Inspirational Achievements

Prep School

Literacy Success:

Adam joined Shapwick Prep aged 8 years and 9 months. Although a bright boy, his reading accuracy age (NARA) was over 3 years delayed at 6 years and 4 months, his comprehension age was 7 years and 4 months and his spelling scored at 6 years and 8 months.

As with most dyslexics, Adam had other overlapping conditions, which compounded his learning difficulty such as dyspraxia, visual perception difficulties, pragmatic language difficulties, attention difficulties and, not surprisingly, low self esteem. Due to the individually tailored learning programmes put in place and support from the Therapy team Adam soon began to thrive.

After two years his reading and spelling scores were age appropriate or above and at the end of his third year, aged 11 years and 4 months, his reading ability is now over 18 months above his chronological age. Adam is now more than able to access all materials across the curriculum as he enters Key Stage 3 and more importantly is a happy and integrated member of Shapwick Prep.

Jenny Celebrates Maths Gain:

Jenny joined Shapwick Prep aged 8 years, 8 months (Year 4) with a Maths age of 6 years, 2 months. Following Shapwick's specialised programme of study she had made a 24 month improvement by June 2007. This level of progress was maintained so by the end of Year 6 Jenny has a maths age of 11 years, 6 months - equivalent to her chronological age.

Bobby Prepares For Shapwick Senior:

Bobby joined Shapwick Prep at the age of 9 years and 3 months. He presented with a typical dyslexic profile with very poor phonology, weak visual and auditory memory slow processing, poor concentration and some motor coordination difficulties but above average ability. Bobby had a reading age (NARA) of 7 years and 9 months. By the end of his first year with a multi-sensory, structured phonic programme in place with plenty of opportunities for overlearning and rehearsal built in his reading had risen by 18 months. Bobby continued from strength to strength, supported by appropriate therapy, so that by the end of Year 7 his reading ability and comprehension was age appropriate and on leaving Year 8 at age 13 his reading score (WRAT) is now 15 years and 11 months. Bobby is now well equipped to deal with the rigours of senior school and GCSEs with Shapwick's continued specialist support.

Charlie Makes A 95 Month Improvement:

Charlie started at the school aged 11 years, 5 months but with a maths age of 7 years, 6 months. Over the next 2 ½ years, following Shapwick's specialised curriculum, he made a 95 month improvement (a gain of nearly 8 years). This gave Charlie a maths age of 15 years, 5 months by the end of Year 8.

Multisensory Success:

Liam started at Shapwick Prep in Year 7 with a maths age of 9 years, 4 months. He lacked confidence despite showing innate mathematical ability. Nine months later he had made an improvement of 57 months giving him a new maths age of 14 years, 1 month. This result reflects the effectiveness of Shapwick's multisensory programme of study.

Senior School

Alison Celebrates Impressive Results:

Alison Bennett from East Huntspill joined Shapwick two years ago from a local comprehensive school which didn't understand her needs and left her feeling totally humiliated and withdrawn. The 17 year old former Deputy Head Pupil flourished academically and personally and is now the 'life and soul of any party', which is a far cry from the quiet and submissive girl less than two years ago.

Alison achieved impressive results including an A* for Fine Art, As for Photography and Geography, Bs for Religious Studies and Science and a C for Maths. Alison is now continuing her education at Bridgwater College via Shapwick Sixth Form.

Oliver Overcomes Challenges With Help Of Therapists:

Former Prep School Head Pupil, Oliver Boothby aged 16 from Othery gained nine GCSE passes including four As, two Bs and three Cs. Oliver joined during Year 6 of Shapwick Prep and is severely dyslexic and dyspraxic with deep routed language and coordination problems, which Shapwick has supported via its dedicated on-site Speech & Language and Occupational Therapy team. Oliver is currently continuing in Shapwick Sixth Form studying computer hardware design at SCAT.

Mrs Boothby said "Before joining Shapwick there is no way that I could have dreamt Oliver would enjoy such success at GCSE. His accomplishment has been made possible due to the support, friendliness and dedication of Shapwick's staff".

George Defies Predictions:

16 year old George joined Shapwick Prep six years ago after enduring poor experiences. George arrived with extreme difficulties with language processing, literacy and working memory which prevented him from learning formally, although he was obviously a very intelligent boy. Eventually his needs were recognised and he was placed at Shapwick by Somerset LEA.

Before he joined his chances of taking the formal GCSE route had been written off, which makes his grade B and four Cs all the more superb. George grew personally during his time at Shapwick and was a member of the 2009 Ten Tors Team.

Pupils Defy Time:

Pupils at Shapwick School have defied time by making amazing progress with spelling, reading and comprehension over the past year.

In a 12 month period Lewis from Year 10 gained an impressive 24 months in his spelling age, 26 months in his reading age and 34 months in his reading comprehension.

Callum Morgan also defied time by gaining 21 months for spelling, 32 months for reading and a staggering 50 months for reading comprehension over 12 calendar months.

Year 11 pupils at the school have also made amazing progress since joining the specialist school during the 2006-07 academic year. Alex Douglas gained 49 months for spelling, 55 months for reading and 31 months for reading comprehension. Benji Jones also gained 36 months for spelling, 37 months for reading and 54 months for reading comprehension.