Are there any groups of students for whom Pickatale has been particularly helpful?

Yes. Pickatale has been great for everyone, but particularly for disadvantaged and less able readers. One of my students had always found reading challenging: she failed phonics in year one and had to retake it. After lockdown she took phonics again and passed it really well. For somebody who was not at all interested in reading before this was pretty amazing, and she owes it to the time she spent reading on the Pickatale platform.

Pickatale has been great for emerging readers because they’ve been motivated by the fact that Pickatale is on a device. They’re able to pick lower-level books without all of the class seeing what they’re reading (as they would if they were picking up a physical book). This negates any potential embarrassment around reading books for younger children and makes them more comfortable reading at a level that is appropriate for them.

Before Pickatale, we had huge numbers of children at Good Shepherd who didn’t even qualify to take comprehension tests because they simply couldn’t read the questions. Unlike with other subjects such as maths, we are not allowed to read the questions to them as that is part of the test. The majority of our students are now able to sit the comprehension tests with no trouble.

We just want children to keep reading, and to do it because they enjoy it! So the more they use Pickatale, the better. Even though we have ‘traditional’ books in the school, it’s more likely that when you ask a child if they have been reading, they’ll reply with “Yes, I was on Pickatale yesterday!” It’s great. It’s just what we want.

What’s been the biggest benefit of Pickatale to your school?

It’s impossible to name just one thing! Some of the best things have been:

• Students are now more motivated to read - the children particularly love the quizzes because they can compete with other students in the class; it becomes a bit of a game!
• Parents are more engaged with their childrens’ reading journeys. I think this is partly because the children often have to borrow their parents' phones or devices to read, and so parents are more aware that they are reading in the first place. This then prompts conversations at home about what children are reading, and encourages an awareness of the benefits of literacy in general.
• It’s easier than ever to monitor childrens’ reading. With the teacher dashboard, we can easily find out how much children are reading, as well as how quickly, and whether they are understanding what they have read.

The choice Pickatale gives children is great - there are so many books to choose from. They can browse hundreds of titles at their level! They enjoy not being told what to read but rather logging in and choosing something for themselves.

Pickatale gives students the freedom to select and read books that appeal to them. This goes back to Reading for Pleasure which is a habit we are passionate about helping our students to cultivate.