Sarah Scott, Literacy Coordinator Good morning. My name is Sarah Scott and I’m the Literacy coordinator at Inglehurst Junior School in Leicester, I’m going to tell you a bit about our school, let you hear from some of our lovely year 6 pupils and about Project X and the impact it has had on our school. Sarah Scott, Literacy Coordinator Inglehurst Junior School – A Project X-cellent school

Inglehurst Junior School Our school is a Junior school with 275 children on roll. It’s vibrant, exciting, there’s always lots going on, and the children really do enjoy coming to school. To give credit to all this, we were really proud to receive an Outstanding grade from Ofsted back in March. However, as Ofsted themselves noted, it’s a challenging school, with a challenging catchment area – high numbers of FSM, Special education needs and a higher than average deprivation index. much higher than average percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals. much higher than average number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities 1 of 3 Leicester City primary schools which receive additional funding to meet complex needs of pupils higher than average numbers of pupils arriving and leaving during the school year higher than average deprivation index large majority of pupils are White British, with increasing numbers of minority ethnic pupils a popular school and pupils attend from out of the catchment area intake for 2010/11 set to rise. “The school operates in challenging circumstances.” – Ofsted, 2010

Our challenge: Good reading results, but boys falling behind girls Reluctant readers, particularly boys Aim: a renewed enthusiasm for reading across the school for all children, but new material to target boys These are some of the challenges we face in Literacy, not dissimilar to challenges faced by countless schools across the city and country. It reflects the national picture, and Project X seemed to be able to address some of the issues we face in Literacy at our school.

Whatever It Takes Bid 2009 Inglehurst secured £4300 from the WIT funds in 2009 This allowed us to purchase the whole Project X set of books, with only an additional £700 needed from school funds We bid and secures £4300 from the Whatever It Takes fund, allowing us to purchase the new Project X reading scheme – with only an additional £700 needed from school funds. A real boost to our reading resources in school, that we would never have achieved if it weren’t for the funding available.

What is Project X? Selection of fiction and non-fiction stories based around a key theme- think Ben 10 meets Power Rangers! Universally book banded – easily assimilated into existing resources Also included – teachers’ resources and interactive stories and writing tools Result - a massive hit with the children! Project X is a scheme of fiction and non-fiction books based on the adventures of Max, Cat, Ant and Tiger, 4 children who can shrink themselves down using their cool Project X watches – think Ben 10 meets Power Rangers! The characters have been cleverly developed – the shy one, the sporty one, the geeky one, the girl They go on countless adventures in their miniature forms, battling against their arch-nemesis Dr X and his minions, the X bots, or finding out about bacteria, minibeasts or the weather. The books are all linked together like a soap, so the children really get into the stories and want to read the next in the series. Practically speaking, they are universally book banded and so work easily alongside any existing book bands in school Included in the scheme are some fantastic teaching resources: interactive software so the children can hear the stories and edit them using the writing tools, guided reading notes, assessment tools linked to the APP assessment foci and cross-curricular learning opportunities.

Project X fans! Kian, James and Renee would like to tell you what they like about Project X, and how it has changed their attitudes to reading. Don’t take my word for it, I thought you would like to hear from some hardcore Project X fans – please welcome James, Kian and Renee!

Project X – does it work? Children have a renewed excitement and interest in reading Real impact on reluctant readers Flexible and innovative teaching resources that can bring the books into the Literacy lesson easily The results are clear – the children love them – we have got children in our school reading! In our school, the impact has been visible – pockets of readers all over the school. Children have a renewed excitement and interest in reading – recent reading survey showed 81% of children like reading and 97% like the books they can choose at school. Boys love them – reading survey showed a real preference for Project X, though only slightly more than the girls, showing it does appeal to both boys and girls. (Mention here any improvements on data from previous reading survey.) Teaching resources that are interactive, flexible and stimulating, as well as providing plenty of opportunities for assessment and cross-curricular learning. Majority of children in classes are reading a project X book – the shelves are empty – we had to top up our supply! They love it, as you have heard, and we have certainly got children in our school reading! Thank you for listening, and if you have any questions or would like to come and see Project X at our school, feel free to talk to me or Danny Bullock, our headteacher.

Many thanks for listening Sarah Scott Literacy Coordinator Inglehurst Junior School Leicester LE3 9FS Tel. 0116 2624598