The appointment of a ‘Phonics Champion’ and a focus on the most vulnerable pupils were among the strategies introduced by David Harrison to improve early reading outcomes at his school

I started working at Ryvers School in Slough in January 2014, joining the senior leadership team with initial responsibility for early years. Ryvers is a three-form entry, larger-than-average primary school and had strong results on an upward trend. To ensure this continued, we had become forensic about our data and found that reading attainment for our youngest children was a key area for development, particularly for our most vulnerable.

We have above average numbers of children with English as an additional language (EAL), in receipt of Pupil Premium, and with SEN. The school has an autistic resource base on-site and dedicated EAL and speech and language teams working to overcome the different barriers.

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