We’ve teamed up with Schoolreaders, a charity dedicated to improving children's literacy by recruiting volunteers to go into local primary schools to listen to children read. Owners living at Audley villages make perfect volunteers. Being retired, our owners have time on their hands and many already love to immerse themselves in charitable efforts. Schoolreaders have shared with us a little more about who they are and how volunteering works.
One in four children are currently leaving primary school unable to read to the expected standard. These children cannot fully access their secondary education, which will have a lifelong negative impact on their future opportunities. One of the key reasons that children are not learning to read is that they are getting insufficient one-to-one reading time with an adult.
Schoolreaders is a charity dedicated to improving children's literacy by recruiting volunteers to go into local primary schools to listen to children read. Schoolreaders volunteers not only help to improve children's literacy, but also help them to find the joy in reading, which will set them up for a lifetime of learning to come.
For retirees seeking a purposeful and rewarding way to give back to their communities, volunteering with Schoolreaders offers a fulfilling opportunity to make an impact. With time to give back, retirees are a perfect fit for Schoolreaders, and nearly 50% of Schoolreaders volunteers are retired or semi-retired. Children and schools benefit from the extra reading support and our volunteers find the experience hugely rewarding too; knowing that they have done their bit to support the younger generation.
Here are some thoughts from an existing Schoolreaders volunteer based in Leicestershire;
“I was looking forward to helping children learn to read but I wasn't prepared for how much I do enjoy this. I go each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon to help listen to Year 4 children read and the school have organised things for me very well. The afternoons go by so quickly and the children are really delightful - they read at all abilities and some of them have said that they like reading to me specifically which makes me really happy. The children are all different characters and they do make me laugh at times!
Having been part of Schoolreaders for only a few terms, this is a wonderful organisation and I can see the improvement in the children’s' reading already - so I think this is a valuable thing especially following the Covid lockdown. Listening to the children read has also given me a really enjoyable interest during my retirement.”
We’ll be encouraging our owners to sign up, and hope to spread the word about the wonderful work Schoolreaders is doing to support the next generation.
If you can spare an hour a week to listen to children read, please do get in touch. You can find out more by emailing info@schoolreaders.org, calling 01234 924111 or visiting our website www.schoolreaders.org
