Question At Wellow, we consistently ensure that children are given opportunities to collaborate within and across different year groups. Sometimes this is through specific school or national events but working collaboratively is also part of the children’s everyday routine. Every morning, children read collaboratively, either with their peers or supporting younger, developing readers. We decided to question how beneficial these sessions are. Do these sessions extend the children’s learning or are they just an enjoyable experience? As the reading sessions are already embedded in our school day, we specifically decided to focus on the question: Can Peer Tutoring improve reading and comprehension skills?

Why did we choose this question? Reading sessions are an important part of each school day. We have responsibility to ensure that this time spent reading is as beneficial as possible to the learning of each child

Why did we choose this question? Based on research, the ‘Education Endowment Foundation Data’ argue that Peer Tutoring is a low cost strategy which has high impact on the children’s learning. We wanted to investigate if this was true for the children we teach. We also wanted to spend some time thinking about how we could help the children develop their skills as peer tutors We were particularly interested in whether peer teaching is beneficial for all parties and the learning reciprocal.

Intended impact: Through the reading sessions where Year 5 readers support Year 2 children, we would like to see our developing readers gain greater comprehension skills. This will help the children become more prepared for SATs testing and for using Accelerated Reader in Year 3. In Year 4, we are looking at peer tutoring within a focus reading group. We would like them to be able to confidently fulfil each of the reciprocal reading roles, working collaboratively together to understand the text. We expect to see these Year 4 children’s star reading test results improve as their skills in understanding texts develop.

How did we select the group? All children in Year 2 and Year 5 classes will be involved in the enquiry, although four children from each class have been identified as our focus group. Every child is different and we appreciate that children learn in different ways, therefore it will be interesting to see whether peer teaching is more beneficial to some children than others An average attaining reading group from Year 4 is participating in reciprocal reading.

Where are we now? We interviewed some children to find out how they feel about their reading sessions…

What did we measure? Pupil questionnaires – January and May Video recordings of children discussing their views and participating in cross-age reading and a Year 4 guided reading group – January and May Accelerated reader standardised scores - approximately every 6 weeks KS 1 SAT’s assessments – January and May Guided reading teacher notes – weekly

What happened? Initial pupil questionnaire Looking at baseline assessments- collecting data at outset Children in Year 4 were taught how reciprocal reading roles worked Year 5 children were taught how to do paired reading as before, children were only listening to readers and correcting incorrect vocabulary. There was little structure or purpose to the sessions.

Measuring impact At the start & end: Year 2 and 5 Paired Reading All focus children in Year 2 made at least 3 sub levels of progress in their reading. Year 5 children commented: ‘I really like being the teacher. It is helpful to have the same child each week and I have really seen them progress’ (MM) ‘Now I would like to introduce children to different types of books so they don’t get bored with the same thing’ (JA) ‘I would like to spend more time in my class now preparing questions for them on their chosen books’ (FT) Questionnaire AR Data Football planning, assessment, data

Year 4 Reciprocal Learning All of the children in the group felt that having a role helped them understand the text and work collaboratively together. They liked the fact that if they are stuck on a word there is a particular person they can ask to start with (The Clarifier). All of the children thought that other groups would find it useful to work in this way. They would like to work as a group together in this way in Year 5. “Having a role helps me to understand the text.” (E.P) “It helps me to understand the words. If I am not sure I can ask The Clarifier to start with.” (EL) “When someone else reads I get a break from reading and can follow the story. Having a boss helps us work together.” (EP) “Having a role helps us work together.” (JW) “We can help others.” (FJ) “I prefer this way of working. I would recommend it to other groups and would like to carry on working in this way in Year 5.” (JG)

How did practice change? Year 4 children – different approaches to preparation and management of guided reading sessions Student mastery of paired reading techniques to support comprehension Children more confident being able to assist Y2 readers Children not only listening but actively learning about the text. Social- speaking and listening- y2/5 one partner to show progression Mindset Growing Learners

What next? All children in Year 4 are now going to learn the reciprocal reading roles so that they can work independently and collaboratively in their reading groups. Next year, Year 5 will begin the year learning the skills required to be an effective peer tutor and continue to work with a nominated partner in Year 2 Good practice will be shared with colleagues. There is already a link planned between Year 1 and 4 pupils Use children’s expertise in other areas of the curriculum to develop skills.