Lexia has had on your pupils. Have you noticed a positive change in their motivation to succeed in literacy? 

Grace: We’ve seen that the children that are getting the greatest usage on Lexia and working through the units, their reading data in Year 6 from Autumn to May for the SATs has skyrocketed. Because it’s purposefully tailored to them and, at the higher levels there is a massive focus on comprehension, that really supports them with those SATs papers. Those children who are a little bit behind who are working are the lower levels are also getting those basic reading skills and phonics intervention from it, so it has the impact across school.

All of the children who are on Lexia make great progress in reading, but you can really see that it does support SATs results as well.

Georgina: We have a lot of children with English as an Additional Language that attend here so those that are new to English may need a little bit more practice when it comes to reading and the English language. It’s really helpful for them, particularly the way you can have instruction repeated. In addition to this, there are opportunities for adults to support if we are not understanding what they need. It really does help develop those children and gives them that daily practice with staff as well as independent practice when they get home.

Grace: What’s really nice is when they are working on reading a text in the program, if there is a particularly tricky word, they can usually click on it and read about what it means and get a definition and a picture. This is not only fantastic for EAL children, but all children who have not got as much of a command of language. They do not need to constantly ask the teacher what each word means, they can develop their own independence as well which is really nice.

Can you give an example of a Lexia success that sticks out to you?

Grace: It’s not so much a particular student but something that really stuck with me last year what when a few pupils started some of the units on Idioms. Of course, some of our EAL student were brand new to idioms like ‘break a leg’ but it linked very nicely to our writing topics and it came out that, actually, as a class, we weren’t quite sure what those idioms meant. We were then able to complete the Idioms Skills Builder as a class and use some of the additional resources in the Lexia materials to teach whole-class. The resource that is behind the program can be used in whole class sessions as well.

Georgina: I am fairly new to the school, but we had one young man, last year, that got to the end of the program and he got a massive prize for that! He was quite a nervous young man, and didn’t have a lot of confidence in himself. He had a diagnosis of autism and was quite timid and shy in himself but, seeing him up there and showing everyone ‘I’ve worked hard, and I’ve done this all by myself’. He just beamed and was so proud of himself. He really shone from the inside!

Grace: Yes, There was that confidence element but, within that, he went from a really low starting point that year, to passing at the end of the year. Lexia was a contributor to that.

How have you used rewards to motivate and celebrate success on the Lexia program?

Grace: We place a lot of value on the certificates that we give out in our weekly Pride Awards assembly. For example, I had a little boy who got two certificates in one week. When he achieved the second one, I asked him if he wanted it to be printed straight away or to save it for the next awards in a weeks’ time. Even though he had to wait, he chose to wait until the Pride Awards because he wanted to stand up in the assembly.

The teachers really value it too. We use Dojo’s and house points if children are doing really well during the week. We also have awards for Star Learner, Class Champion and Homework Hero and sometimes staff choose to award those to children trying really hard on Lexia as well. So it is really valued and promoted in every assembly.

Georgina: We also take a picture of every child that has achieved a Lexia certificate and that goes on our social media page so we are communicating with parent how much we value to time they give to Lexia at home. So we celebrate in the wider school community as well.

How useful have you found the myLexia reports in terms of demonstrating progression and informing planning?

Grace: I really like the colour coding of the myLexia reports, like how you can see what progress they have made in the year so far against their overall progress. You can also go into the detailed reports where it really clearly shows the speed at which they are progressing and their accuracy score. It also provides information on how independently the children have completed each unit so, even if they have worked at a low speed, we can see if they have done it on the independent mode or have they needed help with Guided Practice. It’s really helpful to see that detail of pace, accuracy and independence in their work.

Georgina: From a SEN perspective, we use the report to inform our support plans. If a child’s not successful on that level, then what support do we need for that? We track their progression over time from their last support plan to this support plan to see if we are getting the right level of progress that we are expecting. If not, we may also look into wider professional to see what that further support might look like. For example, do they need additional tuition from a dyslexia specialist? So, we use the reports widely from a teaching a learning perspective, but we are also looking at it from an SEN perspective as well.

What main piece of advice would you give to a school that was just getting started with Lexia?

Grace: Last year we had some Lexia training and that was really useful to build staff knowledge of the program and what is covered in each level. I think it’s important to value the program and share with staff the value of Lexia and the impact that it can have. We are all so busy in schools but it really helps to make sure it is something that you give the time to. The CPD session in particular was really helpful, not only to see what the children’s side looked like and what the teachers’ side looked like, but building that knowledge of what each level covers. That way when they see one of their children are on Level 7, they know exactly what skills they are working on.

Georgina: I came to this schools from another that had Lexia and, the fact that it is timetabled in every day here and that every child has the opportunity to access it, it makes a big difference. They have all got a device to access it, they all have their login, we have trained the children on how to log in successfully and we’ve got everything that we need for them to be successful. The main thing is that they have actually got that time allocated to it and it is prioritised in the timetable. It’s not something that maybe one or two might access when we have got 5 minutes. It is prioritised, it’s valued and its something that is celebrated and rewarded. I think that’s what makes it really successful here. Children need to be accessing it with real rigour for it to be really purposeful.

What feedback have you had from your Lexia pupils?

Grace: They love it, they enjoy it. They like the certificates. Some of our lower attaining children that struggle in other areas love it because it is perfectly tailored to them. They are getting that reward every week, at their level and it is valuing their efforts. I think with the younger children, it is so visually appealing, that they genuinely love going on it. Even the Year 6’s, the oldest in school, will go on it from home so they clearly do enjoy using it.

Is there anything else you would like to add regarding why you think Lexia has been a success in your school?

Grace: I think it just goes back to the confidence that the children have grown with Lexia but also the academic success. It’s got both of those lovely aspects of supporting children in developing their confidence and their academic success. Children that had have previously had a negative outlook on reading, but actually because they’ve caught up and they’ve build those skills, the have come into general reading and writing lessons with that little bit more confidence and belief in themselves, which is really lovely.