Trinity Academy Leeds (TAL), part of Trinity MAT, is situated in the Burmantofts region of East Leeds and opened its doors in 2021 to its founding cohort of Y7s.
Led by highly ambitious and tenacious senior leaders who have set out a clear-headed vision for their school and wider community, TAL relies on the expert implementation of practical systems to achieve their lofty aims for their pupils. TAL’s thorough approach to implementation and - by extension - communication has much to do with the success of Sparx Reader in this setting.
Recognising the very real and pervasive threat of the ‘Matthew Effect’ on pupils’ literacy rates in this region - over 60% of the student body qualifies for pupil premium funding - the staff at TAL place it as one of the school’s key drivers. In the words of Hannah Collins, the Vice Principal, their unrelenting focus on literacy is “every day, not a one-off”. TAL staff see it as a moral duty to lift their young people out of the pernicious cycle of the ‘word gap’; as such they pour their efforts into shaping deliberate habits and predictable routines for their pupils, with consistent and fair accountability measures.
While TAL - and every school - of course has a completely unique context, there is much that they do that can be learned from, borrowed and adapted by other schools. It is our hope that this case study offers a blend of transferable, practical strategies alongside depictions of genuinely inspiring practice both for schools already using Sparx Reader and those considering using it.
Donal Hale, Head of English, explains how reading at secondary level is threatened in so many ways. Once students leave their primary settings where reading is “the pillar of primary school pedagogy”, they are at risk of “falling through the cracks” in terms of maintaining their capacity to read independently. Knowing that this ‘drop-off’ looms large, the teachers at TAL have urgently prioritised reading practice in all its forms.
All pupils are repeatedly told that secure reading ability is fundamental to good outcomes, yet in the same breath they are encouraged and reassured that becoming a strong reader is a reality for everyone: nobody ‘falls through the cracks’ at TAL. Crucially for this ambition, the school has demystified reading; it isn’t seen as the preserve of already-competent readers or something that is ambiguously acquired in adulthood. Instead it is a core skill that is constantly honed and practised by all pupils during curriculum time, as part of communities of readers, and on their own. The ‘hows’ of reading - from phonics to fluency to affective factors - are explicitly called out, exemplified and slotted into the day-to-day structures of life at TAL.
Given their unrelenting focus on helping their students form strong reading habits, TAL’s leadership places a culture of reading at the heart of its daily operation. Purposeful reading has become part of who they all are and what they all do, and this has not happened incidentally.
The academy’s wider strategy incorporates many different reading opportunities into the school day, underpinned by Sparx Reader as the vehicle for independent reading practice outside of lessons. In school, emphasis is placed on reading physical books and learning to use the library; TAL’s librarian closely tracks who has and has not been to the library, while ‘reading ambassadors’ support her with keeping the stock current by listening to student recommendations and wish-lists. Assemblies are devoted to the serialised reading of gripping stories, and pupils are all expected to have a challenging reading book in their bags. As Hannah puts it, surfacing the “right books and putting them into pupils’ hands” is central to maintaining reading momentum, as is widespread conversation about books between students and teachers. Interestingly, TAL does not run a conventional ‘Drop Everything And Read’ programme; instead their expectation that every pupil reads on a daily basis is realised through Sparx Reader.
"their expectation that every pupil reads on a daily basis is realised through Sparx Reader"
TAL is doing its utmost to break down barriers - however slight - to getting started with reading. TAL unlocks reading for all of their pupils, and this approach is reinforced through the nightly homeworks set on Sparx Reader. The ‘heavy lifting’ is done for the pupils - through choice architecture for example - so that they can get straight into appropriate books and practise reading attentively and with care.
While many pupils find reading a hugely enjoyable and immersive experience, Donal is careful not to place emphasis on the additional expectation that every single pupil will or should necessarily love reading.
At TAL, enjoyment of reading does not have to be a prerequisite for success. Donal explains that "we give [students] the research base; we show that really explicitly and say, "Look, you don't have to love reading, but you have to be good at it if you want to be successful. It's about making sure that you can read really effectively because in all walks of life in every situation that you're in, reading is fundamental."
"It's about making sure that you can read really effectively because in all walks of life in every situation that you're in, reading is fundamental."
For TAL, Sparx Reader is a way to: develop their pupils’ intrinsic motivation and heighten their self-efficacy; reduce the cognitive effort involved in developing a solid reading habit; and build their students’ confidence as they learn to attend and concentrate for sustained periods of time on their reading. Sparx Reader provides the opportunity for pupils to practise the very necessary skill of independent reading; it’s a wonderful consequence if enjoyment then comes, but it is by no means the driver. Yet over time, when they speak to their students, they often explain that they now do enjoy reading on Sparx Reader because they know that they are “getting better, and practice does make perfect.”
TAL prides itself on its messaging; everything the school communicates to staff, parents and pupils is given careful consideration, and is simple, centralised and universal.
It comes as no surprise that the school systematically explored the fit and feasibility of available reading programmes before landing on Sparx Reader. Their literacy leaders felt that Sparx Reader didn’t ‘overpromise’, and had a straightforward, unambiguous remit: to get pupils to practise independent reading regularly, to improve their attention and precision. Hannah is relieved that Sparx Reader does not direct pupils to write ”well-meaning reading logs” that are “signed off without accountability and rigour”.
"a straightforward, unambiguous remit: to get pupils to practise independent reading regularly, to improve their attention and precision"
Taking a structured and gradual approach to rolling out Sparx Reader meant that staff and student-facing processes could be made familiar and secure from the outset, and any early teething problems preempted and ironed-out. The practical preparation and delivery phases were given ample time and thought: at first, all teachers were fully trained in the functionality of Sparx Reader; then, lesson time was given over to ensuring all pupils knew how to use the product while their teachers actively monitored their reading and were able to tackle any emergent issues before they cropped up at home, potentially preventing a student from successfully completing their homework. Setting unfailingly high expectations of the standard of reading and completion of homework in this early roll-out period has meant that the quality of independent reading has remained exceptionally high since the launch.
Delivery such as this has made it easier for staff to be unapologetically ‘ferocious’ with their reinforcement of Sparx Reader; there are no excuses and there is no slippage. Staff make the indisputable point to pupils that, “we give you Sparx Reader, we give you challenging reading books and we support you with reading because we want you to access everything, we want your dreams to come true.” This ‘ferociousness’ is perfectly exemplified when Donal explains that it’s never a question of “what if” when it comes to all students reaching 100% completion each week; it’s the absolute expectation of every pupil, despite resistance in some cases.
“we give you Sparx Reader, we give you challenging reading books and we support you with reading because we want you to access everything, we want your dreams to come true.”
Achieving these extraordinary completion rates is a product of the leaders’ flexibility, as well as highly structured support mechanisms for students. During the early months of delivery, the decision was made to adjust the homework hand in date to maximise student productivity, particularly for the hard-to-reach pupils. A mid-week deadline built in time for more opportunities to remind pupils during the school day using the hand-in page as motivation.
Stabilising, maintaining and scaling Sparx Reader is a key part of TAL’s strategy; their SLT is fully engaged and invites the Sparx Reader Lead to deliver updates twice per term; parents are texted with Sparx Reader updates on a daily basis; students are reminded every single morning when they convene in year groups.
The staff at TAL capitalise on the visibility of reading accuracy and completion rates that Sparx Reader provides, to keep the conversations about homework current and purposeful with pupils. While they are completely unrelenting in their expectation of 100% completion by everyone, each week, there is a range of support mechanisms in place. Their conviction in the pupils is driven by the support they offer - at no point is a pupil left to sink. As Hannah puts it: “if there's a barrier in our school, we take it away”. The pupils know this and rise to the challenge in the knowledge that their teachers will do everything in their power, where necessary and appropriate, to get them over the line every single week. Sanctions do form a part of this picture, but the school is emphatic about maintaining engagement positively.
The entrenched success of Sparx Reader is underpinned by a practical understanding of what drives young people; as such, they promote healthy competition between pupils and groups. TAL’s expert staff understand that extrinsic motivators are necessary up to a point, and they also know the importance of overcommunicating reminders to all pupils to get the work completed on time. They want to get good reading habits off the ground by doing as much of the ‘cognitive heavy lifting’ for their pupils as they can, one of those being prioritising the work in the first place. Donal sets out how this looks in reality, stressing that “you have to be ferocious with it. You have to really go for it”:
“At the end of the school day, I go out to the lineup and I speak to the entire year group with the update of the completion rate. The next morning, we check the rate of increase. So for example, our year seven yesterday - before their deadline day - were on 87% before they went home and they had till 7pm. We got that up to 97% - that’s a 10% increase just by that reminder.”
With warm tenacity at the heart of how they operate, Hannah explains that teachers “get really involved at driving it, but it doesn't come from a place of disapproval”. TAL positively frames Sparx Reader by constantly celebrating their children's successes and boosting their self-efficacy, as Hannah illustrates: “during Morning Recall there’s a big slide on the board: look at 8D this week, look at the XP! Children like to be successful and children like attention, and if you don't give them positive attention they're going to wait for the negative attention. So we tell them who they are: you are a reader, reading is for you.”
TAL positively frames Sparx Reader by constantly celebrating their children's successes and boosting their self-efficacy
Additionally, the simplicity of the Sparx Reader system means that no parent - of a pupil premium student or otherwise - is excluded from supporting their child to complete their Sparx Reader homework. Donal explains how manageable Sparx Reader is for parents to understand, to track and to support at home, and how helpful it is that parents are themselves given powerful information: “300 Sparx Reader points to read on a weekly basis; there's accountability; there's a percentage completion on a daily basis; they can log in.” The teachers at TAL can finally say with complete confidence to parents that reading is taking place, and provide granular detail on what books children are reading, how much is being read and how well the work is being done. The school is working hard to encourage parents to interact with their children’s reading on Sparx Reader, and to use the product to transfer their excellent learning habits from school to the home.
The teachers at TAL can finally say with complete confidence to parents that reading is taking place, and provide granular detail on what books children are reading, how much is being read and how well the work is being done.
There is a team of teachers at TAL dedicated to addressing weaknesses in decoding and fluency to close the achievement gaps and prevent the ‘Matthew Effect’ from taking root. Crucially however, their wider reading strategy does not overlook the importance of explicitly teaching, modelling and upholding the affective factors that underpin strong reading, such as having high levels of self-efficacy and being in the regular habit of reading.
There are clear systems and structures in place throughout the school to ensure pupils are behaviourally engaged with all aspects of their learning, which are transposed seamlessly to the act of reading using Sparx Reader. Teachers at TAL are seeing the powerful impact of their systems: if pupils read regularly and routinely, and experience success during the process, enjoyment - or emotional engagement - can be built up over time. Donal speaks of the huge difference in the confidence of their pupils that they have witnessed: “we've got students who were once struggling readers with a reading age of 6.5 years, who are now reading upwards of 1,000 Sparx Reader points a week. We see that massive difference in confidence because they want to do it.” There is a palpable hunger to learn more and to better themselves amongst the pupils at TAL.
“we've got students who were once struggling readers with a reading age of 6.5 years, who are now reading upwards of 1,000 Sparx Reader points a week. We see that massive difference in confidence because they want to do it.”
The belief that the teachers have in the pupils’ reading ability boosts their self-efficacy significantly. Knowing that high self-efficacy in the domain of reading is transformative for virtually all subjects, the TAL teachers are deeply persuasive in their conversations with young people about their reading. As such, Hannah explains how important it is they remain firm with their expectations of 100% completion for all pupils, regardless of background or prior attainment record: “the sense of self-efficacy you get from a teacher saying ‘you can get 100%’” is extraordinary, especially if those pupils might have been given “damning praise in a previous life” for completing something to a lesser standard. They’re unapologetic in defending this stance: "we don't want to love them back into poverty. They should and can absolutely do it."
Donal is proud to say that TAL students “do read, and Sparx Reader provides the visibility of that. It’s a way of proving reading does happen.” The way in which Sparx Reader makes reading measurable and brings transparency to the domain of independent reading is invaluable for staff. The English and Literacy team use the forensic insights to isolate and target support for the pupils who are not completing reading, or who are struggling.
The fact that Sparx Reader levels the playing field by rewarding readers of all abilities equally, aligns it to TAL’s founding principle that no students are left behind. Whereas some reading programmes “are almost gap widening” as they continuously reward only the strongest readers, Sparx Reader holds huge appeal for Donal and his team because of the way it is “intuitive and responsive”, adapting to pupils’ specific reading capabilities and providing evidence of successful reading at all ability levels. By selecting age-appropriate, well-pitched books, no child will feel that “reading is not for me and I am very far below my peers”.
Sparx Reader holds huge appeal for Donal and his team because of the way it is “intuitive and responsive”, adapting to pupils’ specific reading capabilities and providing evidence of successful reading at all ability levels
At TAL, Sparx Reader is used as a way of measuring success for pupils who have received phonics intervention. The insights available on Sparx Reader give a clear indication of whether phonics instruction has worked; it dovetails with existing intervention tools in the sense that it can prove the efficacy of them.
Hannah firmly states that “literacy should never be a barrier for any single student in our care and we're not doing our jobs properly if students are not leaving literate and able to access absolutely anything that they can.” It is essential to TAL that they build future generations of lifelong readers, and Sparx Reader is fundamental to realising that by: making reading practice visible and habitual; supporting students to read with precision and attention and, ultimately, for their young people to believe that “reading is for you. You are a reader.”
"It is essential to TAL that they build future generations of lifelong readers, and Sparx Reader is fundamental to realising that"