Working with School Trusts
“There is nothing like the Scholastic Reading Audit out there – it is like gold dust. It allowed me to step outside of my school and Trust roles and be more strategic…we will be going out to other schools in the Trust to do the Reading Audit too.” Leigh Academies Trust
Working with School Trusts
Scholastic works with school trusts, other groups of schools, and individual primary and secondary schools throughout the UK on school improvement programmes – especially in the areas of reading and literacy.
Through decades of sector expertise – and our bespoke interventions which are proven to make an impact – we deliver stronger educational outcomes, raising standards and improving assessment, attainment and pupil progress levels.
We also foster trust-wide approaches to teaching and learning, delivering collaboration among schools, and consistent and collective practice.
Saving money on key resources is a key priority for school leaders, but often hard to come by when purchasing educational resources. With this in mind we have developed a Reading Audit which has provided over 1,000 schools with independent pedagogic advice for instructional reading and reading for pleasure.
The Scholastic Reading Audit is accompanied by our Reading Charter – backed by the prestigious International Literacy Centre at the Institute for Education, part of University College London.
Scholastic is a platinum partner with the Confederation of Schools Trust, chosen for our expertise in Reading.The Reading Audit
The Scholastic Reading Audit is a comprehensive reading audit, designed to challenge and support you in the teaching and leading of reading in your trust or primary/secondary school.
Designed to be taken by school headteachers, literacy coordinators or reading managers, the online audit covers every type of instructional reading type as well as assessment, home links and reading for pleasure. See below for the full list of areas covered.
Following the audit, our independent literacy experts analyse the results and we feed these back to each school with our recommendations on areas of improvement. You will then be able to use this insight to help focus your attention on the teaching resources which will generate the best results, whilst also saving you time and money.
By completing this audit – which for primary schools takes 30-45 minutes to complete and slightly less for secondary schools – you will receive:
* a pedagogic development report which includes a summary of research for each reading type and a report into your teaching of reading, highlighting where you are performing well, and suggesting areas of improvement, * and if you satisfy the requirements, a Scholastic Reading Charter certificate, plus a ‘reading school’ logo for your school website.The School Trust Summary Report
In return for each school in a trust running the Reading Audit every two years, Scholastic will provide:
- A reading audit for each of your schools, plus a copy of each for yourself
- A trust wide summary audit
- Access to an exclusive national report that we’re writing so you can benchmark yourself against the national picture
- If each school qualifies for it, they’ll get a Reading Charter certificate and badge for the website, and if all schools qualify we’ll send you one for the trust site too.
- All of the above will live on, and can be downloaded from, a secure web page on the Scholastic website.
- The audits cost £100 per school (please tell us if you are a Confederation of School Trusts member as discounts are available).
What the Reading Audit covers
- Oracy
- Phonics & Early Reading
- Fluency
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension: Guided Reading
- Comprehension: Reciprocal Reading
- Comprehension: Repeated/Close Reading
- Comprehension: Shared Reading
- Assessment
- Interventions for struggling or advanced readers
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Whole school reading and reading for pleasure
- Independent Reading
- Whole Class Reading
- Home readers and family engagement
- Reading for pleasure
- Libraries
- Book Events
How it works
We will create and send you a unique link for primary and secondary audits.
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Each school completes the Audit
It takes about 30-45 minutes for primary schools to complete the Reading Audit and it’s slightly quicker for secondary schools.
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Report writers and editors analyse your responses
Scholastic will deliver the reports to you and a Consultant will be on hand to discuss the findings.
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As MAT improvement officer, you’ll receive an additional report.
This gives you an overview over all schools across your school group.
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Retake the audit every two years.
The first audit gives you a snapshot of reading across all of your schools, the second gives you a picture of their progress.
How do I get started?
Please contact Chris Ratcliffe, Head of Education, Scholastic UK.
What are MAT and school leaders saying about the Reading Audit?
“The MAT Audit report gives us information that is generally hard to draw together in one document – it is straight to the point, colour coded for ease, and clear in its recommendations which helps us to see exactly where we are as a Trust.”
Christina Kenna, CEO, Heart Education Trust.
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“I would definitely recommend the audit to other MAT leaders – the process from start to finish has been straightforward, and the fact there is no cost for an audit developed by independent experts means it is really a ‘win win’.”
Lesley Birch, Executive Principal, Cambridge Primary Education Trust.
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“There is nothing like the Scholastic Reading Audit out there – it is like gold dust. It allowed me to step outside of my school and Trust roles and be more strategic. The audit directly informed my subject improvement plan and reading is at the heart of our curriculum.”
Georgina Rawling is a class teacher and English Lead at Oaks Primary Academy, part of Leigh Academies Trust. She is also an Improvement Officer at the Trust which encompasses 15,000 students.
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““Whilst we initially did it to see if anything was significantly missing, as a result of the Scholastic Reading Audit we have done a lot more to improve again. For example, whilst we do lots of reading for pleasure, the audit showed we were not making the most of our library space, were not properly set up with little reading areas, and not geared up for engaging parents. The audit also introduced the principle of reciprocal reading, which we were not previously aware of.”
Kate Heathcote, Headteacher, Whiteparish All Saints Church of England Primary School.
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“When I first heard about the Scholastic Reading Audit, it seemed like an ideal platform to find out where our gaps are and how they can be plugged. The feedback was good, but it highlighted an opportunity to focus on our free readers and how we can push them on. It’s an impressive tool and the follow-on report showed what we need to do next.”
Charlotte Genç, Assistant Head for Key Stage 1 and English Lead, Kings Hill Primary School
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“At a time when we felt unsure about continuing guided reading, the Scholastic Reading Audit was great. It clarified valuable strategies to be used in guided reading and provided guidance on the areas we were falling short, such as the independent tasks. It was the springboard for us to revamp and embrace guided reading.”
Emma Langridge, Lead Practitioner/Primary Leader, Caroline Chisholm School
Read moreHow Scholastic can help
Last year Scholastic donated over £5.3 million worth of free books to schools. Contact us to see how we can work with you.
