*Name changed for privacy
The beginning of a transformation
Following the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Morningside Primary School, North Lanarkshire, sought new methods to support pupils with literacy difficulties. Mr Strathis, the Principal Teacher, recognised the need for an effective in-class solution due to their reduced funding for additional staff. The school had previously used an older version of Clicker and based on recommendations from the North Lanarkshire support team, decided to implement the latest version to assist pupils struggling with literacy.
We caught up with them to see how they were getting on with Clicker after their first few months of using the software, and the results were incredible!
Chloe’s story
One of the pupils who has benefited greatly from the school’s reintroduction of Clicker is Chloe*, a P6/7 pupil (age 10) with autism and a recent diagnosis of dyslexia. Chloe had significant difficulties with reading and writing, often feeling frustrated and unable to complete her tasks. Her teacher, Mrs Emmerson, explained that Chloe's writing at the beginning of the year was minimal and required substantial support.
- Implementing Clicker
Clicker was introduced to support Chloe in achieving her literacy goals. Clicker’s features, such as the read-aloud function and speech-supported Word Banks, provided Chloe with the necessary support to independently write sentences and improve her spelling. Regular monitoring and assessments showed that Clicker was making a huge impact on Chloe’s progress.
“I wish I had of known at my previous school what Clicker could do because it would have been so helpful to individuals that I have had in the past. Now I’m using Clicker it’s making a huge difference for lots of my pupils, and for Chloe in particular.”
– Mrs Emmerson
- Remarkable progress with Clicker
The results of using Clicker were quickly evident. After only two months, Chloe, who previously avoided writing tasks, began to engage enthusiastically with her work. She frequently asked to complete tasks using Clicker and became significantly more independent in her learning. Mrs Emmerson shared several examples of Chloe’s work before and after the introduction of Clicker. The transformation is striking: Chloe went from producing minimal written content with substantial support to creating comprehensive, extended pieces independently, in a matter of weeks.
“Chloe completed this writing independently and confidently – it is just phenomenal that she’s been enabled to do that. There were so many barriers for her before which piled on top of each other. We had to strip it all back for her – which we managed with Clicker. Having the precise support she needs in one place is huge for her.”
– Mrs Emmerson
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Building confidence and independence in writing and reading
Clicker not only improved Chloe’s literacy skills but also boosted her overall confidence.
“Now this is phenomenal – the class were doing their personal projects and Chloe asked me for a piece of paper. She was watching a video with subtitles on and was writing pieces of information down by herself – with no help from me. Since using Clicker, Chloe is transferring the skills it has helped her develop to other tasks, which is an amazing development for her.”
Previously, reading was a daunting task for Chloe, but with Clicker’s supportive tools, she approaches reading with enthusiasm. Her mum has shared that Chloe now asks for books at home, a clear sign of her growing confidence and interest in reading which previously wasn’t there.
“There is nothing worse than having a pupil in your class where you can see barriers and you are racking your brain thinking about how you can take those barriers away.
Clicker has had a positive impact on Chloe’s overall self-confidence, not just in literacy. Because Clicker has taken all the additional barriers away, her confidence in general has increased. I am not the only person who has noticed it, there are lots of people across the school who have commented that Chloe’s a much more confident person.”
– Mrs Emmerson
Chloe has come a long way in a very short space of time – everyone is incredibly proud of her…
“Every time I bring my work home, mum and dad stick it on the fridge!”
– Chloe
Teaching benefits using Clicker’s learning resources
The success of Clicker at Morningside Primary School was also due to the curriculum resources available. LearningGrids resources are ready-made with built-in literacy support - they save teachers like Mrs Emmerson time when preparing resources whilst still meeting the specific needs of their pupils.
“I will be honest, I think I am able to use Clicker so much because of the LearningGrids resources available – and that all the resources are editable. I even use it for maths! We were learning about shape, and I was able to find a resource, easily add to it and tweak some bits to make it just right for the lesson that we were doing. I didn’t have to make it from scratch! The fact LearningGrids resources are accessible and editable is absolutely brilliant!”
– Mrs Emmerson
Looking ahead
Chloe’s journey with Clicker is just the beginning. Morningside Primary School plans to expand the use of Clicker - integrating it into their whole school improvement plan with a particular focus on writing. Their goal is to provide every pupil with the tools they need to succeed, building on the incredible progress seen in pupils like Chloe.