‘The most effective intervention’
What happens when students fall behind with their literacy? As all teachers know, not every child will always be where they should be with their reading. This can be for many reasons, from dyslexia to individual circumstances beyond a school’s control.
Sadly, many never catch up – and the impact can be devastating. It can affect self-esteem, success in other subjects, classroom behaviour and basic life chances.
That is where Everyone Can Read comes in. This enormously successful evidence-based intervention program has been used to lift children struggling with their reading across more than 150 schools in the UK and Australia. Students love it, and many teachers view it as the most effective intervention program available.
You can read testimonials here and find out more about how the program works and its impact below.
‘Nothing else has had as much impact’: A Sydney case study
In 2024, Russell Lea Public School in Sydney’s inner-west began using the Everyone Can Read program, and took part in a trial measuring impact on students in the first term of 2024.
Attending four lessons a week for two months, they made excellent gains in reading, spelling – and confidence. The average reading improvement was eight months, while spelling ages improved by six months on average. One child improved their reading age by 18 months.
Everyone Can Read can have an even more dramatic effect (see ‘Remarkable Results’ below).
Watch Russell Lea deputy principal Natalie Rotar talk about how it fits into the school and its transformative impact on the children involved.
How it works
First, schools identify students who would benefit from a reading intervention program. This is usually children whose reading age is assessed as at least a year behind their actual age.
Then, working in small groups over one to four terms, the children take part in the Everyone Can Read program. Using explicit instruction, Everyone Can Read teaches reading through logically sequenced lessons and a multi-sensory approach.
Everyone Can Read’s sequential phonics program starts with phonics, taught in three stages:
- Phonics Phase 1 introduces short vowel sounds, single consonants, initial and final consonant blends and simple prefixes and suffixes. All consonant combinations are taught thoroughly before embarking on Phonics Phase 2.
- Phonics Phase 2 covers long vowel sounds – as well further work on prefixes and suffixes. It also covers additional syllable and vocabulary work using Syllable Success activities.
- Phonics Phase 3 covers more difficult long vowel sounds and further syllable and vocabulary work.
A sight vocabulary program runs concurrently in the first 15 lessons. This teaches students to recognise and spell the 150 most common irregular words found in children’s literature.
Everyone Can Read is easy for teachers and teaching assistants to master and is refreshingly jargon-free.
Importantly, students love it. Underpinned by cognitive load theory, this varied program is fast-paced, fun, appropriate for all age groups, and rapidly builds knowledge and confidence.
Remarkable results
The program has a long track-record helping students make impressive literacy gains. One ten-week intervention increased the reading ages of seven secondary children by almost three years on average.
Another secondary school offered a breakfast club with 30-minute lessons four days a week that led to an average reading age improvement of two years and four months, with four participants leaping by at least three years and another by an astonishing four years and five months.
In short, the progress can be truly remarkable. And that is not just us saying so – that is according to an independent assessment carried out by British literacy expert Professor Greg Brooks, which you can read here.
That boost in reading performance goes so much further than literacy alone. The program has the power to turn reluctant learners into students who are at ease in the classroom, and much more confident in their ability to cope with the demands of learning.
Using Everyone Can Read
The program’s creator, Suzanne Attwooll, wants Everyone Can Read to reach as many children who would benefit as possible and has made the scheme both cost-effective and designed to fit into a school’s timetable. With its clear instructions for teachers, Everyone Can Read has helped thousands of children get back on track with their learning.