At Literacy Counts, we are delighted to shine a spotlight on Elton Primary School in Bury, Lancashire, part of The Keep Learning Trust. The school purchased Ready Steady Write in Summer 2023 and more recently invested in Ready Steady Spell in Summer 2025.

Deputy Headteacher Leah Davies and Headteacher Carolyn Ashworth spoke to us about their school’s journey. Their enthusiasm and strategic direction for literacy were clear, as was the positive impact Ready Steady Write has had on staff, pupils and outcomes. With Elton’s 1.5 entry structure, mixed-age classes are a daily reality. Their experience offers valuable insight for schools and MATs who share the same challenge. As Carolyn told us, “Our latest writing data speaks for itself with 27% of our Year 6 pupils working at Greater Depth.”

Children engaged in writing activities within a mixed-age classroom setting.

Why did you choose Ready Steady Write, particularly for a mixed-age setting?

We first came across Ready Steady Write when I attended my daughter’s parents’ evening. I was amazed to see the quality of her Reception writing and thought, “I need to know what they’re doing to get my daughter writing so well!” That moment sparked our journey.

We then visited Arden Primary School in Stockport for a Literacy Counts ‘Find Out More’ event and were blown away by what we saw, both in terms of the writing outcomes and the confidence of the leadership team who were using Ready Steady Write.

Because we are a 1.5 entry school, we needed to be sure that Ready Steady Write could work with our mixed-age classes. The sample access and mixed-age planning guidance reassured us, and we felt confident to invest.

Since then, we have created a two-year rolling programme. For some units, we move the order to suit our curriculum, but in other cases we have adjusted our curriculum to align with the high-quality Vehicle Texts within Ready Steady Write. This is particularly true in EYFS and Key Stage 1 where the progression fits beautifully with phonics teaching.

Ready Steady Write absolutely supports adaptive teaching – it is brilliant! The wealth of resources in each unit gives our teachers confidence, especially for modelled writing. The CPD portal has been invaluable, and we have repeated some of the training with new staff. Staff wellbeing has also improved because everything is provided and easy to use. Importantly, we can still make it bespoke for our children’s needs.

Elton Primary achieving success with Ready Steady Write writing scheme designed for mixed-age classes.

How are your mixed-age classes currently structured?

In Reception, we have two small classes who follow the Ready Steady Write unit order as stated due to the phonics progression. In Key Stage 1 we have a Year 1 and then two Year 1/2 classes. In Key Stage 2 we have three Year 3/4 and three Year 5/6 classes.

Ready Steady Write is perfectly adaptable to our school and pupil needs. It is lovely that as SLT we can dip into lessons across the school during learning walks and see the quality teaching of writing happening in every class thanks to Ready Steady Write.

The impact is clear in book looks. Vocabulary use has transformed since adopting the scheme. Writer’s Knowledge in particular has made expectations really clear, and we are often amazed by how confidently our children are now using ambitious vocabulary.

How does Ready Steady Write support planning, delivery and assessment across year groups?

The detail in the planning means we cannot go wrong. Everything is there, right down to what to include on the working wall. Teachers can pick up a plan and deliver successfully without needing to create their own resources.

As leaders, we can pick up a child’s book and see Sentence Accuracy and Writer’s Knowledge clearly informing improved outcomes and assessment. Staff across year groups regularly share pupils’ books, comment on progress and celebrate outcomes. It really feels like a collaborative approach.

Our favourite stage is Immerse, when all the classes come together. The engagement from children is fantastic.

One of our Year 6 teachers, after three weeks of Ready Steady Write, was amazed by the outcomes. He has since become a local authority writing moderator and now shares the benefits of Ready Steady Write with other Bury schools. It is great to have all of our staff so invested in Ready Steady Write – they love it just as much as we as SLT do.

Pupils at Elton Primary showing progress with mixed-age writing programme, Ready Steady Write.

Have you made any adaptations for mixed-age delivery?

Yes. Ready Steady Write is great as you can make those adaptations to match the needs of each child. For one of our Year 3/4 classes, there is a group of children who were not working at a Year 3/4 level. We adapted the teaching sequence so that they followed the Year 1 structure of plan–write–plan–write rather than the KS2 structure of planning all then writing but still used the same class Vehicle Text. This meant that the children could stay engaged in the lesson, but the adaptations allowed them to succeed at their level.

These clear adaptations provided by Ready Steady Write have really benefited our EAL and SEND learners in accessing the curriculum. By the end of the year, only a handful of children from that initial Year 3/4 group still needed the Year 1 structure and level of support – it was great to see this accelerated improvement.

Which features of the membership have been most helpful?

The training portal is excellent, and we use it often. It has been great to see the new additions to the portal over the years since first getting Ready Steady Write. For example, we carried out a learning walk on Sentence Accuracy and used the training portal videos as a staff meeting. Having the training available as videos rather than through an in-person INSET gave us the chance to pause, reflect and discuss how to apply Ready Steady Write in our own setting. We could pause for as long as needed, which has been invaluable.

The Ready Steady Spell videos are also very helpful. We only started using the programme in Summer 2025 but can already see our EAL learners flourishing with it. We are delighted to see the impact Ready Steady Spell will have once we have been using it for a few more months.

Case study of Ready Steady Write improving outcomes in mixed-age classrooms.

What advice would you give to another school considering Ready Steady Write for mixed-age teaching?

You need to do the groundwork to match the books to your curriculum and make sure coverage is there, but it is worth the investment of time. Our data is now the best it has ever been and above national averages.

Gone are the days of needing to create additional resources, word banks or WAGOLLs. Teachers feel confident and supported.

What do pupils think of Ready Steady Write?

Our children love it. Not everyone will say writing is their favourite subject, but they especially enjoy the role play, drama, interviews and Q&A activities in the Immerse phase. These activities are particularly beneficial for our EAL learners. Having oracy opportunities is very important to us due to our diverse group of children, and it is great that Ready Steady Write already considers this.

The published final writing outcomes from each unit are a real highlight. Our children take pride in their writing, and their most recent piece is always their favourite because they are proud of what they have achieved.

Our latest data speaks for itself:

Year 6 ARE: 76% (above national average of 72%)

Year 6 GD: 27%

We are thrilled with these results.

Thank you

We would like to thank Leah and Carolyn for generously sharing their experiences. Their determination to make mixed-age teaching a success has been inspiring, and it has been a privilege to hear about the impact Ready Steady Write is having at Elton Primary School. We are also excited to follow their journey with Ready Steady Spell and look forward to seeing the difference it will make for their children.

Find out more

Is your school or MAT exploring writing solutions for mixed-age classes? Ready Steady Write is the leading writing programme designed to support teachers in delivering high-quality writing outcomes in these settings. Paired with Ready Steady Spell, schools can ensure a complete approach to writing and spelling.

Book a free discovery call with one of our expert consultants today and see how Literacy Counts can support your school.