LEARNING MADE EASY WITH LEXIA

Hewett School is situated in Norwich and is responsible for educating 1870 students from Year 7 to Sixth Form. A recent Ofsted report for the school describes a big school with the atmosphere of a small one.  Hewett School also boasts the biggest main school sixth form in the country. The facilities at the school mirror its commitment to its pupils across all years and all abilities. Hewett School has had a dedicated Learning Support team in place for the past ten years and regularly accepts pupils from local special schools.

In September 2002 the secondary school was given LEA funding to set up a unit to support children who would normally need to attend special schools. With the addition of this support unit, children with Down’s Syndrome, autism and other learning disorders are able to be integrated into mainstream education at Hewett School. As part of their education, pupils assigned to the Learning Inclusion Base (LIB) use a variety of resources to develop their learning skills. ICT is no exception and the children have access to PCs and a range of software, including the Lexia Reading System to help their development.

Within the LIB, each child uses Lexia at least once a week. Hewett School’s Special Needs Co-ordinator, Steve Goymer, explains, “We have been using Lexia for about 18 months and first learned of it through the Norfolk Psychological Service (NPS). Some of the children have recognized it from their previous schools, so it is nice for them to continue using a program with which they are already familiar when they come to us.”

Hewett School is not only using Lexia in its LIB, but some mainstream children are using the program to reinforce certain language skills. In addition, the school has a number of students who are taking English as a second language and they too find the program extremely helpful. Steve Goymer continues, “Lexia has very clear instructions for the children to follow and through its series of games, puzzles and exercises with rewards, it provides a highly-motivational addition to our learning resources.”

Lexia Reading System is a multi-sensory program designed for pupils to work independently, listening to verbal computer instructions and responding by clicking on images with a mouse or using the keyboard. The interactive exercises branch automatically, depending on the pupil’s performance - providing practice on specific areas of difficulty when needed. Lexia allows the pupil to progress to more advanced areas only when he/she is ready. Teachers may override the automatic branching function at any time to specify program units or customize exercises for individuals. The activities are fun for the pupils, with formats and graphics that interest, motivate and make practice enjoyable.

“An average class of eight pupils will use Lexia for between 10 and 20 minutes during one of their four 50-minute lessons each week. When the pupils arrive, they can quickly see where they have got to in the program and can continue from the same point easily. During each lesson, the teacher will talk to each pupil individually so they can continually assess the child’s progress,” explains Steve Goymer. “Lexia allows us to print a record of each child’s achievement which gives them immediate reinforcement of what they have been learning and is extremely motivational for them. We have also found that Lexia works very well with other learning software and helps the pupils to develop PC skills that are not normally associated with reading software. For example, Lexia helps them develop left-right co-ordination, spatial awareness and matching whilst also helping them practice how to use the mouse effectively.”

Lexia has proved so popular at Hewett School that many pupils return to the LIB at lunchtime to continue with their learning. In addition, Steve Goymer runs a twice weekly after school group for about an hour, where the pupils can use the available software to help them with their work. Lexia proves popular for spelling and reading exercises and those who attend are also encouraged to seek help from the teachers with homework for other subject areas.