Wallace Hall Academy

It’s a Powerful Intervention… So Everybody Wins

When Paul McClair made the move back to Scotland, after several years teaching in London, he was keen one particular intervention would travel with him. He shares his story with us.

It’s two years since you moved back to your native Scotland and found yourself as head of department at Wallace Hall, Paul. Can you tell us more about the school and that move?

That’s right. I had been teaching in London from 2018 until 2022, but was keen to move into a Head of Department role back in Scotland. I was fortunate enough to secure the post for English, Modern Languages and Literacy at the superb Wallace Hall Academy.

It’s a state-operated comprehensive, and has just marked its 300th year.

With literacy falling within your remit, were you quick to look at what interventions might be needed?

Yes. In fact, I’d even raised in my interview that I had been using Lexonik in my London post.

I arrived at Wallace Hall with full understanding of the number of pupils who required further support with their reading and vocabulary skills, so it was helpful that I had such deep knowledge of a programme which I knew worked so effectively.

Can you tell us a little bit about the experience of working with Lexonik at your London school, and how you’d first been introduced to it?

My headteacher had been made aware of it and as we had a body of around 67% students on pupil premium (many of whom were EAL), we wanted to adopt something which could significantly help their learning experience. The Lexonik training was an instant hit with us all. It was challenging, but sharp and pacey, and we instantly saw how engaged students got with it. There was no question as to whether we would take it up.

What sort of results did you see, by having it in place in that school?

Really impressive results of around 26.4 months improvement in reading age. Given the background of our pupils and the fact that the vast majority had no access to literacy provision at home – that was a huge achievement.

It was evidence to me of how powerful the intervention was, and that everyone wins from having it in place – pupils, teachers and families.

No wonder you were keen to embed it at Wallace Hall. What progress have you seen there among students?

Very similar – 25 to 26 months’ increase.

Again, the background of the student make-up is that we have a lot of students on PEF (Pupil Equity Fund – Scottish equivalent to Pupil Premium).

It was clear that the students needed a very effective intervention which would produce great results and which would engage them in the process.

I knew that Lexonik would do that.

Bearing in mind it was a product you already knew, how would you say the school community reacted? Were both teachers and pupils impressed and able to recognise a difference?

Definitely. Students leave the programme after six weeks with such a sense of achievement. Throughout the sessions they’re always looking forward to coming back the following week.

In fact, we’re now at a stage where pupils tell other pupils, and so I’m often getting asked by a student if they can join next time around.

Invariably, by the time I move on to starting a new cohort, I already have a waiting list!

That’s great. And teacher reaction?

Staff will often pass on that a student has been more engaged and that they notice increased confidence in asking questions or using broader vocabulary.

What else is it that you specifically like about Lexonik?

For me, having considered others and had the benefit of working with this one across a number of pupils, it’s that it goes at a good pace and that progress is clearly evident.

I like that this is research based and independently verified.

What’s next for your journey with Lexonik?

I hope to build on the foundations Lexonik has established with many pupils in our school and enable our staff to begin using the language of Lexonik in the classroom with a whole-school literacy policy whereby all staff break down subject-specific vocabulary in the same way, much in line with how we do it in our Lexonik sessions.

This is a long-term goal and may take some time to fully implement but it is important we are aspirational in how we approach this kind of challenge.

What would you say to anyone thinking about embedding Lexonik at their school?

I’d say go for it and you won’t regret it. Although all schools are facing challenges with budgets and cost-cutting, Lexonik is a worthwhile investment which has proven to deliver on its promises. Being able to measure the impact immediately is fantastic and we have begun the process of aligning our Lexonik data with our ACEL data in the BGE and finding the impact on literacy-based subjects has been positive as well, so we know there is correlation happening organically in the pupils’ progress and attainment, which is great to see.

This article was produced with grateful thanks to Wallace Hall as part of a sponsored initiative.