Feedback
…100% at Level 4/5…
“We're just starting our second year using the Toolbox. We got 100% at
Level 4/5 for the first time ever and we're really impressed with the
way the children respond to the exercises - even our most reluctant
readers now read without pressure. Its such a relief not to have to put
them through the phonics hoops every day. We're also going to introduce
it in Years 3,4 and 5 and the entire staff are excited about the
prospect...”
“Just introduced it to my new school in Australia and am Head of
Curriculum from September hols so will be running a staff PD then. The
teachers who have started to use it absolutely love it! No surprises
there of course. I have had to go through every classroom to get the
laptops sorted and to gather headphones etc which is an ongoing process
but our IT guy is on-board and working quickly.”
Fiona - Head of Curriculum in Palmwood Stateswood School
Australia
…have always got great results.
“I've been using the Toolbox for a few years now and have always got
great results. I am just starting a perceptual learning project for my
Masters this year in one of the primary schools in our group. The
biggest advantage I have always seen was the improvement in
self-confidence that is mentioned on the videos of the website…”
a literacy teacher
... used your approach with dyslexic type children.
“I have been an enthusiastic LT user and successfully trialled your
Literacy toolbox for several years. I have used your approach with
dyslexic type children in small group and individual settings. Schools
do have misgivings about this approach but this is mainly due to lack of
knowledge or understanding of the benefits. I have used it to supplement
class phonics programmes. It has worked particularly well when reading
can also be done at home…”
enthusiastic LT user
…Perceptual Learning…
“I have used Perceptual Learning with my dyslexic pupils for just over
a year. Please do not dismiss it as a fad. I have been teaching since
the 70's . I have see Phonics in and out and then back in. I do believe
that a phonic approach does benefit many children but not all. One size
NEVER fits all.”
“The pupils that I teach have failed to learn by the phonic approach.
They have spent 3 to 4 years in school learning failure. Perceptual
learning gives them another approach to learning to read. It gives them
ownership of their learning. they choose what to read. As we are all
aware there are not sufficient books out there with high interest and
low reading ability. P.L. provides reading matter that does not insult
the children's intelligence.”
Jane Gaudie
…our pupils have had a huge boost…
“You know something works when 10 year old boys with very significant
difficulties with reading and emotional behaviour are chasing you down
the corridor asking "When can we start Speedy Readers [(Literacy
Toolbox)] again?"!!
Our school could not wait for Literacy Toolbox(Speedy Readers as it's
called by us who knows why???) to be rolled out so we paid for it out of
our own budget. THAT'S how important we think it is… We
are confident our pupils have had a huge boost in the meantime. The
impact is noticed in their transfer of skills to spelling and writing
too so it's win, win, win!”
Miriam - A Scottish Head
Teacher (Sept 24, 2014 )
…engages pupils who are, at best, reluctant readers…
“...as an existing user who intends to renew our school's licence for
the Literacy Toolbox. We are entering our third year of using the
programme and its greatest appeal, in my view is that it engages pupils
who are, at best, reluctant readers and at worst, have an absolute
hatred of reading because of the negative connotations it arouses. Every
pupil is different and I believe that different methods work for
different children. I would never dismiss teaching explicit phonics as a
method, so long that it is taught by experienced practitioners who
understand the process themselves…”
“However, I have seen how successful the Literacy Toolbox is with those
pupils who have become completely disengaged with the world of books,
reading and overused or badly administered phonics instruction. With the
programme, they have ownership and choice of a wide range of texts and
they want to come to the workshop. My experience is that boys respond
particularly well.”
“Yes, reading ages have improved by more than the pupils' chronological
age over a period of six months and that should keep Estyn happy.
However, for me, if the Literacy Toolbox has enabled pupils to access
longer books and texts for pleasure or information, then the programme
has played an important role in the development of their literacy
skills. I intend to continue with the programme not only because it
works, but mainly because it opens up the world of reading to pupils who
used to have such a negative view of the whole process.”
Alenco Special needs
co-ordinator Wales
Parent response has been very favourable…
“Pleased to report, great success after just our first 4 weeks of
implementing the Literacy Toolbox into my new school in Australia. I
have been using it for 4 years in the UK so am very familiar with the
programme and was keen to trial it here. We have trained the teachers
and the teaching assistants and have had a student teacher, who has been
here doing practice, volunteer to supervise the process in a dedicated
computer lab for one morning each week. ... The beauty of it is that it
requires minimal input from the teacher, but has a huge effect on the
child who develops greater responsibility for their own learning and
understands the expectation is for them to produce an outcome which is
100% correct - no one else is responsible for that but them.”
“Teachers are using Reading Comprehension with their more able readers
to raise inferential comprehension levels.”
“Some wonderful personal stories - a little new girl in Year 4 who has
fantastic story ideas and verbal language but who unfortunately has had
a poor home schooling experience. She has missed all phonics learning
and has no sight word knowledge etc. Each day she has been doing
Dictation One and a Reading Starter (animals) exercise and already we
are seeing her transferring common spellings across into her general
writing - her teacher is reporting a big improvement and a much more
confident child, and this level of improvement has not been seen from
February to September, only since starting LT.”
“Parent response has been very favourable and parents have commented on
how pleased they are at the improvement in their children's reading.”
“Jumpstart is amazing as a tool for getting the boys hooked onto their
reading as they love the choice of texts - we use it across the school
for all ages and they move up to Library 300 if they find Jumpstart too
easy…”
“…as I walked in there yesterday and was delighted to see a bank of
little children all headphoned up, reading their little hearts out! The
Prep teachers have developed a time table which sees every child (75 of
them) rotating through LT each day. The teachers are loving the results
and the reason they have quickly developed such a tight programme
entwined with their phonics, guided reading, etc., is because they have
seen great gains quickly.”
Fiona - Head of
Curriculum in Palmwood Stateswood School Australia
His confidence is soaring.
“We have been using [the Literacy Toolbox] with just 3 pupils for 4
weeks. This was a trial so we could see a) how easy it was to manage and
b) if it worked. A wider trial was postponed due to staffing issues.”
“The results are impressive. One year 6 pupil has gone from scoring a
maximum of 3 points in the ks2 reading SATs to scoring 12. His
confidence is soaring and he is enjoying reading. The other Year 6 pupil
has moved from a 2a to a 3c. The year 5 pupil has moved from 2b to 2a in
reading and is also enthusiastic about the programme. From January 7th
we will be running it every morning from 8.30 for 15 targeted pupils.
All have agreed to come to school early. They will then be picked up
throughout the morning by a TA who will hear them read the passage.”
“The TAs already involved are very positive about the progress and
about the ease of using the materials.”
“…in the 5 weeks of using the programme we have an average gain of 5
months. We have one year 3 pupil who has made phenomenal progress and it
appears to have "unlocked" something in him as he is suddenly
enthusiastic in all his learning and looks much happier. His reading age
has gone from 8:4 to 9:6. Now I am not claiming that the 8:4 represented
his true reading ability but it was indicative of how much effort he put
into any school work. His 'pupil voice' was a real delight to read as he
placed reading in the same category as football which for him is high
praise.”
“…found an overall increase in the number of pupils reporting an
enjoyment of reading. Almost all of these pupils are coming into school
early to use the programme and parents are committed to it. Teaching
Assistants are also reporting improved reading in classwork and also
commenting on better attitudes.”
…the staff and children have responded incredibly positively.
“…I have recently introduced the Literacy Toolbox to one of the schools
I work in. We are piloting it with a small group of year 6 children who
were making limited progress in literacy, despite numerous
interventions. So far the staff and children have responded incredibly
positively and the children are really enjoying it…”
Educational psychology
student.
…not only the weak but the grey area children…
“…I want to express my thanks for being able to use the
current free trial with my pupils. My pupils have benefited from this
opportunity and I feel that the Toolbox offers a very affordable and
effective solution to many school's needs to meet the varying needs of
children. A well trained classroom assistant could run the programme
throughout the school. A number of children could be supported not only
the weak but the grey area children who are underachieving with extra
support for the good readers who may need dictation/spelling support.
The potential is there…”
a teacher
…commented on how much children's spelling has improved…
“…both staff and children have been really impressed. In addition to
improving children's reading, staff have commented on how much
children's spelling has improved and also interestingly their stamina
for writing has increased hugely. The children involved were preparing
for their SATS and as such there was a focus on supporting children's
reading comprehension. Staff have reported that children really
benefited from completing the daily exercises and feel it helped them
develop a strategy for completing reading comprehensions. One child in
particular was a level 3 in January and managed to achieve a level 5 in
a practice paper completed just prior to SATS - she was over the moon! A
couple of other children refused to even open their reading
comprehension booklets prior to completing the programme. However, staff
noticed a huge shift in their attitudes and motivation towards reading
and which was reflected in them achieving level 4s in their practise
SATS.”
“The school feel Literacy Toolbox has been incredibly successful in
supporting these children with their literacy and as such we now have
two groups of year 5 who are also accessing the programme…”
a psychology student