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Organisation: Cogan Primary School
Intervention: Catch Up® Literacy
Submitted by: Ruth Morgan
Background
Cogan Primary School is situated on the outskirts of the large seaside town of Penarth, and was built in 1884. At the time of these submission results, there were 206 pupils on roll. 18% of pupils were on our SEN register and 11% of pupils were on our FSM register. There are 17 different languages represented by children at our school (including English and Welsh). Within the school, there is a Hearing Resource Base with 6 pupils who are integrated into mainstream classes with support.
We were very pleased with our latest ESTYN inspection report from May 2018, which judged the areas of ‘Standards’, ‘Wellbeing and Attitudes to Learning’ and ‘Teaching and Learning Experiences’ as ‘good’, while the areas of ‘Care Support and Guidance’ and ‘Leadership and Management’ were deemed ‘excellent’.
We find Catch Up® Literacy a very useful tool when used in conjunction with our system of tracking and assessing pupil progress. It is manageable and fits flexibly into our system of supporting pupils.
Implementation
At Cogan Primary, we are very well resourced in terms of LSA support in classes and, over the years, our school has invested heavily in training most support staff in Catch Up® Literacy. At present, six LSAs are delivering Catch Up® with individual learners.
Children are selected for the intervention after analysis of their Welsh Government National Test results and also school-based reading assessments (New Salford), which are implemented three times a year. At the end of each Summer term, the school ALNCo and Senior Management Team come together to analyse all data rigorously and draw up a list of pupils requiring basic skills interventions, of which Catch Up® Literacy is among the most prominent.
At the beginning of the Autumn term, the Catch Up® assessment process begins and thereafter, delivery of the intervention is monitored by the school’s ALNCo through meetings with Catch Up® deliverers, with interim results entered into her own tracking template. The ALNCo is at hand for Catch Up® deliverers to consult, particularly when it comes to looking at the needs of particular learners, and she also sits in on Catch Up® sessions from time to time to ensure that high quality delivery is maintained. Individual learner’s progress through the intervention is communicated to parents at Parents’ Evenings.
Case Study 1 - Catch Up® Literacy
At the start of the intervention, Child One demonstrated a discrepancy of 29 months between his chronological age (7y 8m) and his reading age (5y 3m). He displayed a huge lack of confidence in reading, and early in the year, his class teacher flagged him up as someone who would benefit from undertaking the county ‘Dyslexic Diagnostic Test’ with the school’s ALNCo (this was after the intervention had begun).
Child One demonstrated strengths throughout this test, and his scores and performance in the various sections did not give a definite indication of dyslexic difficulties, although it did generate recommendations which could then be addressed through Catch Up®. Child One’s delay in reading appeared to be a matter of confidence, primarily, and he responded very well to the Catch Up® Literacy intervention.
Child One’s reading age has increased to 7y 6m, which is 27 months’ progress (and a ratio gain of 2.87, based on the duration of the intervention). The gap between his chronological age and reading accuracy age continues to narrow.
Aims
In Cogan School, we aim to provide a safe, stimulating environment in which all children may be motivated towards independence of learning. We aim to develop an awareness of the need for self-discipline in learning and social settings and to promote an atmosphere in which a child will feel confident to express opinions on cultural, social, emotional and educational issues.