To give you an immediate and powerful starting point, iAbacus includes a purpose-built template specifically for Reading Leads in England, based directly on the DfE's Reading Framework.

A Framework for Consistent Evaluation

This template provides a clear, structured process to evaluate and strengthen your school's approach to teaching reading, ensuring it aligns with the latest DfE guidance. It provides a cohesive method for evaluating reading across all year groups or even multiple schools, helping you to visually identify strengths and weaknesses and target resources effectively.

Key Evaluation Areas

The evaluation is structured around the following key areas from the DfE Reading Framework, ensuring your self-evaluation is aligned with national expectations:

• Language comprehension

• Storytimes

• Poetry, rhymes and songs

• Teaching of phonics

• Developing fluency

• Assessment

• Support for struggling pupils

• Leadership and management

Strategic Insight for Leaders

For senior leaders, this template provides powerful strategic insight. A Headteacher can overlay the evaluations completed by different leaders to create an instant visual 'heat map' of reading strengths and weaknesses. Similarly, a trust-wide Reading Lead can stack the abacuses from each school to compare different approaches and identify which interventions are having the biggest impact across the trust.

Clear, Professional Reporting

With one click, you can export your completed evaluation into a polished, visually compelling PDF report. This is perfect for sharing an overview of reading provision with the Headteacher, SLT, governors, or inspectors, providing a clear and evidenced summary of your improvement priorities.