iferi.org

The video footage embedded into John Walker's blog posting is truly a 'must watch'. If anyone is in the need for inspiration in the field of 'teaching and learning', this is a great piece to read and footage to watch. It is also an example of the growing internationalism that we need to applaud - where educators from different parts of the world are visiting one another and sharing their findings - their secrets of HUGE success!

Please find the 20 minutes you need to watch the video here - and, by the way, congratulations to very single person - young or old - involved in both the school, St. George's, and the international connections to visit and spread the word....

http://literacyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016 ... imary.html

St George's Church of England Primary School: from crisis to calm

St George's - from crisis to calm is the story of a school that twelve years ago was failing, and failing so badly it was in special measures. What that failure meant was that a good number children moving on to secondary school were unequipped to cope with the demands of the secondary curriculum. A huge proportion of the children were classified as having special needs and they were failing in the two subjects most necessary to underpin any sort of quality education: maths and basic literacy.

Since that time, and with a considerable amount of hard work on the part of all the staff involved under the leadership of Ms Janet Hilary, a National Leader of Education, the school has been transformed into an oasis of learning and of calm. Situated in an area of ‘severe deprivation’ in the heart of London, the school now finds itself in the top 2% of schools in England and head teachers from all over the country are visiting to discover the secrets of its success.

John Walker of Sounds-Write has just tweeted these fantastic spelling results:

Have just analysed spelling results for Y2 at St George's PS. Test taken Sept: Av SA 25 mths ahead of CA. No child below CA: 20M 9F, 68%fsm

Please note that fsm means 'free school meals'.

Thanks to Chuck Peters - and the staff, educationalists, community members and children of St. George's for this super, heartwarming video footage:

St. George's - Commitment and Consistency

https://vimeo.com/178801747?utm_source= ... _id=#share

Hi Debbie,
As requested, here's the testimonial Sounds-Write have just received from Sarah Collymore, headteacher at St George's Church of England School in Wandsworth:
At St George's we have used Sounds-Write for over five years and I cannot recommend it highly enough. We are a National Support School and have visitors from all over the UK and abroad visit the school each year. To a person, they are always astounded by the phonics and spelling they see.
With Sounds-Write our very youngest children in Nursery are already blending and segmenting words for reading and spelling. They love their Sounds-Write lessons so much that the teacher had to introduce a Velcro sound wall to their free-play options.
Our phonics screening results have been 100% for the last three years and always above 96%. This is due to the excellent, consistent approach that Sounds-Write uses which empowers teachers and students alike.
In a school with high mobility, high deprivation and high EAL we can attest to the fact that Sounds-Write works for all children. It can be used for groups, whole class, 1:1, new arrivals to English and SEND pupils with ease and is a sure way to narrow the gaps for pupils.
The training is high quality and all staff use consistent methods to teach phonics, reading and spelling effectively. Skills are taught explicitly and pupils demonstrate confidence and success from the outset.
Sarah Collymore, National Leader of Education,
Headteacher
St. George's CE Primary School
Best wishes,
John

https://theliteracyblog.com/2018/08/08/ ... ry-school/

A class act – St George’s Church of England Primary School.

...Here are this year’s results from St George’s CEPS and you may remember that St George’s children have achieved a 100% success rate in the Phonics Screening Check for the past six years.

St George’s school is located within one of the poorest catchment areas in South London. It has a very high number of children on free school meals and many children at the school speak a language other than English at home.

Looking at the table, which I have anonymised, you can see that 28 children in Year 1 (their second year of schooling) sat the Young’s Parallel Spelling Test in June 2018. The average age of the children was 6.3 years; their average spelling age was 8.6 years; and, they were then, on average, 28 months ahead. No child scored below their chronological age. In fact, no child scored below 13 months ahead of their chronological age. At the other end, four children scored at more than 40 months ahead of chronological age.

Fantastic results!

Well done to all at St George's:


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DsemTJbWkAEDB_C.jpg:large