School tackles 'daunting' Covid reading setback
Netherhall SchoolA school which saw a "daunting" 35% drop in pupils' reading skills following the Covid-19 pandemic says it is making significant progress in helping its youngsters catch up.
Assessments at the beginning of the academic year in September 2023 found almost a quarter of children at Netherhall School in Maryport, Cumbria, had below average or very low reading skills.
Following the implementation of targeted literacy schemes, it says it has reduced that number to 9%.
Assistant head teacher Martin Barlow praised the impact of the reading intervention initiative, which sees pupils getting an extra 100 minutes of reading time across a week with support from staff and sixth-form mentors.
"Covid inevitably had an impact over two academic years with them being in and out of school," Barlow said.
"If you take away students' access to staff and technology and books then naturally that's going to have a big effect on their progress.
"So the 35% regression we found in reading ages was a really daunting figure, but it wasn't a huge surprise taking into account Maryport has some of the highest social and economic deprivation in Cumbria.
"Even when students did come back in regularly, there was a time when national restrictions meant we weren't allowed to mix age groups and that affected our paired reading programme, which sees trained sixth-form mentors work with younger children."
'Real gains'
Along with training for staff, steps taken include small groups working on phonics and reciprocal reading sessions.
Each session takes place during what would usually be registration periods so the pupils do not miss any timetabled classes.
Sixth former Kaci-Lee, 17, progressed to being a reading mentor in September, having received support herself as a younger pupil.
Currently helping 12-year-old Olivia, from Year Seven, she said: "I really like it. I've had one student already and now I work with Olivia.
"Olivia comes and gets a book out and I will help her with words she's struggling with and if she's finding it hard to form sentences."
Barlow said Olivia's reading skills have improved by the equivalent of three years over the past eight months, while Olivia herself said she now finds books "fun".
In all, about 120 pupils have been given targeted help over the course of the current academic year, with just under 75 classed as having below average or very low reading skills.
"There's a real sense of community within the school," Barlow said.
"We've seen real gains and we're ever so proud of the progress they've made, but it doesn't stop."
