May 2021

As teachers, we often use curriculum-based tests to help us understand what learners can and can’t do, and how this measures up against expectations for their age and stage. This information is then used to plan support and interventions for learners who are struggling. While often effective, this approach sometimes means that we end up addressing the symptoms of the difficulties rather than the underlying causes.

After a lengthy consultation period, the DfE published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan on the 2^nd March 2023, which sets out its plans to change the SEND and alternative provision system in England.

Improving educational outcomes is important to us, and we understand that choosing the most impactful resources is challenging. So, everything we do at Hodder Education is created to ensure it will help engage learners and have a positive impact on teaching and learning. As part of this commitment, in 2021 we launched a two-year Impact Trial working with two independent evaluators to measure the impact of Reading Planet Rocket Phonics on pupils' reading attainment. 

Aoife Bruen, Product Manager for MARK, outlines an exciting update that we're working on for MATs and School Groups who use MARK, ready for the Summer Term . Our new feature will allow Multi Academy Trusts and School Groups to extract assessment data from across all of their member schools at the click of a button in MARK.

Many learners with maths difficulties or dyscalculia have maths anxiety and they also tend to have a fixed mindset about their ability and/or potential in maths. These children may have had years of experiencing failure in maths, having to follow a fast-paced curriculum and often being taught in a procedural way where the emphasis is on fact recall and speed. They have learnt to believe that they are no good at maths and never will be. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Ultimately, it’s reasonable to argue that the best KS2 books are the ones where learners’ can see themselves in the stories. When we relate to the characters or the setting and see a thread of our own lives and circumstances, we begin to engage - and that’s where the magic happens!

For some teachers, there’s a certain mystery around teaching KS2 reading, and the transition over from phonics at KS1. 

In this post we’re aiming to explore this from a slightly different perspective and rather than framing it as transitioning away from phonics, think in terms of how to tie phonics into a KS2 context and really cement the lessons learned in KS1.

Choosing reading schemes for schools can feel like a difficult process, with potentially endless research and a wide variety of schemes to choose from. In this post we’re highlighting 11 key factors to consider, and how they might affect the final decision. 

Our new diagnostic tool, SNAP Maths, has been developed as an assessment for those with suspected maths learning difficulties/dyscalculia and maths anxiety, to identify the specific barriers to maths learning so strategies can be put in place. SNAP Maths tests a range of numerical skills and general cognitive skills that are crucial for maths learning.

Look inside this new Catalogue and discover the latest and upcoming resources at Reading Planet!