The fact that Sparx Reader levels the playing field by rewarding readers of all abilities equally, aligns it to TAL’s founding principle that no students are left behind. By selecting age-appropriate, well-pitched books, no child will feel that “reading is not for me and I am very far below my peers”. When introducing Sparx Reader to students, it’s important to understand the initial steps they’ll take and how to best support them through the process.

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Knowing that this ‘drop-off’ looms large, the teachers at TAL have urgently prioritised reading practice in all its forms. Our aim in Sparx Reader is for all students to engage with meaningful, independent reading each week. Students will have access to e-books chosen for their level and teachers will gain visibility over exactly what books students are engaging with each week. Below we have listed some benefits for both students and teachers for you to share with your team.

The platform is designed to help students build strong reading habits through regular practice and engagement with texts at their level. Donal Hale, Head of English, explains how reading at secondary level is threatened in so many ways. Once students leave their primary settings where reading is “the pillar of primary school pedagogy”, they are at risk of “falling through the cracks” in terms of maintaining their capacity to read independently.

The academy’s wider strategy incorporates many different reading opportunities into the school day, underpinned by Sparx Reader as the vehicle for independent reading practice outside of lessons. Assemblies are devoted to the serialised reading of gripping stories, and pupils are all expected to have a challenging reading book in their bags. As Hannah puts it, surfacing the “right books and putting them into pupils’ hands” is central to maintaining reading momentum, as is widespread conversation about books between students and teachers. Interestingly, TAL does not run a conventional ‘Drop Everything And Read’ programme; instead their expectation that every pupil reads on a daily basis is realised through Sparx Reader. Delivery such as this has made it easier for staff to be unapologetically ‘ferocious’ with their reinforcement of Sparx Reader; there are no excuses and there is no slippage.

Benefits for teachers and school staff

• We recommend sitting one at the start of the year when you onboard your students and then the other at the end of the year to track progress, but it does not matter which way round.
• The insights available on Sparx Reader give a clear indication of whether phonics instruction has worked; it dovetails with existing intervention tools in the sense that it can prove the efficacy of them.
• It can be useful, however, to gather all your staff together to discuss what you’ve learned and address any queries.
• A mid-week deadline built in time for more opportunities to remind pupils during the school day using the hand-in page as motivation.

The Getting Started Steps page in your Sparx Reader site provides a detailed overview of the setup steps that need to be completed, customised to your school. Having clear guidance about how homework should be monitored across the department team will help ensure consistency and reduce the cognitive load of decision-making for both teachers and students. Reading Matters is a series of short CPD videos for teachers, school leaders and other staff, available for free to anyone using Sparx Reader.

There is a team of teachers at TAL dedicated to addressing weaknesses in decoding and fluency to close the achievement gaps and prevent the ‘Matthew Effect’ from taking root. Donal explains that “we give students the research base; we show that really explicitly and say, “Look, you don’t have to love reading, but you have to be good at it if you want to be successful. It’s about making sure that you can read really effectively because in all walks of life in every situation that you’re in, reading is fundamental.” It’s important that all teaching staff and other relevant roles who use Sparx Reader (i.e. Librarian) understand how to use it, in order that it’s working the best that it can for your school. We provide a short training programme which helps users to familiarise themselves with all of the key features of Sparx Reader.

This can be seen even between two test sittings from the same provider, which do not have 100% correlation. If you would rather them start the test again, you can follow the original steps above to set them a new test. At TAL, Sparx Reader is used as a https://limefx.vip/ way of measuring success for pupils who have received phonics intervention. The insights available on Sparx Reader give a clear indication of whether phonics instruction has worked; it dovetails with existing intervention tools in the sense that it can prove the efficacy of them.

Recognising the very real and pervasive threat of the ‘Matthew Effect’ on pupils’ literacy rates in this region – over 60% of the student body qualifies for pupil premium funding – the staff at TAL place it as one of the school’s key drivers. In the words of Hannah Collins, the Vice Principal, their unrelenting focus on literacy is “every day, not a one-off”. As students begin to read, we learn more about their reading level and update their next book choice. We normally find a good level for most students within a few weeks of their first homework.

Each video focuses on one area of best practice in reading and helps to ensure that all school staff have up-to-date knowledge about reading. Once the student has completed the questions and training book, they will be given a choice of four books. Yes, once your students have completed the Sparx Reader Test, you can download the SRT Report from the Reporting section of your site.

Student intro video

You could also consider setting up a reading club to support students who need a quiet space, or who don’t always have access to a device or the internet at home. The modules do not need to be completed in one session so can be done whenever is convenient. It can be useful, however, to gather all your staff together to discuss what you’ve learned and address any queries. If you do not do the training together, we strongly suggest you set the department your own deadline by which they should complete the training.

If students have a live reading test available when they first log in, they will see the test instead of the onboarding steps. We’ve recently removed the need for students to complete the Sparx Reading Test as part of their onboarding. Whilst we recommend that you set a reading test before students start their reading, this isn’t compulsory.

Can I see Standardised Age Scores (SAS/Stanine) for my students?

While TAL – and every school – of course has a completely unique context, there is much that they do that can be learned from, borrowed and adapted by other schools. It is our hope that this case study offers a blend of transferable, practical strategies alongside depictions of genuinely inspiring practice both for schools already using Sparx Reader and those considering using it. Guidance to help you set up your Sparx Reader site, get your students started with Sparx Reader and set your first homeworks. The Class Manager page (found under the More menu) allows you to see all classes on Reader, including the teachers that are assigned, whether any homework plans are due to expire soon, and easily click through to see all students in the class. See Understanding the student experience and getting students started for more information. You might want to ask your school’s IT contact to help you to set this up, in which case you can create a teacher account for them, so they can log in to your Sparx Reader site.

Of course, this depends on how much reading they’re doing and how seriously they’re engaging with homework. This article explains how to effectively onboard students and how they experience Sparx Reader, including key features that support their learning journey. Understanding the student perspective will help you better support your student’s success with Sparx Reader.

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• Students will be asked to complete a couple of short questions about their current reading habits.
• Students will then be able to continue with their onboarding and select their first book without completing the test.
• You’ll need to choose which classes to import from your school’s MIS, into Sparx Reader.

This should take under 10 minutes to complete, and students will be awarded around 100 SRP for this reading. Next, students will be asked to read the Sparx Reader training book, which introduces students to how Sparx Reader works. If you set the wrong test for your students and they end up sitting the same test twice, there is a small chance that the data on the report may show that they are slightly stronger as the students have seen the test before. However, because there are a lot of questions, and these adapt as the student progresses, you should still be able to get a useful comparison. Form 1 and form 2 are two variants of the exact same test (with different question banks). We recommend sitting one at the start of the year when you onboard your students and then the other at the end of the year to track progress, but it does not matter which way round.

This page lists the steps that need to be completed, the status of each of these steps for your school, and guidance on how to complete the steps. To set homework with Sparx Reader, several setup steps are required, these are detailed on the Getting Started Steps page in your Sparx Reader site. You can use this feature to demonstrate the reading experience, and model careful reading techniques, to new students. These scores provide measures of a student’s performance compared to other students of the same age, based on a standardised scoring process.

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As well as their reading age in years and months, we show both SAS and Stanine scores in columns K and L. By analysing reading age data that schools have shared with us, we see a very strong correlation between SRT results and other tests including NGRT. However, students do not need to complete the Sparx Reading Test before they start reading. While many pupils find reading a hugely enjoyable and immersive experience, Donal is careful not to place emphasis on the additional expectation that every single pupil will or should necessarily love reading. Led by highly ambitious and tenacious senior leaders who have set out a clear-headed vision for their school and wider community, TAL relies on the expert implementation of practical systems to achieve their lofty aims for their pupils. TAL’s thorough approach to implementation and – by extension – communication has much to do with the success of Sparx Reader in this setting.

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During the early months of delivery, the decision was made to adjust the homework hand in date to maximise student productivity, particularly for the hard-to-reach pupils. A mid-week deadline built in time for more opportunities to remind pupils during the school day using the hand-in page as motivation. Students will be asked to complete a couple of short questions about their current reading habits. It’s important that the students answer these questions honestly as it helps us to understand the student’s reading confidence and track any improvements they make within Sparx Reader. Sparx Reading Tests provide a starting point if you plan on measuring reading age progress throughout the year, and ensure that the first books a student is offered are as close as possible to their reading level. Sparx Learning provides maths, limefx reviews reading and science solutions to over half of UK schools, supporting students aged 11–16 across several large international school groups and many individual schools worldwide.

This reduces the likelihood of forgotten passwords (which can, in turn, result in delayed homework hand-ins for students). You’ll need to choose which classes to import from your school’s MIS, into Sparx Reader. When a new staff member is added to your Sparx site they will automatically be prompted to complete their training modules and, if you ever want to revisit any modules, you can find them by clicking on your name in the top right-hand corner of your site. If a student sits an SRT after using Reader for a while, this will not have any impact on their Sparx Level or the books they are offered. However, if you notice a significant discrepancy, you may choose to manually override the student’s level. However, there will always be some discrepancies between two test sittings, depending on student motivation and various other factors.

Students will then be able to continue with their onboarding and select their first book without completing the test. As such, it’s always good practice to triangulate test results with other means, or to follow up intervention groups with more precise diagnostic testing. To enable your colleagues to use Sparx Reader, you’ll need to set up Sparx Reader accounts for them by adding them to Staff Manager. When you first start using Sparx Reader, you’ll see a link to the Getting Started Steps page on your dashboard. We recommend that you introduce Sparx Reader to students in a lesson, preferably in an ICT suite or a room that has devices.

Sparx Reader is an engaging and supportive platform in which pupils can develop their reading and literacy skills… with the options to change text and background colours, enlarge the text and check the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary. By developing these skills, we can ensure our pupils develop the necessary life skills to function and be successful adults. Donal is proud to say that TAL students “do read, and Sparx Reader provides the visibility of that. It’s a way of proving reading does happen.” The way in which Sparx Reader makes reading measurable and brings transparency to the domain of independent reading is invaluable for staff. The English and Literacy team use the forensic insights to isolate and target support for the pupils who are not completing reading, or who are struggling. Achieving these extraordinary completion rates is a product of the leaders’ flexibility, as well as highly structured support mechanisms for students.