Testimonial for Oxford Reading Tree by Nicola Simpson Rickleton Primary
Introduction
Over the past 3 years at Rickleton Primary School standards in reading are following a downward trend in Key Stage 1. In 2005/06 I was appointed as Key Stage 1 Literacy Coordinator.
Our reading scheme was a mixture of Ginn, New Way and various 'real books'. The scheme had been in place for approximately 10 years. The books were out of date, old and tatty. The children's attitude to reading was not enthusiastic, home reading books would be left in trays or left at home. Parents were struggling to hear their child read the reading books at they did not want to read them.
As a teacher the scheme was difficult to use. Some stages had lots of books, some had very few. The jump from one stage to the next was often too great. We also had hundreds of books which meant trying to find the next book for a child took a great deal of time.
During a meeting with the Sunderland LA Literacy Consultant I raised my concerns about the downward trends in reading and our out of date reading scheme. The consultant recommended ORT.
How long have we been using ORT?In March 2006 Linda Chapman visited our school and introduced the ORT scheme. Her brief was to provide a full reading scheme starting from Reception up to Lower Juniors. I specifically asked for books which would challenge our more able readers in Reception and Key Stage 1. As a result of the meeting the school purchased the following sections of the ORT scheme:
All Biff Chip and Kipper stories
Songbirds
First Phonics
Poetry Books
Fireflies
Jackdaws
Robins
All Stars
Which year groups use ORT?The ORT scheme starts in Reception and is used up to Year 4. As we did not order the Tree Top books it is only less able readers who access the books in Year 4. The majority of children at Rickleton have worked through to Stage 10 by Year 2.
Why do we like ORT?We like ORT because the books are new, bright and fresh. The stories are about events the children can relate to. There are books interest boys; there is something for everybody's taste. Parents like the home reading cards as it givens them some ideas about the types of questions to ask to develop comprehension skills.
How does it work for our school?Our school is split into areas. Each area has its own selection of reading books. Reception has half the packs from Stage 1 to Stage 7. They also have All Stars pack 1. Key Stage 1 has half the packs from Stage 1 to Stage 10. They have All Stars pack 1 and 2. Lower Key Stage 2 has half the packs from Stage 7 to Stage 10.
The class teacher gives each child one or two books from ORT on a weekly basis. I designed a record sheet which the teachers use to record which books the child has read. At some point during the week the children will be asked to read their home reading book to an adult in school.
The children can be moved up a stage once they have read all the books in that stage or the teacher feels they need more challenge.
What has been the impact in our school?The impact on standards in reading is still too early to say. However, attitudes towards the reading books have changed dramatically. More able children who read 'real books' ask "why can't we have ORT books?" When the children receive their new reading book they say "I have read that one." "In that book this happens". Children don't forget to take their books home and parents know if the books are not returned their child will not be given another ORT book.
The teachers find the organisation easier and more efficient. It takes half the time to find the next book as each stage has its own basket and the teachers know we have all of the books printed on the record sheet.
Which strand of ORT do we like the best?The most useful strand most teachers find is the poetry books. It used to be very time consuming trying to find a range of poetry books to suit the needs of all ability groups. We now have the ORT poetry books from Stage 1 to Stage 11. The teachers find having a bank of differentiated poems very useful. The books are well used!
We also find the All Stars books very good. In Rickleton we had a number of children in Reception and Year 1 who were very good readers but found the content of 'real book' was too advanced for their age. The All Stars books provide challenging words but content suitable for the child to understand.
What is to come next? After further analysis we have found that results in Key Stage 2 are following a downward trend. Key Stage 2 teachers said that after Stage 10 they have no books to offer their children that are appropriate to their needs. In Year 2 once the children have reached Stage 10 they are taken off the reading scheme and given 'real books'. Staff felt this was a long time for children to be given such varied books.
Therefore in March 2008 Linda Chapman returned to Rickleton and we have since ordered all the Tree Top books, non fiction books, dictionaries, thesauruses for Key Stage 2 and more books for Key Stage 1!
We now hope to run the ORT scheme from Reception to Year 6! All children will have the opportunity to access the ORT until their teacher feels they are ready for 'real books'.
