A primary school in Seaton which was previously rated inadequate by Ofsted is making rapid progress in reading and phonics thanks to an intensive improvement drive.

Ofsted said Seaton Academy pupils are now confident and fluent readers keen to talk about their favourite books.

The school has boosted standards with support from the WELL project (Western Excellence in Learning and Leadership), which is helping schools to improve outcomes for pupils, especially those facing disadvantage.

The school has boosted standards with support from the WELL project (Western Excellence in Learning and Leadership) (Image: We are Intro) WELL is funded by Sellafield Ltd as part of its Social Impact Multiplied (SiX) programme, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Robert Barton, the headteacher, joined the school in September 2022 just as it was rated inadequate by Ofsted.

WELL is funded by Sellafield Ltd as part of its Social Impact Multiplied (SiX) programme, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (Image: We are Intro) The school worked closely with the WELL team to create a plan focused on reading, phonics and generating a love for books, which is helping to drive a school-wide turnaround.

When Ofsted returned in December 2023 for a monitoring visit, they were impressed with the progress, they changed the inspection to a graded one and moved Seaton Academy up a rating.

Ofsted changed the inspection to a graded one and moved Seaton Academy up a rating (Image: We are Intro) Mr Barton said: "The WELL has genuinely been a game changer for the school."

WELL funding contributed to the school making a £20,000 investment in reading and phonics, using two evidence-based programmes called Little Wandle Phonics and Accelerated Reader.

The school created a new library in what had been a storage room.

Mr Barton said: "We want to create a culture of reading across school.

When Ofsted returned in December 2023 for a monitoring visit, they were impressed with the progress (Image: We are Intro) "Our vision is that the children will learn to read so they can read to learn.

"Reading underpins all the other subjects."

Early outcomes are encouraging.

Last year, at the end of Key Stage 1, 80 per cent of the school’s pupils reached the expected standard in reading with 29 per cent exceeding expectations.

The school worked closely with the WELL team to create a plan focused on reading, phonics and generating a love for books (Image: We are Intro) This was well above the national figure of 69 per cent of pupils reaching the expected standard.

Eighty-seven point five per cent of children also passed their Year 1 Phonics screening check.

Holly McClure, literacy lead at Seaton Academy, said: “When children come to my class now, they have had a year of Little Wandle, and the results speak volumes.

“You see fluent readers, they are enjoying reading, they are reading for pleasure, and we see children reading books two years above their age.”