How literacy adventures transformed our school

Giglets Education supports pupils in developing a love of reading. Giglets is, at its heart, a growing online library designed to encourage independence and improve pupils’ motivation to read. The Giglets resource contains hundreds of books in over 20 languages, supported by audio storytelling, illustrations, animations and theme music. Interactive question sets help pupils demonstrate reading comprehension and tackle higher order thinking. Professional development materials also support teachers in achieving best practice in reading.

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This is a continuation of our case study from St Philip Evans R.C. Primary School in South Wales - read part one here. The Giglets literacy resource enables schools to dramatically increase the number of texts available for classroom and home access - all within a simple and cost-effective budget that is agreed in advance. Providing a growing library of hundreds of texts in English and in about 30 other languages means that the school's library is always kept fresh.

Using Giglets in the 2016/2017 school year, staff at St Philip Evans R.C. Primary School in South Wales were able to:

Challenge MAT pupils and improve their attainment in reading;
Decrease the gender gap in boys’ and girls’ attainment by 17.5% since 2016; and
Decrease the number of children reading below their chronological age (in KS2 Reading Tests), from 14% (September 2016) to 6% (July 2017).

Developing independence and a love of reading

What the pupils say:

“I love Giglets because it helps me read at home and it makes me want to read more books. It helps everyone and it inspires more pupils in school to read. It is good for schools because the teachers want more children to be interested in reading different types of genres for example, mystery, fantasy, fiction, nonfiction, historical fiction, realistic fiction. It is good to read!” Danella, favourite book: Trees (an illustrated poem)

“I love Giglets because it is so fun and addictive. I’ve always loved reading, but I love it even more since we started using Giglets. It makes it really fun since you can use all sorts of tools. My personal favourite is the highlighter tool, because you can use it to mark interesting vocabulary.” Carmelo, favourite book: The Flight of Icarus (an animated adapted classic story)

“The reason I love having Giglets as a platform for reading is because for me, it makes reading much easier. In Giglets, you can customise what you’re reading to have vibrant colours, which sustains my attention throughout the book. In addition, it is a platform that is easily accessible to most children nowadays. I believe Giglets is the best platform to use if you want to read!” Leigha, favourite book: Alice in Wonderland (original classic story)

Catherine Power, headteacher at St Philip Evans R.C. Primary School (and 2013 Headteacher of the Year in Wales) said:

“Giglets has engaged all pupils as the texts are stimulating, age-appropriate and interactive. It has improved standards in reading, as the pupils are able to engage with a wide range of texts, and are challenged through a range of higher-order thinking skills questions and literacy-rich tasks. We have used Giglets from Nursery to Year 6, and it has had a positive impact on pupil engagement in all year groups.”

Within the Giglets online book library, schools have access to an unlimited number of copies of each text. Since Giglets does not charge on a per-head or per-book basis, schools can budget for and feel confident that the service will deliver all that they need within a straightforward annual or multi-year budget. By purchasing Giglets for three years, it means that schools can plan ahead and truly invest in the future of their school library and literacy development.

Visit www.giglets.com for more information.

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