By School News
Posted: 12/06/2024
Aquila pupil aged 11 makes five years progress in four months
A pupil at one of Aquila, the Diocese of Canterbury Academies Trust, schools has made an astonishing five yearsâ progress in his reading in just four months.
Luke Rogers, 11, went from reading only 143 words per minute to a fluent 309 words per minute in only 16 weeks after his school, St Clement's Church of England Primary School in Leysdown, adopted a new approach for some pupils.
The school experimented with Reading Plus, a programme that encourages healthy competition among pupils and uses AI to improve reading fluency.Â
The primary school already has a strong emphasis on reading, with a dedicated daily time for pupils to read each day and reading challenges and competitions over the holidays.Â
Kelly Lockwood, St Clementâs Headteacher, said Luke had âworked his socks offâ and was âa model of persistence for his classmatesâ.
She said the 11-year-old, whose favourite author is David Walliams, is âhighly motivated, persistent and has an excellent work ethicâ.
She said the school had found a number of its pupils were highly motivated by the Reading Plus programme âbecause it seems to provide a different approach to reading, which has helped some of our more reluctant readers, as well as those who were already enjoying a good bookâ.
âLuke really wanted to be top of the leaderboard in reading,â she said.
Gemma Rogers, Lukeâs mum, said her son now has âmuch more enthusiasm for reading, especially with the friendly competition between him and his classmates about who can read the most wordsâ.
âIt has really increased his motivation and his reading ability. We are very proud of him and his dedication to his reading," she said.