A nine-year-old Bury St Edmunds pupil has overcome his dyslexia and dislike of reading.

Stanton Community Primary School teacher, Kerry Harris recognised Connor as a star reader of the month.

Ms Harris, a Y4 teacher, explained his progress is down to Reading Plus, an online reading programme for KS2 children since December 2020.

She said: “I have taught Connor for three years and his dyslexia diagnosis highlighted some of his barriers to reading but it had already ‘turned him off’ reading.

"Finding age-appropriate texts that use the correct developmental level of phonetic development is a challenge, especially when you factor in that he really needs to be interested in it. But Reading Plus has these.

“The programme tailors itself to each individual child’s areas of development after assessing them which is something I have never experienced as a teacher, but such an amazing idea as the development of readers is such a personal thing.

“It is great to hear the hush descend on the [computer room] as 31 children get logged in, but most of all I love the random exclamations ‘Mrs Harris did you know that…’ as they read something that they find so amazing, they can’t help to share it.”

Connor’s mum, Lauren, said: "During lockdown 3.0 Connor used Reading Plus little and often. With his dyslexia it can be a challenge for him to read, even about things he enjoys! When Connor used the programme, I got to see first-hand his understanding of written text develop and with that his confidence in reading texts he wasn’t familiar with soared.”

Connor adds: “I like Reading Plus because it’s given me more confidence when I read my books at home. I learnt to slow down which helps me understand things more.”

Louise Walker, a reading development consultant at Reading Solutions UK said: “Connor has done amazingly well in his progress with reading and we are delighted to award him our Star of the Month.”

“To find out more about our programme, or if you are a Reading Plus user and would like to nominate a pupil for our next Star of the Month, please email info@readingsolutionsuk.com or visit readingsolutionsuk.co.uk”