Success Stories from Renessance Belvedere British School, UAE, United Arab Emirates Belvedere British School Abu Dhabi is a place that strives to maintain the motto of Ad Vitum Paramus-Preparation for Life. We incorporate this motto into our curriculum through providing global, local and community topics to broaden the thinking of our Belvedere British School students. With Renaissance Learning solutions, it is much easier to track progress. Our students enjoy using devices such as iPads, so myON has mainly engaged students who were otherwise unmotivated to read. We’ve seen a considerable increase in reading, and we’re able to establish a reading quiz tree for students to see their progress as they read more and pass more quizzes. We’re able to then reward this hard work with a prize raffle. “We’ve since recommended Accelerated Reader and Star Reading to other schools” We’ve since recommended Accelerated Reader and Star Reading to other schools. We love the Star Reading assessment as it is such a useful tool for new students particularly for sorting students into sets that allow teachers to provide work that is suited to the students current level of ability as highlighted by Star Reading assessments. Similarly, the quizzes that students can carry out within Accelerated Reader after they read a book are useful to gauge interest and understanding. The information that we’re subsequently able to run off from the various reports within Accelerated Reader which outline the students’ unique reading age and the progress they’ve made throughout the academic year allows us to hold a conversation with the students about their development. “We love the Star Reading assessment!” The support and training that we’ve received from Renaissance Learning is fabulous, and I really appreciate the quick response to questions. Particularly, as we are abroad, sometimes I just feel helpless, and the support team always get back to me and are great at answering any questions. For more information on how your school can implement the Complete Literacy Solution from Renaissance Learning, click here. Source: http://www.renlearn.co.uk/success-story/belvedere-british-school-uae/ “Reading culture in our school has changed significantly since using Star Reading” GEMS Wellington Academy, Dubai Opened in September 2013, GEMS Wellington Academy-Al Khail is an international school dedicated to fostering a passion for excellence in learning and in life. The school delivers programmes for learning that are rooted in the National Curriculum for England. Renaissance spoke with Cathair Hogan, Teacher and Data Assessment Leader from GEMS Wellington Academy – Al Khail in Dubai, about the profound effect Renaissance Accelerated Reader™, Star Reading™ and Star Maths™ have had on its students. Time for change As a school, we felt that we needed to change and update our reading system as there were a limited number of books and challenges for our children. After a few weeks of searching, we decided on Renaissance’s Star Maths, Star Reading and Accelerated Reader programs. We also needed another point for our assessment triangulation, and we believed Star Maths and Star Reading would fill that gap perfectly and ensure our judgements of progress and attainment are accurate. One of our mandatory assessments in the UAE is the GL progress tests and being able to adjust the grade boundaries in Star Reading enables our teachers and leaders to monitor and predict our children’s grades in their end of year assessments. The diagnostic reports also allow class teachers to identify gaps and initiate interventions, so children can make rapid progress in lessons. Encouraging independent reading One of the key elements in education today is for children to be able to read across the curriculum. After being given a demo of Accelerated Reader, we thought that it would be a perfect tool to promote reading and further develop our children’s knowledge, understanding and love of reading across the curriculum as well as outside of home. Children independently go to the library, choose their own book based on their ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) and complete their books before attempting their quiz. Every morning the library is a hive of activity as children from Year 2 to Year 6 change their Accelerated Reader books. Rewarding students Some years groups have set up competitions rewarding children who have passed all their quizzes in the week, those who have passed the most quizzes, and those who have read the most amount of words in one week. Because of Star Reading and Accelerated Reader, our children have much more engagement in reading, their progress and attainment levels continuously rise, and the children are much more excited by our library and books. Since we implemented Star Reading and Accelerated Reader, both progress levels and attainment levels have risen year on year. Rising attainment and progress levels For the children, we have clearly seen their attainment and progress levels have risen at a meteoric rate since the introduction of Accelerated Reader and Star Reader. We have also seen a huge rise in their enjoyment of reading, especially in children who were initially reluctant readers. I can honestly say that all children love quizzing on Accelerated Reader. The reading culture in our school has changed significantly. It is now a common sight to see children reading whilst walking through the corridors, eating at lunch time and waiting in our break-out areas at the start of the day, rather than playing on an iPad. For teachers, Star Reading adds that extra piece of crucial data which triangulates with our other assessments to give a clear and comprehensive data picture for each child. Source: http://www.renlearn.co.uk/success-story/gems-wellington/ “A year’s worth of student progress made in just a few months!” Sunmarke School, Dubai Sunmarke is a new, highly-rated educational institution in Dubai, along with affiliate school Regent International School. Both are part of Fortes Education, a leading school provider established for more than two decades. Renaissance spoke with Dolores Elliot-Wilson, Chief Librarian from Sunmarke school to discuss the impact of Accelerated Reader and Star Reading on ELL (English Language Learners), library engagement and top tips for aspiring schools. For a new school, it was important