Reviews and success stories

Cheryl Gaughan tells us how Clicker is raising enthusiasm for writing and giving a voice to children at Talbot Specialist School.

"Although I use it a lot with children who have SEND, the good thing about Clicker is that you can use it with both children who have SEND and those who don’t. A child doesn’t have to have a disability or a need, because it’s useful and engaging for every child. I think that’s the nice thing about it, is that it’s not seen as something that only SEND children can use but all children in any setting, too."

Sheila Robertson is a Principal Teacher at Wallacestone Primary in Falkirk. She works in the management team managing their PEF funding as well as a variety of children with different educational needs.

"I can understand that for teachers who have been teaching for a number of years, the thought of using any kind of technology can be daunting, but this is something that is so user-friendly that anyone could begin using it. We have a vision across the school management that this will definitely fit into, so I would absolutely recommend Clicker to other schools."

Garnock Community Campus used some of their Pupil Equity Funding to purchase Clicker to help close the attainment gap.

"The real success of Clicker has been the way that it gives our young people who struggle to access the curriculum due to literacy challenges the confidence that they really can produce extended pieces of writing. It’s such a motivational tool, and it’s really helping pupils to reach their potential."

Recently, June Howard sent us a message to share how Clicker 7 has made a world of difference to a year 9 student she works with – not only in terms of his learning, but also his behaviour in school and at home.

“He has behaviour and learning difficulties but since using Clicker his behaviour has improved immensely and he is now above target in 8 subjects - all the teaching staff are amazed at his improvement!"

Fourfields Primary in Peterborough are using Clicker 7 across the school to support pupils with a range of learning needs – watch the video to find out how they have been getting on!

At Great Barr Primary School, pupils with cerebral palsy have been using Clicker 7 to become more independent writers.

"There’s nothing else we’ve come across that can provide the children with a mechanism to get on by themselves so well. We know that the children don’t want to be different, and Ofsted and Quality Mark both commented on the inclusivity Clicker has provided; they looked at a child with difficulties and could see her thriving, getting on with her work independently and being really proud of what she is able to produce."

Jacqui Rodger tells us how Clicker 7 is making an impact on writing ability and enthusiasm in Forehill Primary School.

"The Clicker Board tool has been particularly great. I can teach the children to plan using the mind mapping tool, then use the spell checker, before making the Clicker Board into a Word Bank for their writing; they’re supporting themselves!"

Ricardo Morais is a class teacher at Oaktree Special School. He shares with us how they have been using Clicker 7, and the difference it has made to the students' writing confidence.

"When I consider the positive impact that Clicker is having, there’s one particular student who comes to mind in my class. Tom* was a very reluctant writer when he joined our school... But with Clicker, being able to customise the program so much gave Tom the confidence to have a go at writing. It’s fantastic, Tom has gone from writing very simplistically to wanting to write lots more."

Cherry is a former Head Teacher who runs a blog for teachers and parents called 'The Newby Tribe'. Cherry recently reviewed Clicker 7:

"It has been a long time since I have found a resource which is not only as powerful as Clicker 7, but is also incredibly affordable and will be guaranteed to be used every day in the classroom."

Anne Harris shares how St Joseph's are using Clicker 7 to target dyslexia and increase writing confidence across the curriculum.

"For me, the best thing about Clicker is how it increases writing confidence. He knows that if he goes wrong or gets in a muddle with his spellings, it doesn’t matter because he can have another go and there is something there to support him and help him put it right. Not only did this improve his writing within Clicker; he has since been able to write much more with pen and paper too."

Kate McKay is using Clicker to support children of all ages at Dunnottar School, which caters for children with a range of physical and learning disabilities including cerebral palsy, Down’s Syndrome and autism.

"Within a day of their training, teachers were telling me of activities they had tried with their students and the fantastic success they were having along with the interest being shown by the students. They could see student self-esteem rising with each push of a button."

Emma Dibden has been using Clicker to increase student motivation and make writing more accessible for learners with literacy difficulties.

"From the anecdotal feedback from the children, there are several of them who were previously totally turned off by writing, but absolutely rave about it now they have Clicker! We’ve had their parents come in celebrating the amount of work they’re able to produce now, and the ideas they’re finally able to get down on paper. Clicker has really inspired and excited these children about writing, which is exactly what we had hoped for."

John's blog provides educators with practical guidance for teaching literacy and foreign languages. Here's his verdict on Clicker 7.

"Clicker 7, the latest version, is astonishing...this is the best piece of software available to EAL teachers, and also to modern languages teachers."

Lorna Bruce is an Additional Support Needs Teacher based in Glasgow. She has been using Clicker to support learning across her school; from sentence-building with the Infants, to curriculum-focused word processing with the older pupils.

"What they are able to produce with Clicker is often of a much higher level and a much more accurate reflection of their true abilities and understanding.

What's really key here is that now this intervention period has ended, we’ll be sending these children back into the classroom with a tool that can help them continue to succeed and uplevel their writing independently."

Becky has severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy. She has been using Clicker with a Tobii eye tracker since she was 7 years old!

“As Becky has grown, Clicker has grown with her. When she was younger she used it to produce many beautiful pictures. Now, it's her preferred tool for tackling curriculum writing tasks at school and at home.”

Tracey Horne reveals how Clicker 7 is transforming attitudes to writing at Manor Academy, a special school in Sale.

"The students are very proud of what they are able to accomplish with Clicker 7. Many actively disliked English before, because of the reading and writing aspect of the lessons and their inevitable struggle with it. However, they are now able to achieve something independently. Every student can now participate, even those with the biggest learning challenges..."

Ellen Smith tells us how Clicker 7 is being used to support 'Big Write' sessions and topic assessments at her school.

"The children use Clicker in English and Foundation subjects - the teachers are able to create differentiated learning resources for them based on their lesson content, which enable those pupils to access the curriculum and participate in the same way as their peers."

Suzanne Lazarus shares how Colindale are using Clicker 7 to develop literacy skills across the school.

"I think if I was to sum up the impact Clicker 7 has on learning in our school, I’d say that Clicker makes writing a fun, exciting and accessible experience for everyone, including reluctant and struggling writers. I would really urge other schools to consider using Clicker as their word processor of choice – it’s designed for children after all!"

This video was recorded at Willow Dene School, where they are using Clicker extensively to help pupils access the curriculum and find their voice.

Sally Bouwman tells us why she actively promotes the use of Clicker in all 19 Ark primary schools:

"We have found Clicker to be one of the most powerful assistive technology tools to implement in the primary setting with children experiencing reading and writing difficulties. The program addresses a lot of key areas and is particularly effective when used to support reluctant writers and children with weak writing stamina."

Using Clicker to motivate reluctant writers and help pupils with dyslexia overcome spelling difficulties.

“The key outcomes I have witnessed since the pupils have been using Clicker are that they seem to be much more engaged, focussed and willing to persevere even if they find the task difficult. They incorporate more relevant and interesting vocabulary in their written work, and use punctuation much more consistently than when using a pencil and paper.”

Highfield School is a Foundation Special School designated for learners in the 11-19 year old age group. Elaine Blake tells us about the Clicker Expert Trainers Group her students have set up.

"The students have gained an enormous amount from this project. Not only has it helped them to develop various functional skills themselves, but it’s been really motivating for them to teach their teachers something! Their confidence has really increased too..."

Rob Smith talks about how Silverdale are using Clicker to support pupils with special educational needs.

“What I really like about Clicker is that whatever a child’s ability, features like the speech feedback, the predictor and the word banks enable them to get their ideas down on the page, and actively encourage them to proof their own work…Every child I have used Clicker with produces work of greater quantity and a higher quality now that this support is in place.”

Denise O’Connor tells us how she is using Clicker to support the Hickey teaching method, a multi-sensory phonic approach used to help children build their reading and writing skills.

“When using assistive technology in class, flexibility is key. You can add any content into Clicker, so I am able to really easily create activities focussed purely on the key sounds or letter patterns we have been working on.”

Laura Walker’s school used some of their Pupil Premium funding to invest in Clicker. They are using it across the school and across the curriculum to support writing.

“Whether you have a pupil really struggling at the sentence level or a high achiever you want to push, Clicker can be tailored to provide them with the particular support they need, not only in literacy but across the curriculum, which makes it excellent value for money. Our pupils have not only become better writers, but more engaged and confident ones.”

Becky Bisseker has primarily been using Clicker to develop the literacy skills and confidence of a group of reluctant / struggling writers in Year 4.

“The way in which Clicker engages these pupils is vital. Those that had been finding writing difficult had started to actively dislike writing, which was having a knock-on effect on their behaviour in class. With Clicker they are genuinely happy and excited to write, and as a result are both working and behaving better.”

Lucy McGee shares her experiences of using Clicker to help struggling writers produce work more independently.

“Clicker has transformed my life as an SEN Teacher. I have been using Clicker since last September and I have found it to be amazing both for producing resources and as a learning tool for my pupils!”

Jon Hickman tells us how he has been using Clicker and the Clicker Apps to help EAL students and learners with special needs access the science curriculum.

"The outcomes have been very positive – all of the children have demonstrated significantly improved literacy skills, and overall attainment has improved by a least a couple of sub-levels per child. Their work is much easier to read and they are able to get their ideas down much more quickly, and achieve a lot more within the time frame of a lesson. What’s really important is that with the help of Clicker, they are encouraged to use that key subject-specific vocabulary in context and produced more detailed explanations."

The school’s Sixth Form Enterprise Group have used Clicker to create an interactive storybook of ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

The money raised from sales of the printed version of the book will go to Bobath Wales, a Cerebral Palsy support charity. Clicker users can download a free copy of the talking book…

Katherine Field shares how the school's LSAs have been using Clicker in their 1:1 literacy intervention sessions.

"The children really look forward to creating books about their own ideas, which I then print off and laminate for them to take home. One of the features that I really applaud is the ability for children to take photos via their webcams and actually feature in their own stories, using their own words. They get genuinely excited by this."