Vernon Terrace Primary School - Improving Reading Attainment in a SEND Base

Happier Every Chapter has been helping Vernon Terrace Primary meet the need for inclusive education since October 2022. Vernon Terrace Primary School is a one-form entry school situated on the outer east side of Northampton. They have two special educational needs SEND bases within the school; one for children who are deaf/have partial hearing, and the second for children with social, emotional, mental, health needs (SEMH). Their dedication to these children is clear to see.

The Challenge

The school library lacked books that represented the diversity of their community; cultural, neuro and physical diversity within the school. They also have children, not just those in receipt of pupil premium, who have little access to books at home. This was impacting reading attainment and were keen to solve that.

The Solution 

 We engaged with Vernon Terrace to provide book boxes for the children in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 identified as in need of the targeted interventions. Some children, Year 5 (Key Stage 2) were identified as having a Key Stage 1 (Year 2) reading level. The need for reading level appropriate books was accommodated.  Each child would receive a box of 2 diverse and inclusive books, activity sheets and 1-2 gifts every other month. Where we had a particular theme for which Vernon Terrace had a need for a bundle of books, we would provide that as a one off.

Jo Marlow, Assistant Headteacher had this to say of the transformations they experienced "I have heard children say ‘the character in the book look like me’ - something they could not have said before we had books from Happier Every Chapter. The book boxes we order 4 times a year for the children who have little or no access to books at home are amazing. The books are tailored to the individual needs of the children and the excitement they show when they open them is a pleasure to see. Working with Happier Every Chapter has enabled us to source high quality books to share with our school community.

Benefits of Working with Us

Asked what the 3 top benefits of working with us were, Jo outlined the below:

✔️ A knowledgeable resource who will advise on any reading requests that we have as a school
✔️The books are of exceptional quality and are priced  with the limitations of a school budget in mind.
✔️Friendly staff, who are effective communicators and respond quickly to requests.

She went on to say "Absolutely would recommend Happier Every Chapter. Excellent company with knowledgeable and friendly staff. The books are of excellent quality, a good pricing structure and the order and delivery service is very efficient.

If you are a school looking to improve reading attainment of your pupils especially the lowest attaining 20%, or you simply want to diversify your book collection why not reach out on hello@happiereverychapter.com