Heading back to class for the new school year with confidence? Yes, I Can! 

Yes, I Can is a shiny new idea from the brains at Scanning Pens, where we showcase the real-world impact of reading pens and how unlocking literacy can pave the way to real learning confidence. It’s all about looking at a book and saying "Yes, I Can!" to reading, learning, and achieving the grades they deserve this year. 

This month, we’re looking at how reading pens can ease that tricky transition period between the end of the long summer holidays and the start of the new school year. Because as well as an exciting time, it can be a scary one—especially if you’re headed back to the classroom knowing that your literacy skills might not be at the same level as those of your peers.  

So, without further ado… 

How can reading pens make the start of the new school year easier for students with reading needs? 

In order to properly answer this, we’re going to have to go right back to basics: 

What’s it like going back to school after summer when you’ve got dyslexia? 

You might feel less confident in your reading and comprehension skills—especially if you haven’t read much since the end of the last school year. Summer is a great time to decompress and step away from the things you find stressful, and for many students with dyslexia, reading for pleasure just isn’t enjoyable without the right support in place. That “slipping out of practice”—combined with the reading anxiety that always builds before another ten months of learning—can make September feel more than a little…  

📚 …Daunting. Especially if they’ve changed stages, the combination of a curriculum step-up, new places and new faces can make the start of the new school year feel like a lot… and that kind of logistical anxiety doesn’t really lend itself to a conducive learning experience.  

📚 …Difficult. If learners haven’t been reading over summer, they might head back to class experiencing something we call the ‘summer slide’. This is where students lose up to 20% of the previous school year’s reading and learning gains due to lack of practice over the summer holiday period, and it can make the new school year’s first work feel even harder than the natural step-up between years would dictate.  

📚 …Disengaging. Hands up who feels like it’s harder to concentrate on learning and do your best when the work you’ve been set feels like it’s leaving you behind? You’re not alone: disengagement is one of the most damaging impacts of unmet reading needs in the classroom because it impacts students’ appetite for learning… and if we don’t tackle it quickly, it becomes harder and harder for them to get back on track.  

📚 …Disheartening.  It’s just… not very motivating, when you feel like you’ve come back for the new school year and nothing is going as it should, and it can really impact a student’s self-esteem, confidence in their abilities, and appetite for education. But when they feel like they’re putting in a lot of effort for minimal reward, it’s so easy to start feeling demotivated and disheartened. The emotional impacts of reading needs are rarely talked about, but they can have a huge knock-on effect just the same as academic difficulties, and the best reading support solutions work hard to tackle both sides of the academic-emotional binary.  

So what unlocks that all-important Yes, I Can mindset as students head back to class? 

Students need solutions... fast.

Lots of things can help students with dyslexia and similar reading needs prepare for entering the new school year with a little more reading confidence: reading enough over summer so that skills don’t slide, getting to grips with set reading materials early, trialling out different ways of reading and working out what feels the most comfortable for them. But that kind of pre-prep can only go so far. One of the most important parts of hitting the new school year in comfort and with the confidence to make reading happen is knowing that from the minute they enter the classroom, they’re going to be supported— no tricky transition periods, or waiting games as funding is allocated, which leave students at risk of falling behind.  

Beating that anxiety is key when it comes to making a successful start… but unfortunately, it’s one of the hardest things for schools to do when funding doesn't line up. Neurodiversity diagnoses are on the up, and so are requests for SpLD support, which means a school's support resources and budget are having to go further than ever before.

…So how can schools make sure that each and every student feels secure and confident enough to hit the ground running for the new school year, regardless of reading needs?  

With the right tools. Let’s make it simple ⬇️ 

C-Pen Reader 3 helps your students start the new school year off with confidence! 

C-Pen Reader 3is a reading pen designed by the experts at C-Pen: creators of the OG reading pen and equipped with decades of experience creating reading support solutions that just work, it’s inspired by educators and crafted for learners. That’s what makes it ideal for making that return to the classroom feel accessible for those students who feel cut off from reading by anxiety or a step-up in complexity— especially those with needs like dyslexia.  

Reader 3 works for students because of the magic of text-to-speech. When they move the tip of the pen across the page, it relays the words back to them via lightning-fast audio, taking reading multi-modal (and we know that multi-modal reading boosts retention, comprehension, and creates stronger readers overall). 

And it’s also packed with extra tools to support kids who want to spend the whole summer reading: from translation to and from 40+ other languages, scan-and-save functionality, a voice recorder and a gamified word practice mode, it’s a suite of reading support all packed into one handy little pen. 

And there’s a dictionary lookup function too, because nothing’s worse than seeing a brand-new word and drawing a blank. 

Say Yes, I Can to…  

✅Reaching for reading independence  

Watch reading confidence soar as students independently tackle texts using Reader 3’s clear text-to-speech voice, and kickstart the new school year with reading confidence!  

✅Instant dictionary definitions  

Built-in dictionaries provide definitions of any word scanned to boost understanding and expand vocabularies— and the online definition function means that even complex scientific or medical terms can be defined, for support in STEM and beyond!  

✅Saving useful text and audio  

Students can save what they scan, and record voice notes for revision in C-Pen Reader 3’s internal memory. 

✅Practicing to perfection  

Improve confidence and gamify literacy skill growth with word exercises, spelling assistance, pronunciation practise, and more! 

✅Reading in other languages  

Scan offline for reading and pronunciation support, read in 5 embedded languages, or connect online for translation support in 40+ more! 

✅Navigating with ease  

C-Pen Reader 3’s app-based, touchscreen menu makes it as easy to navigate as a smartphone or tablet, even for young learners or those with limited English proficiency. 

✅Reading wherever, whenever! 

One charge means enough power for an uninterrupted day of scanning, and learners can benefit from Wi-Fi-free text-to-speech support wherever the need to read arises. 

Who can benefit from using C-Pen Reader 3? 

Around 10-20% of the learners in your classroom will have dyslexia or another similar reading need when they head back into the classroom for the new school year this September. Another portion will have attention differences such as those commonly experienced by students with ADHD, another portion will have come to learn in English from another language background (ELLs). But more still might simply have fallen behind in reading—it’s easy to do, especially when we consider the ongoing impact of pandemic learning loss, the shift away from reading for pleasure, a youth mental health crisis and the growing material deprivation experienced by many households in the UK as a result of the cost-of-living increase. Books, travelling to libraries and external tutoring are expensive, and that price is rising year on year.  

The point is this: not every student in your new class who needs reading support is going to have a neurodiversity diagnosis or other provision arrangement that makes it easy to identify how much support you need and where to focus your interventions. And that means developing reading support strategy on-the-go, trial and error, and generally getting caught in a cycle where you can only react, not act.  

…But things get a whole lot easier when reading support becomes a normal, accessible part of your classroom toolkit.  

Everyone can say Yes, I Can when they’ve got access to support from the outset! 

⭐Enter Scanning Pens’ Class Packs! 

A class pack ten of our award-winning reading pens, purchased as a bundle. It’s more cost-effective than buying ten single reading pens because with a Class Pack, we offer a bulk purchase discount. 

…But it’s more than that: it’s a chance for you as an educator to apply a tried-and-tested reading support strategy at a scale without breaking the bank, or putting yourself at risk of burnout as you try to support every learner using a different support system. The key lies in just how flexible C-Pen Reader 3, C-Pen Reader 2, C-Pen Lingo 3 and C-Pen Exam Reader 2 are as reading tools—rather than requiring learners adhere to a one-size-fits-all support strategy, these pens are adaptable, meaning that they can be used consistently or for acute challenges. 

When you provide reading support in the form of a class pack, having those extra pens on hand means that every student (so not just those with a diagnosis, language support plan, or IEP/505) can access help the moment they need it. For students without defined support needs, that instant access can make all the difference: they can simply pick up an unassigned reading pen, scan the text, and get straight back to learning. 

By breaking down reading challenges as soon as they appear, we prevent initial reading or comprehension issues from growing into bigger barriers. This also helps to normalise the use of assistive technology in the classroom… making it a tool that any learner can feel comfortable using, without stigma or delay.  

The result? More students engaging confidently with their learning, faster, and with the right support at their fingertips. 

Choose reading support that really makes a difference for the new school year 

To find out more about the… 

✔️ C-Pen Reader 2 Class Pack 

✔️ C-Pen Reader 3 Class Pack 

✔️ C-Pen Lingo 3 Class Pack 

✔️ C-Pen Exam Reader 2 Class Pack 

…Head on over to their homes at Scanning Pens! 

You can also find out more aboutaward-winning reading support from C-Pen, and check out what kind of reading pen best fits the needs of your setting in the Scanning Pens Pen Guide Quiz. 

So here’s to a new school year where each and every reader can say Yes, I Can, and access the work they’re tasked with, achieve the grades they’re predicted, achieve new heights of comfort and reading confidence!