In Senior Infants and 1st Class, we use the Reading Recovery Programme to support children to improve their skills in reading and writing. Reading Recovery is an early intervention for children who, for various reasons, need more support in reading and writing during their first years at school. It involves a daily one-to-one lesson with a highly trained teacher for a period of between twelve and twenty weeks. At the end of this time, these children have caught up with their classmates and can read and write at a level within the average band for their age.

At St. Mary’s, we also use a modified version of the Reading Recovery Programme to make it more appropriate for use in the classroom with small groups of 4 or 5 children. This approach is called “Power Hour” and is used up to 2nd Class.