Page 21 - The East Sussex Way

Case Study 1: Better Reading Partnership

• Gildredge House School was established in 2013.

There are 1240 pupils on roll (422 primary and 818
secondary). The school also has a sixth form.
• Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is below the
national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the
national average.

The context

Primary leaders identiÞ ed reading as an area to further strengthen
in July 2020. They targeted pupils who were working below the
expected standardised score in reading and lacked ß uency.

Action taken

The Better Reading Partnership (BRP) (Edge Hill University, 2022) was
introduced, funded by a local school-to-school partnership. BRP
was selected as it supports pupils from Year 1. Training was delivered
to one school leader as well as to an assigned reading lead. As

BRP requires parent support, all parents were invited into school to
receive information about the programme and how they could best
support their child at home.

BRP is based around the understanding that building a pupil’s
conÞ dence is the key to improving their reading and follows a simple
structure:

• Read a familiar text for three minutes.

• Read a recently introduced text for four minutes.
• Read a new text for eight minutes.

Reading partners (the adults who lead the sessions) learn to identify
good reading behaviours and develop techniques to both praise
and gently prompt the pupil when necessary. They provide a relaxed
environment, three times a week, which gives pupils time and space
to practise and apply the skills taught by their teachers, and to talk
about their reading with an interested adult.

Impact

Four groups of six pupils all saw an advancement in their
standardised scores due to improved ß uency and accuracy. 16