Case Study
· UK · Schools & Colleges

Staffordshire University Academy

staffordshire university academy entrance

Background

The academic year 2017-2018 marked the first year of implementation of the Lexonik Programme at Staffordshire University Academy (SUA). Staff have been trained and are enthusiastic about rolling out Lexonik to an increasing number of students.

Literacy Programme

Objectives

The school is in Special Measures and have identified literacy as a focus for improvement. The school is in an area with economic challenges and this has resulted in multiple barriers to learning for students. In terms of behavioural standards and academic achievement, there was room for improvement. However, there is now a new energy and drive to improve the school’s performance. Lexonik is one of the strategies currently being implemented to raise achievement.

Strategy

SUA have three staff members trained to deliver Lexonik. They are currently delivering to one group each of Year 11 pupils and have rolled it out to the younger years in the Secondary school. In addition, they are considering getting Level 2 for their younger children. The school has also purchased Lexonik Leap, the literacy programme for foundation level.

Results

‘Since debuting Lexonik Sound Training back in September 2017, the students here at Staffordshire University Academy have benefitted greatly in many areas. Working regularly with students who have completed the programme, we have noticed progress in several areas, but most notably:

  • Increased knowledge of vocabulary through the teaching of prefixes and suffixes
  • Students able to not only read unfamiliar or subject-specific words, but being able to decode the understanding of the word through their Lexonik training
  • Confidence with reading throughout the curriculum

We initially targeted Y11 and the students in this year group have found the course extremely beneficial, particularly with the literacy-heavy questions they face in GCSE exams across all subjects. The students have enjoyed the programme and many have actually requested to continue after the six weeks.

Results have been nothing short of remarkable. Across all year groups, we have seen an average reading age gain of 58 months and Standardised Score gain of 26 points.

Following our training, we, as staff, have found Lexonik easy to deliver as the resources are all pre-prepared, high-quality and engaging – saving us valuable planning time.’


George Massey, Staffordshire University Academy