Reading Hub impact report 2024

Overview

During the twelve-month period, we conducted case studies throughout 16 of our Primary Schools. The main objective of these case studies was to measure the impact Reading Hub had on pupil access to books, parental involvement in their child’s reading, and impact on reading ages.

The case studies all followed the same format with one control group who continued with traditional methods to track reading (paper reading logs, physical books, and anecdotal records from parents). These results were compared with an intervention group who had access to Reading Hub, which provided a digital library, reading engagement dashboard, and digital logs for parents and pupils.

We ensured that a diverse array of schools was included in the case studies. All sizes, demographics, and Ofsted ratings were represented. We also conducted case studies across a range of year groups in order to compare results. These groups included: Key Stage 1, whole school, Year 6, and Key Stage 2.

The results reflected in the case studies were gathered consistently across all schools. Reading age data was collected through traditional formative reading assessments conducted throughout the year. Reading engagement and access to books were measured through the digital dashboard for the intervention group and with paper records and anecdotes for the control group.

Key Takeaways

These results demonstrate the impact across all 16 schools on access to books, parental involvement in their child’s reading, and impact on reading ages across all intervention groups (with access to Reading Hub).

Reading age increased by 26%.
Average time spent reading increased by 59%. Pupils were reading for pleasure for 104 minutes per week with Reading Hub.
The average number of books read per pupil per month increased by nearly 120% (117.9%). While using Reading Hub, pupils were reading 6.4 books a month.
85% of parents said they would prefer to continue using Reading Hub instead of traditional methods.
Parental engagement increased by 85%.

Key Stage 1

These results demonstrate the impact across the schools focusing on Key Stage 1. They include improvements in book accessibility, parental involvement in their child’s reading, and impact on reading ages across all intervention groups (with access to Reading Hub).

Reading age increased by 16%.
Average time spent reading increased by 65%. Pupils were reading for pleasure for 90 minutes per week with Reading Hub.
The average number of books read per pupil per month increased by 150%. While using Reading Hub, pupils were reading 5 books a month.
78% of parents said they would prefer to continue using Reading Hub instead of traditional methods.
Parental engagement increased by 84.5%.

Key Stage 2

These results demonstrate the impact across the schools focusing on Key Stage 2. They include improvements in book accessibility, parental involvement in their child’s reading, and impact on reading ages across all intervention groups (with access to Reading Hub).

Reading age increased by 21%.
Average time spent reading increased by 55%. Pupils were reading for pleasure for 86.5 minutes per week with Reading Hub.
The average number of books read per pupil per month increased by 110%. While using Reading Hub, pupils were reading 7 books a month.
76.5% of parents said they would prefer to continue using Reading Hub instead of traditional methods.
Parental engagement increased by 88%.

Year 6

These results demonstrate the impact across the schools focusing on Year 6. They include improvements in book accessibility, parental involvement in their child’s reading, and impact on reading ages across all intervention groups (with access to Reading Hub).

Reading age increased by 28%.
Average time spent reading increased by 73%. Pupils were reading for pleasure for 112 minutes per week with Reading Hub.
The average number of books read per pupil per month increased by 116%. While using Reading Hub, pupils were reading nearly 7 (6.7) books a month.
85% of parents said they would prefer to continue using Reading Hub instead of traditional methods.
Parental engagement increased by almost 90% (88.8%).

Whole School

These results demonstrate the impact across the schools focusing on the whole school. They include improvements in book accessibility, parental involvement in their child’s reading, and impact on reading ages across all intervention groups (with access to Reading Hub).

Reading age increased by 29%.
Average time spent reading increased by 40%. Pupils were reading for pleasure for 107 minutes per week with Reading Hub.
The average number of books read per pupil per month increased by 121.5%. While using Reading Hub, pupils were reading 6 books a month.
91.6% of parents said they would prefer to continue using Reading Hub instead of traditional methods.
Parental engagement increased by 85%.

Comments from Parents

Parent of Key Stage 1 child: “Reading Hub has made finding books for my son so much easier.”
Parent of Key Stage 2 child: “Reading Hub has made it easy for me to support and encourage my daughter’s reading from home.”
“Reading Hub has changed the way we approach reading at home for the better. It’s something we can all look forward to now.”
“We used to struggle with keeping track of what and how much she was reading before. But now Reading Hub helps us to find and enjoy so many books!”

Conclusion

It’s clear from the data collected from the 16 Primary Schools that took part in the study that Reading Hub had a net positive impact on reading ages, access to books, and parental involvement. Comments left by some teachers included: “My pupils are more excited to read and as their teacher, I feel like I can fully support their needs with the engagement dashboard” and “The kids are more engaged and eager to read. It’s been especially helpful in catering to different reading levels and interests within the same class.” It’s particularly interesting to see that the whole school case studies saw the greatest increase in reading age. When speaking to the teachers within these particular case studies about what they felt this could be attributed to, they said: “It felt like the whole school was excited about reading and were able to share it as a whole.” From this data, we can conclude that Reading Hub is an impactful intervention for Primary Schools looking to improve reading engagement and parental input throughout the school.