Acle High School

Acle High School is a rural secondary school based in Norfolk. With around 721 pupils, the school has a number of students with special needs ranging from dyslexia to physical disabilities. Three years ago Jo O’Donoghue was employed as Co-ordinator for Special Needs and is now an Advanced Skills Teacher for Special Educational Needs.

Jo was interested in finding dynamic motivational tools for the special needs students that would treat them and their needs as individuals. “I had tried several programs, but I found them somewhat restrictive and babyish so when the phonics based Lexia Learning software was recommended by someone whose opinion I highly regarded from the Norfolk Psychological Service, I was more than happy to take part in a pilot project.” Jo continues, “I was very impressed with the Lexia Reading System and have not looked back since.”

The school uses the Quick Reading Test and the Lexia Reading System.  The Quick Reading Test is a ten-minute assessment that provides the results in a simple printout detailing the reading abilities of the child, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.  This can help to inform the Individual Education Plan (IEP) and can be referenced continually throughout the programme.  

The Lexia Reading System requires only basic ICT knowledge, with students using the keyboard and mouse, which many are already familiar with. In turn this allows the student to focus completely on each activity without additional distractions. The exercises are based on listening to verbal instructions and responding by clicking on images and typing in or completing words. These interactive exercises branch off depending upon the student’s performance. Where difficulties arise the program ensures that the child has enough practice on specific areas to fully understand the lesson, and only then will it progress to the more advanced areas. Teachers can override this function so specific program units or customised exercises can be utilised instead. Jo comments that, “The students think that the exercises are great fun, with relevant graphics that help to motivate and encourage the children.  The software also uses positive reinforcement that makes a world of difference.”

Children with special needs have between three and four sessions per week in Acle’s Support Centre. As soon as the child accesses the Lexia Reading System, they are shown their current achievement level and can see what their objectives are in a simple graph. This provides the student with the motivation to move higher up the graph with each session and because they can see this for themselves, they also do not need constant one-to-one supervision when using the program. Jo comments, “We retest the children when they have completed the specified units so they can see the progress that they have made and have the objectives laid out in a graph.  These can then be taken home so their parents can also see the progress that their child is making.”

One of the key benefits of the software is that normally phonetics is taught through the use of cue cards, which despite being effective, can demotivate the student and is reliant on one-to-one or small group teaching. By using the Lexia Reading System, the students can work either in small groups or on their own. The software also captivates their attention, while encouraging them in a positive, yet depersonalised manner. This in turn can build and maintain their confidence and provide a stimulating and motivating learning environment.

“Although the software is quite expensive, we have found it to be well worth the investment. We were lucky that Acle High School Association donated some money which enabled us to purchase more software from Lexia,” adds Jo. “The programme that we have created for the students, which incorporates the Lexia Reading System, has been an undoubted success with regard to dramatically increasing the spelling and reading ages of the children across the board. In a recent OFSTED report, the Inspector commented on how focused the students were in The Support Centre and how they were ready to start the session as soon as they entered the room.” 

Jo concludes, “Although I did not have any fears using the Lexia software, after the glowing recommendations from the Norfolk Psychological Service, the software has surpassed our expectations and we have been incredibly impressed by the results over the three years since we started using the program.”