Celebrate World Book Day by signing up to help children with their reading!
Today is World Book Day and we can’t let it pass without giving our Right to Read programme a shout out.
Right to Read aims to raise literacy standards and encourage a love of reading. We work with schools in areas of need throughout the city, providing one-to-one reading support for students. Our volunteers attend training and then go into local school or library to read with children for one hour every week. Rachel Bruce, our volunteer trainer and a primary school teacher highlighted the importance of Right to Read, “Our reading volunteers play a really important role. Many of our children come from homes where reading is not a priority. Many parents work long hours and are busy and tired when they get home. In school, we read in groups so dip in and out of hearing individuals. In the past teaching assistants would have listened to children but their role has changed – they are less likely to work with a whole class and more likely to be assigned to work with a child on a 1:1 basis. This is where our reading volunteers step in. They have the time to sit with a child, hear them read and talk about the book. We are so grateful for their support. Thank you!”
Recent statistics show that at eight York primary schools less than 50% of students are achieving the expected standards in reading and writing. This highlights the relevance of our Right to Read programme and the difference our volunteers make. We ask our volunteers to commit to 10 hours, 1 hour per week for 10 weeks. Many of our volunteers find the interactions so rewarding, they decide to stay on longer. One volunteer recently shared, “I’ve established a regular 9.45am to 10.30 am slot with two Year 2 classes on a Friday morning […] and the children have started to put their hands up to ask to ‘come and read with Mrs Newmarch’, so they seem to be happy too, and I am enjoying it. It is something completely different to my office life!”
This year we have expanded our Right to Read programme trialling sessions in Acomb Explore Library. Not only are we offering children that 1:1 support to develop their reading skills but we also want to encourage a love of reading. The National Literacy Trust suggests “children who read for pleasure do better in a wide range of subjects at school and it also positively impacts children’s wellbeing.” We hope that reading in a library setting will expand children’s love of reading and create more opportunities for them to pick up a book.
Sam, a Right to Read volunteer in the library shared a lovely story highlighting the many ways Right to Read is supporting children and their families, “One student attending my Right to Read sessions was quite unsure at first but they are developing into a confident reader. Emily’s parent does not speak English as a first language and said [they] find it difficult to read with her as they struggle to pronounce words properly to help her read. I have enjoyed helping her read as the library setting helps her to find the joy in reading and allows her parent to watch her reading and have a break at the same time.”*
Our next training session is being held on 20 March, for more details and to sign up contact Hannah via email at info@yorkcares.co.uk.
*The student’s name has been changed for anonymity
