Supplement Your School’s Phonics Programme with ReadingWise Zip

Zip is an adaptive supplementary phonics programme for pupils that need to progress rapidly with their phonics. One part of becoming a confident reader is securing letter-sound corresponences. Zip facilitates this at the individual level, meaning pupils learn and reinforce at their own pace. The system identifies and focuses on areas of weakness.

What is ReadingWise Zip?

Zip is ideal for pupils who have not progressed as expected with their phonics. This include primary and secondary age pupils. Zip is also a useful supplementary phonics resource for EAL and SEND pupils and those new to English.

As an adaptive literacy intervention learning programme using a smart algorithm, Zip understands when a child has mastered a letter-sound correspondence. This means that Zip is personalised as a targeted literacy intervention and supplemental, allowing children to learn at their own pace and repeating areas that children aren’t as sure about. It identifies gaps and reinforces these areas.

Different phonics programmes deliver letters and blends in different orders. Zip is designed to run alongside whichever phonics scheme your school uses, and is perfectly sequenced to match and support your programme.

Introducing ReadingWise Zip Phonics

100 children completed the KS1 Zip pupils’ survey. 97% stated that ReadingWise Zip is helping with their reading.
98% said they liked doing Zip.

Using Zip is easy for schools

Every pupil in your school and classes is allocated their own login to allow Zip to understand how secure a pupil is about a letter/word-sound correspondence and to allocate new letters and sounds as appropriate. Each pupil can progress at their own pace with teacher and parent/carer support, with those needing more exposure to certain sounds receiving it while those secure can move on to the next stage.

Zip programmes are sequenced to your phonics scheme

Zip has a growing number of programmes that can be allocated on a per-learner basis. A, B, and C are based on the letters and sounds phonics phases and sets. For example, Programme A starts at Phase 2; B starts at Phase 3, and C at Phase 4. This allows a level of differentiation for primary teachers and TAs who need to support pupils with a diverse range of reading ages and abilities. 

Programme D is based on a Scottish set of common words, tailored around Active Literacy up to P3 (P3 is year 2 in England). You can read more about this programme here.

Watch the short video below for an introduction to Zip.

Teacher overview: simple to track progress

The image below shows the ReadingWise Dashboard for a pupil who has made progress through the Zip programme following the letters and sounds sequence. Those items shown in green have been mastered by the pupil. Blue items are being worked on, and the white ones have yet to be tackled.

This view is available to you for every pupil on the Zip programme.

Accessibility: always inclusive

At ReadingWise, we know that anywhere from 15% to 20% of children are either dyslexic or have visual impairments, according to the British Dyslexia Association (BDA). Dyslexia and visual impairments are usually picked up by schools, especially at primary level, and this means pupils can benefit from extra resources and support as required under SEND provisions. 

We have designed every ReadingWise module to be accessible for everyone by default, with dyslexia-friendly font and audio support that comes as standard. Both can make a massive difference for pupils who are struggling to read as early setbacks can often impact them for life unless a suitable intervention is provided.  

Dyslexia friendly font

We have integrated a font called Open Dyslexic into the ReadingWise programme. You can allocate this to pupils who may benefit from this ‘dyslexia-friendly’ font. We have received feedback suggesting this has made a real difference for some learners.

You can read more about this here on our blog.

Evidence-based Literacy Interventions: DfE study demonstrates Zip closes the gap

The Zip programme was part of a DfE-funded study into the effectiveness of the ReadingWise programmes. The study conducted an RCT into the Decoding programme; alongside this was an initial analysis of Zip and its impact on closing the gap between pupils reading ages and their chronological ages.

The two charts below show an overview of the results of the Zip study.

Localised Audio: we go the extra mile

Whether you are in England, Scotland or Australia, your pupils will have the appropriate audio support.

Click on the elephants to hear 3 different accents. Your pupils will have appropriate audio support regardless of where you are.

When to use Zip: short, regular sessions are most effective

Ideally, we recommend Zip is used for 5 to 10 minutes a day. Zip can be accessed at school and home, and is used by many schools to support their home engagement strategy. Pupils and parents can login at home and use it to further their child's reading so that teachers can see they’re doing homework that will further boost in-classroom phonics lessons. 

Find out more about ReadingWise Zip Phonics

Zip is all about combining simplicity of use for staff with powerful outcomes for children. You can get stuck in immediately through the free trial but we offer all schools a 20-minute online demonstration covering:

• A free demonstration of Zip;
• An introduction to the Dashboard and reporting;
• Details on training that will empower your staff to deliver the sessions;
• A written quote tailored to the needs of your school

“Seeing the difference ReadingWise makes from when the pupils first start out to where they are now is great. The best part is seeing their reading age improve from below their actual age up to and often exceeding their actual age.”

Amanda Scott, PSA, Alford Primary School, Aberdeenshire

See what other headteachers and literacy leads say about ReadingWise in our case studies and frequently updated testimonials. 

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.

If you have any questions please call us on 01273 843 927 anytime, or contact us