Case Study: Primary SEND Reading Award 

Delamere School recently worked with the One Education Literacy Team on the Primary SEND Reading Award. As the first special school to complete the award, whilst receiving support, the school also provided feedback on the award criteria, supporting the team to ensure it was tailored to the specific needs of special schools and settings. This case study shares how the Primary SEND Reading Award has strengthened their reading provision, empowering staff and raising aspirations for all. 

Setting the Scene

Delamere School is a special school for children between 3 – 11 years old with learning difficulties and additional complex needs, such as autism, physical or sensory impairments. The school prides itself on creating a personalised curriculum and unique learning journey for every child in order to achieve its overarching vision: “Together, we make a difference.” 

Ensuring that every child has access to an engaging and effective reading curriculum can be a challenge for any school – but, for a special school catering to a diverse range of needs and abilities, it requires an even more tailored approach. With this in mind, Delamere School sought to enhance its reading offer with the One Education Reading Award, ensuring their provision could effectively meet the needs of all learners.  

The Reading Award offered a strategic and structured approach, beginning with an in-depth audit of the school’s current provision. This was particularly beneficial as a new subject lead stepped into take over the role, allowing them to confidently identify strengths and create a clear roadmap for improvement.  

Our Approach

The initial audit provided a vital starting point, revealing inconsistencies in teachers’ understanding and confidence in delivering the reading curriculum. Whilst staff were deeply committed to supporting their pupils, they needed greater clarity on what a high-quality reading offer should look like. Importantly, this process helped them to recognise their personal strengths and pinpoint areas for professional growth. 

Working towards the award challenged some long-held beliefs – amongst both staff and families – about which children should be included in the reading offer. It encouraged a shift in mindset, reinforcing the belief that every child, regardless of their needs, could engage with and benefit from a strong reading culture. This extended to the quality of texts in the school library, inspiring staff to rethink how they could foster a love of reading across the whole school. Moreover, the award helped staff to review and refine their approaches through Joint Practice Groups, using evidence-informed strategies to embed meaningful change.  

One Education’s Literacy consultants were there every step of the way – offering guidance, challenging assumptions, and tailoring support to reflect the unique demands of a special school. Support was a two-way process, with the school’s feedback being instrumental in the development and refinement of the Reading Award criteria for SEND schools. By building on existing strengths and introducing new perspectives, we helped staff develop confidence that extended beyond reading, leading to significant improvements in their phonics provision. The evidence review also empowered staff when engaging with external bodies such as Ofsted. They could discuss their reading offer with confidence, knowing it had been thoroughly audited, refined, and underpinned by best practice.  

The Results

• Empowered educators: Staff confidence has soared, with teachers now equipped with a clear understanding of what truly matters in reading provision. They feel empowered to support every child through careful assessment, precision teaching, and a commitment to delivering small, consistent learning opportunities every day without exception. 
   

• Partnerships with parents: Parents now feel more informed and engaged in their child’s reading development. They love the Essential Text Journey and appreciate that their child is being exposed to high-quality texts that are suitable to their needs throughout their time at school.  
   

• Raising aspirations: The school has successfully embedded a rich reading culture, prioritising high-quality texts, streamed groups, and carefully curated resources. They have raised aspirations for every child to enjoy reading for pleasure and the many benefits this brings to their learning, language, and wider development.   

Looking Forwards

With a strong foundation now in place, Delamere School is committed to building on its progress and ensuring continuous development in its reading provision. A key focus moving forward is reviewing the Essential Text Journey to ensure it aligns more closely with the wider curriculum whilst maintaining the diversity and quality of texts available. 

By making these connections across subjects, the school aims to deepen children’s understanding, helping them retain knowledge more effectively whilst inspiring a lifelong love of reading. This approach will also help to ease teacher workload, providing a more structured yet flexible framework for embedding reading across all areas of learning. 

Recommendation

“We had really helpful support and conversations with our consultant at all stages, helping us to see what good work we were already doing and how to extend that. It was great to work together with One Education to shape the Special School Reading Award – hopefully we passed on things that will benefit other settings to take part and improve their own offer.”  

Sally Judge, Headteacher

“The One Education specialists were available for any query and worked really hard to understand how this may look a little different in a special school. They were highly supportive and worked as a ‘critical friend’ to support some changes in our offer.”  

Amy Cullen, Assistant Headteacher