Giving pupils a joy of reading: What's it's like to volunteer for Schoolreaders
Every week volunteers give up their time to listen to children reading at primary schools, helping them to not only improve their ability and confidence but also develop a love of books.
Established in 2013, Schoolreaders matches volunteers to local primary schools - focusing on schools with the greatest need - where they give one-to-one reading sessions.
The charity was founded by Jane Whitbread, a primary school school governor, who was concerned about the number of children leaving school unable to read to the expected standard.
Since then the organisation has grown and now has 2,500 registered volunteers, including many in Wolverhampton and Shropshire, supporting 14,000 children every week.
Thanks to volunteers selflessly giving up their time, the service is free with one in seven primary schools now registered with Schoolreaders.
"Our vision is that every child should leave primary school able to read well," says Jane.
"We prioritise schools in the most deprived areas, with the most disadvantaged children who are also the children who lost out most on the education disruption during the pandemic.
"Our model is proven to improve a child’s reading ability and it allows volunteers to check a child’s comprehension, explain pronunciation and encourages discussion of a story. Additionally, children benefit enormously from Schoolreaders being positive role models in their school community."
The volunteers, who are all adults but are of a variety of ages, come from all walks of life.
"We have quite a few retired people, many ex-teaching professionals, but also students, people given time off from their work to volunteer and those keen to help directly in their local communities. We are always looking for more volunteers and, currently, have a particular need for volunteers for schools around Wolverhampton and across Shropshire – particularly around Telford."
Margaret Holding has been volunteering in a multi-cultural school in Shropshire for around seven months, mainly helping Year 6 students.
She first heard about the charity during one of her volunteer shifts at National Trust-run Attingham Park, near Shrewsbury.
"I was talking to one of the other volunteers and she told me that she listened to children reading. I thought it sounded interesting. Then an information brochure with an advert for the organisation came through the letterbox - it was fate!
"My daughter-in-law was working in a secondary school so I was aware that not all children were reading at the required standard."
Margaret, who lives in Wellington, spends one afternoon a week at the school supporting the children with their reading. They are very enthusiastic to read to her as they often don't get the opportunity at home.
"I enjoy the fact I'm doing something useful. I love talking to the kids and hearing what they've got to say, not just about what they are reading but about the world around them.
"The children like the individual attention and that they get to come out of class and spend some time with someone else so it works both ways.
"I would highly recommend volunteering - I keep raving about it to all my friends!"
Former care home worker Kuldip Bhambra, from Wolverhampton, started volunteering for Schoolreaders in January and spends three afternoons a week at her school.
She finds volunteering really rewarding, especially knowing that it will help the pupils in the future.
"I wanted to do something to give back to the community that was worthwhile and makes an impact to someone's life.
"I think children really benefit from it. It boosts their confidence and helps them with the words they are struggling with. They pick it up really quickly and that gives them more confidence.
"The children are quite funny too, they come out with funny stories. It's also given me the push to read more. Before I didn't really read books but now I'm reading a novel and enjoying it. So it has helped me too," says Kuldip.
Pamela Welsby from Wolverhampton has been volunteering in a school about 20 minutes from her house since October.
She listened to pupils in Years 1 and 2 reading out aloud and has already seen them make great progress.
"It was something I had been interested in doing for a while. It's a small way to benefit children in their education. I enjoy reading myself and I was aware that a lot of children leave primary school unable to read and that puts them at a disadvantage.
"The school is a great place to be and it's been good to see the children becoming more confident in their reading. It's very rewarding and I would recommend it to anybody with a bit of time on their hands."
Jane says reading out loud offers many benefits to children including helping them to develop their vocabulary and pronunciation.
"It enables our volunteers to correct mispronunciation or gently probe to check that a child understands what a word actually means. It opens discussion, helps to increase a child’s confidence and helps to develop a love of reading," she explains.
In order to provide consistent help to the children and school, Schoolreaders asks that volunteers are prepared to attend school at the agreed time on the same day once a week for at least one hour, and stay for at least one full academic year from when they start in school.
Many volunteers are at school for longer than one hour and some also go on multiple days. The time commitment is arranged to suit the volunteers' availability and the schools’ need. All volunteers will need to have an Enhanced DBS check carried out by the school before they start.
