We started the academic year wanting to address reading and comprehension skills across the school.  We gathered data by asking teachers to identify pupils in their class that were either behind on their reading or who were reluctant readers.  For KS1 this highlighted children for extra letters and sounds support.  In KS2 we looked closer at these children – carrying out a baseline literacy assessment and assessing their reading ages.  This identified gaps in our reading – especially in KS2 and specifically in the area of comprehension. This lead to buying in Kingscourt Reading for KS2.

Kingscourt Reading has a range of texts and books with clear and comprehensive support for teachers.  We especially liked the book of clear comprehension questions to ask for each book that TAs could access and use very easily. 

It will be a central resource for teachers to use for their readers during guided reading – carrying out a group a day with a book lasting them a term (one session a week of 5-7 weeks).

Senior Leadership Team have identified that KS2 reading is an area we need to address – both in resources and pupils’ progress.  An area our children seem to find more difficult is comprehension and word knowledge.  Through buying these resources we are hoping to address these areas.

Having a rep that is easily contactable and very happy to help and advise us has been invaluable.  We have modified our plans and increased our ordering after conversations with our McGraw Hill representative.  It has also saved us hours in trawling through the internet and catalogues trying to find connecting resources or resources we could do this with.  Thank you Linda!

Annie Hatton, Inclusion Manager, Park Primary School, Stratford

I feel that the Kingscourt Reading books are of a very high quality, and will definitely give our SEN children great pleasure reading them, as well as providing them with enough repetition to promote learning.

St Patricks Primary School

Kingscourt Reading has beautifully presented bright and interesting pupil books covering a variety of styles and text types including non-fiction.

The teacher friendly guide completes a well-structured scheme with built in Benchmark Assessment.

Knowetop Primary School, North Lanarkshire

We use Kingscourt Reading, Literacy Links Plus and Wildcats in school. We have used Kingscourt / McGraw-Hill resources for five years.

The resources are linked very well to the National Literacy Strategy and have solved a lot of problems when first setting up and then building up the resources gradually.
We feel absolutely that Kingscourt / McGraw-Hill understand our needs. Our local representative is excellent. They keep us up to date with all the new literacy development, meeting with our Literacy Consultant for all the latest news. The materials and resources are tailored to the demands of the National Literacy Strategy and all the new initiatives. This makes my job much easier.

We value the service of our local rep, the range of materials and the features of the materials, the quick and easy ordering and delivery, and the teacher support.

Ings Farm School, Redcar

What’s good about the set... by Child Education

• The Kingscourt Reading (Core) guided reading books are up to the normal high standard of Kingscourt materials and are extremely attractive to look at and handle. Many of them have novelty cut-outs which have been linked to the storyline and this really adds to the books’ appeal.
• The teacher’s guide to each level is incredibly detailed and yet simple to use. There are full instructions on how to take a group of children through a guided reading session - almost a mini lesson plan. Also included are a range of follow-up suggestions.
• The supports and challenges that may be considered in each book are listed along with features to note any high frequency words. This is very useful for busy teachers working with several guided reading groups each and every week.
• The texts are written in an easy-to-understand and meaningful way with everybody language that children can relate to. The writing is clear, easy to follow, and printed in a variety of different sizes and fonts. Different illustrator styles reflect children from different ethnic backgrounds and good photographs accompany the non-fiction texts. These Kingscourt Reading guided reading books are a pleasure to use and are much enjoyed by children.

Child Education

A new early intervention series to support pupils who need a wealth of varied (nice to see plays at this level) and stimulating little books to enchance their literacy development. The series has 20 levels of carefully graduated steps, with a handy-sized Teacher’s Guide for each level. The vocabulary is controlled but not to the extent of detracting from the storylines.

The National Literacy Association