Bohunt Education Trust
About
Bohunt Education Trust (BET) is a Multi-Academy Trust made up of eight secondary schools, with just under 11,000 students.
The Trust’s mission is simple: enjoy, respect, achieve. Making sure that they have a curriculum that is ambitious and creates the “next generation of game-changers”.
To achieve this mission, the Trust has rolled out a one-to-one device programme.
Summary
- BET integrates iPads as part of teaching and learning across the Trust.
- Since 2014 they have used Read&Write literacy software to support students with access arrangements.
- The Trust makes sure that tools like Read&Write are part of a student’s normal way of working.
Normal way of working
BET works to make sure that all their students have the support they need to reach their full potential. This involved a search for a tool that could support students with access arrangements throughout their time at school. This would mean they have consistent support to produce their best work in class and during exams. In 2014, this led to Read&Write becoming part of a student’s normal way of working at BET.
In terms of impact, it has given students independence. They can have a piece of text read aloud. They can then write an answer, or dictate an answer and listen to it back. There's so much that they can now do themselves, which is ultimately what we're trying to do as SEND practitioners. We want to create and model independence.
Beyond exams
The Trust are developing one of their schools into an all-through school, from nursery to age 16. They plan to expand their use of Read&Write to support this and help students of all ages and abilities. As Simon explains:
“We're quite excited by that because we haven't got experience of the impact that Read&Write can have for younger pupils. I think there's various features on the Read&Write toolbar that will be helpful in terms of keyword lists, vocabulary and highlighters.”
To continue to drive usage of Read&Write across the Trust, the team also has plans for more teacher training on how the tools can be tied to the curriculum.
Student spotlight
A student at the Trust was not using their human reader during exams, they weren’t asking them to read for them.
They were then given Read&Write to use as a computer reader instead which gave her the confidence needed to reach her full potential.
A level playing field
“The student would have been in Year 8 at the time and she became someone who used Read&Write consistently throughout her time at school. We saw real benefits for her.”