According to the National Literacy Trust, 20% of secondary aged people are categorised as having a low reading proficiency (The National Literacy Trust, 2023). The research shows that these young people will have difficulties with accessing the school curriculum and their GCSE exams (Ricketts et al., 2020). Numerous studies have also indicated a strong correlation between reading ability, educational attainment, employment, and health (Bynner and Parsons, 2006, McIntosh and Vignoles, 2001).  At Liskeard School, we are proud of our partnership with Thinking Reading, an innovative literacy programme that offers a rigorous and systematic intervention for these young people who experience difficulties with reading. 

The programme opens with two weeks of intensive assessment and diagnostic work from the tutors. Students then receive three personalised, one-to-one reading lessons with an expertly trained tutor each week until they reach their chronological reading age. These lessons involve working on vocabulary knowledge, phonics, and comprehension. On average, students make between 1–3 months' worth of progress in each 30-minute lesson. Every 5–6 lessons, students are reassessed and move to the next level  if they achieve an accuracy of 97% or more. Students graduate from the programme when they sit and pass a standardised reading test at their chronological age.