ESA Reads - our Reading Plus Program
“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book”
Growing Concern
British authors sit within the heart of Literature across the world. Think of Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen and Rowling to name a few. However, we sadly find ourselves in the position that one in four children in the UK has not reached the expected level of reading by the age of 11. This is alarming and a serious concern. This not only restricts life chances and experiences, but makes academic success unlikely. AT ESA we are doing something about it!
ESA Reading Plus Programme
At ESA we have committed to a Reading Plus programme for the students who need the most support and we are finding impressive levels of progress and success. This support intervention lies within the wider ESA Reads programme across the school, but improves comprehension, reading speed and vocabulary, not to mention confidence!. Students commit 3 lessons a week and are led by our ESA Reads Leader. While there are elements of fun, students engage with a bespoke programme and improvements can be evidenced in ‘testing’, but also through engagement and academic progress in other subject areas. In 2024 we even had a National Winner!
Aaran won the ‘Reading Plus Star of the Year’ through his hard work and progress and has made accelerated progress in his reading age, which is now at 17+. We have seen his development over the year and he continues to progress in all areas of his life.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic”
