News

November 4, 2021

Pearson’s Bug Club

You may have already heard about Bug Club, a reading programme offered by Pearson Education. However, did you know that it’s much more than just collection of finely levelled reading books?

Bug Club combines printed books with interactive eBooks and a unique learning platform. It enables teachers to allocate books to individual pupils and track their progress using the built-in assessment tool. Bug Club Phonics provides a firm foundation in phonics; it’s fast-paced so students start to read after learning just eight phonemes. Bug Club Comprehension is a structured teaching approach that helps every child master deeper comprehension reading strategies. Bug Club Grammar and Spelling offers online games and guides for getting to grips with grammar and spelling. Lastly, Bug Club Shared provides high-quality books designed to be read out loud with a partner, to encourage excitement around reading for pleasure.

We wanted to share some research with you: In the context of a UCL-IOE study, conducted at 30 schools for primary school teachers and students using Bug Club to support English (Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2), Pearson found that:

After 5.5 months, pupils using Bug Club made significantly greater progress in their reading than children in schools not using Bug Club as measured by the InCAS standardised reading assessment.
After 12 months, pupils using Bug Club continued to make highly statistically significant gains in their reading when compared to pupils not using Bug Club as measured by the InCAS standardised reading assessment.
After 18 months, pupils using Bug Club made significantly greater progress in their picture vocabulary than children in schools not using Bug Club.
After five terms, pupils in the Bug Club programme were 11 months ahead on their expected age equivalent reading score, relative to their chronological age as measured by the InCAS standardised reading assessment.
After 5.5 and 12 months, Bug Club made a statistically significant impact on the reading gains of children in receipt of pupil premium as measured by the InCAS standardised reading assessment.

If you have any questions about Bug Club, or are interested in a free two-month trial, please just send us a message. We’re always happy to help!