Nessy

As part of our English provision, we offer Nessy Reading as an effective resource to support literacy development.

Nessy was developed at the Bristol Dyslexia Centre by a team of specialists. The program has been used since 1999, with millions of children worldwide. It is designed for children 6-11 years old, although many older students find the program helpful.

However, Nessy is not just for dyslexia. All students benefit from Structured Literacy based upon the Science of Reading. The program begins with systematic synthetic phonics which has been proven to be the best way to instruct early readers. As literacy skills develop, students advance to instruction in spelling, morphology, vocabulary and comprehension. Independent research has shown the program to be effective even for those learning English as an additional language.

How does Nessy work?

Students begin by taking the Nessy Challenge to establish their baseline reading and spelling skills. The program then automatically assigns personalised reading and spelling target lessons and students work independently through a series of lessons with videos, games and worksheets. These begin with letter sounds, progress through morphology vocabulary before moving to comprehension.​​​​​​​

Children using Nessy are given regular, short opportunities to access the program throughout the week. This time is closely monitored by a member of staff who can generate reports of their progress.

Importantly, the Nessy Approach to Learning is multi-sensory and engaging. The programs are designed to help students of all abilities learn to read, write, spell and type, especially those who learn differently, including students with dyslexia.

Nessy acknowledges that if children have fun then learning becomes more memorable.