The first batch of teachers to complete their specialist training at the council's Reading Recovery Centre received their certificates at a recent celebration tea.
The specially equipped centre enables children from across the county with the lowest achievement in literacy in their first years of school to get one-to-one support from a specially trained teacher over a period of several weeks.
Based at Highfield Junior School in Eastbourne, the centre was launched last year. It was set up under the Every Child a Reader (ECaR) initiative and provides specialist training for teachers who work with the child concerned both in their own school and at the centre.
A total of seven teachers from different primary schools have been using the centre and have now completed their training. While they have been training they have been providing specialist one-to-one support to four children in a programme lasting anywhere between 12-20 weeks with a 30 minute session each day.
So far a total of 58 children have benefited from the programme and each has made significant progress with their reading and writing. On average they have moved up nearly 14 book levels on the Reading Recovery assessment scale, with some moving as many as 20 book levels.
Cllr David Elkin, the council's Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness said: “As the basis for all future learning, communication and self confidence, learning to read and write is vitally important. This centre is proving to be extremely valuable in equipping teachers to provide intensive help to those pupils who need it.
“I want to congratulate the teachers who have completed this training which has been extremely intensive and has meant very many hours of hard work. But the pupils they have been working with have made a huge amount of progress in a very small amount of time so I know they will agree it has all been worthwhile.”
But Cllr Elkin added that the benefits were not just to the teacher and the pupils they have been working with. “There is, of course, a very positive knock-on effect as the teachers have used their specialist skills to assist other teaching staff in their own schools.”
The celebration event included displays of pupils' work showing the progress they had made. One young pupil read aloud a poem she had written in her one-to-one sessions. There were also various tributes and thanks from parents.
One parent wrote: “I am amazed (and grateful) at the vast difference Reading Recovery has made to my son's reading and writing skills and how quickly these changes came about.”
Another note of thanks read: “I am so grateful that my child was chosen to be involved as the improvement in her reading is staggering.”
The seven teachers who completed their training and received certificates at the event are: Kate Hynes (St Leonards Primary), Sally Nixey (Cross-in-Hand), Tracy Wallis (Polegate), Karen Tomlinson (West St Leonards), Gill Heseltine (Chantry), Teresa Sleet (Dudley Infants), and Gill Searle (Christchurch).
Now a new group of eight teachers will start their training. They are from Hamsey Primary (near Lewes), Grays Infants School (Newhaven), Guestling-Bradshaw CofE Primary (nr Hastings), Cross-in-Hand CofE Primary (nr Heathfield), Hollington Primary (St Leonards), St John's CofE Primary (Crowborough), Churchwood Primary (St Leonards) and Sandown Primary (Hastings).
Reference:
2903
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