What Works for Children with Literacy Difficulties? - Digital ...

3.2 The Catch Up Project
The Catch Up Project targets struggling readers in Years 2-6. It is recognised that for these
children to meet National Curriculum requirements, an intensive yet manageable programme
is of critical importance. The Catch Up Project is a 10-minute structured teaching programme
that is carried out once a week with individual children by the class teacher or teaching
assistant.
Scheme
The Catch Up Project was initially developed in 1998 at Oxford Brookes University, in
partnership with the Caxton Trust, for struggling Y3 readers, as a result of a study undertaken
by the project consultants, Diana Bentley and Dee Reid. The research helped to identify a
systematic method for supporting struggling readers which could be readily adopted by
classroom teachers. The child must complete a comprehensive assessment procedure before
the programme begins in order to determine the correct level, as well as to provide some preintervention
data.
The 10-minute individual sessions are divided into three discrete sections. The first two
minutes are called the prepared reading approach. A book at instructional level is selected,
and the text and pictures are scanned to introduce vocabulary and familiarise the story. In the
next four minutes the child reads the story whilst the teacher records progress and identifies
points to follow up. The final four minutes are the follow-up, a linked writing or spelling
activity. This is where the teacher acts upon the information gleaned and decides which skill
should be worked on.
The aim is to enable the children to read with accuracy and understanding. The Catch Up
Project has produced various support materials, including a CD ROM, a Parents Link book,
and a videotape. By 2001-02 it was being implemented in about 3,000 schools and
supporting children in Y1-4. Most of the recorded gains were substantial. In the national
experimental study, however, they were less so – this may have been because the scheme was
(apparently) less firmly supported with these schools. From September 2002 it was extended
to support struggling readers in Y5-6 (some evaluation data already exist for those year
groups) and in 2003 is due to be extended to secondary school pupils.
Contact
Julie Lawes
Project Director
The Catch Up Project
Thetford EAZ
Baxter Healthcare
Caxton Way
Thetford
Norfolk IP24 3SE
catchup.eaz@virgin.net
www.thecatchupproject.org
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