Eden Girls' School in Coventry, is an academy-led, faith-based (Islamic) secondary school, for girls in year 7 to year 11 (KS3 - KS4). Although it is exclusively for girls and predominantly Muslim, Eden promotes fundamental British values and welcomes applications from all faiths and none. Eden is part of Star Academies, a prestigious multi-academy trust (MAT), with 22 other secondary schools around the UK (23 in total).
Star Academies provides numerous opportunities for students in all of its schools, such as extra-curricular and leadership development, and is well-equipped to support and improve schools that were struggling before they joined the academy group. Star Academies is also skilled at supporting teachers, TAs, SENDcos, and leadership teams in schools where there is a higher-than-average number of pupils with SEND and EAL needs.
Take a look at our work with Star Academies
Eden selected ReadingWise Comprehension and ReadingWise Decoding in February 2022. Both interventions are in place as of 2024, and the school expects to continue working with us to support learners into the future.
In May 2023, Eden Girls' School had its Ofsted inspection, achieving another Outstanding grade (its previous inspection in 2017 was also outstanding, following its opening in 2014).
School report Inspection of an outstanding school: Eden Girls' School
At ReadingWise, we are proud to champion the schools we work with. Here are a few of the highlights from the report:
“Pupils thrive and excel in this inclusive school. They are respectful, courteous, and friendly. Staff have high expectations of pupils, and pupils live up to these. At all times, pupils’ behaviour is impeccable. They are engaged, enthused, and willing to take part in all aspects of school life.”
“The ‘star’ values of service, teamwork, ambition, and respect underpin school life. Leaders’ ambition for what pupils can achieve goes well beyond the academic. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/disabilities (SEND), benefit from the extensive opportunities on offer. These include hosting charity events, debating club, and enterprise and business-related activities.”
What does the Ofsted report say about reading?
“Reading is at the heart of school life.”
“There are many opportunities for pupils to read widely and often, for example ‘read aloud’ during form time where the tutor reads to the pupils. Older pupils also read with their younger ‘buddies’.”
“The books are inclusive and diverse, and ensure that pupils learn about different cultures, faiths, and relationships. Pupils who struggle to read are given the help and support they need, so that they can catch up quickly. As a result, pupils develop their fluency and passion for reading”
As this shows:
- Children do better with reading when schools prioritise it, as Eden clearly does very well.
- When children haven’t been supported well at primary school (especially with SEND or EAL needs) will struggle more when reaching secondary, so it’s crucial to put interventions in-place as quickly as possible.
- Children of all ages who are struggling can catch up and reading will improve when additional support is provided, such as the ReadingWise programmes.
- As we can see at Eden, this contributes to higher reading and literacy attainment levels and confidence, and that has a positive impact on pupils' entire learning experience across the curriculum, plus a greater enjoyment of reading, and confidence.
How ReadingWise supports reading and literacy at Eden Girls' School
ReadingWise is an online, evidence-backed, intervention programme designed for every aspect of reading – decoding, comprehension, and vocabulary. This provides leaders, teachers, TAs, and SENDcos with a coherent, unified approach to improving literacy.
To support literacy and reading across the school, Eden benefits from access to the following modules:
Decoding: So much more than just another phonics programme for Years 2-11. Our decoding module, for primaries and secondaries, develops deep independence in learners, empowers them, and consistently improves reading ages by over 9 months in just 20 hours.
Decoding is a powerful literacy intervention module.
- It starts by assessing a learner’s reading age, then creating a carefully structured, personalised learning journey.
- Learners work through blends, progress through common endings, words and sentences using a variety of innovative approaches to unlock reading.
- Decoding starts with letter sound recognition and progresses through every four-syllable word in the first 3 Harry Potters.
Delivery: 20-25 minute sessions 3-5 times a week. Supervised by 1 trained TA working with 10 learners.
Comprehension: A powerful, engaging, and fun literacy intervention module to develop the quest for meaning behind a narrative for Years 5 - 9. Its content, structure, and design deliver age-appropriate sessions for primary and secondary schools.
ReadingWise Comprehension empowers learners through key strategies.
Delivery: 10 week programme, 45-minute sessions run twice a week in groups of 10, with one trained member of staff.
Vocab: A special vocabulary programme for learners aged 6 - 16 (Years 2-11), for primaries and secondaries.
Vocab aims to reinforce words that you are bringing to life in the classroom. You are providing context - we are helping embed the words in learners' long-term memories.
Delivery: 10 minute sessions 3-5 times a week - at home, at school, or a mix of both. Evidence suggests shorter, more regular sessions are better than longer, irregular sessions.
Zip : An adaptive learning programme for children aged 5 - 7 (Reception and Y1) learning to decode.
Delivery: 5-10-minute sessions a day – at school or home. Supervised by one trained member of staff.
Over 300,000 pupils in UK schools have completed a ReadingWise programme! We hope to help you and your children, too.
Training for schools and teachers
Staff at every level, including teachers, TAs, literacy leads, and SEND specialists, were trained in Zip, Vocab, Comprehension, and Decoding, the four modules deployed to raise reading levels across this outstanding secondary school.
Over 300,000 pupils in UK schools have completed a ReadingWise programme! We hope to help you and your children, too.
Find out more about our:
Boost your school's literacy results: Arrange your 20-minute demo at a time to suit you.
Find out everything you need to know about ReadingWise with our friendly, knowledgeable team.
