With details of Bradford's young war poet, volunteer opportunities and more, here is the latest Reading Matters newsletter:
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Our latest Impact Report shows the vital
difference made by 1:1 reading support
As this new term begins, we are delighted to share the results of
our latest Impact Report which shows the vital difference that
tailored one to one support makes to children and young people who
struggle with reading.
One to one intervention is a great way to help children catch up
quickly. It provides an opportunity to get to know a child,
understand their particular difficulty with reading as well as what
interests and motivates them and then choose appropriate reading
resources to encourage and inspire them.
During the last academic year Reading Matters has supported
a fantastic total of 6497 children and young people in schools
and other settings with reading, communication and confidence so
that they can reach their potential and enjoy better chances in
life.
On average, after just 10 hours of support (two reading sessions
lasting 30 minutes every week for a 10 week period) the reading age
of a child helped by a Reading Matters' Reading Mentor or Reading Leader improved by 13
months, and in many cases by much more.
In addition, 98% of children who were helped by one of our
interventions demonstrated a marked improvement in reading ability
and 90% said that their confidence and self-esteem had improved.
One girl from year 7 who had previously always found reading
difficult explained how working in partnership with a Reading
Mentor really helped her: "I feel a lot more confident in
class now that I can read correctly and I enjoy reading different
sorts of books and want to read more and more!".
Our Impact report is compiled at the end of each academic year
using assessment data provided by Reading Matters’ Reading Mentors and Reading Leaders who are
specially trained to get the best out of their one to one reading
sessions with children and young people.
During 2016-17 there was a substantial increase in the number of
Reading Leaders we trained in primary schools. Reading Leaders are
older pupils who act as positive role models for younger pupils who
need extra support with literacy. The scheme is a great way of
improving confidence and self-esteem as well as reading and communication
skills. In secondary schools the scheme is accredited, enabling
those aged 14 and over to gain a level 2 accreditation in
recognition of their commitment to helping younger children.
There are still a few places available this autumn term to train Reading Leaders, Reading Mentors, Reading Teams and Reading Families. Please
contact Reading Matters on 01274
692219 or info@readingmatters.org.uk
if you would like more information about any of our programmes.
We are
working with Kirkgate Shopping to find Bradford's Young War
Poet
Rachel Kelly
of Reading Matters, Taurean Evans and Catherine Riley, Centre
Manager of Kirkgate Shopping
We are excited to be working in partnership with Kirkgate Shopping in Bradford
to help find this year's 'Young War Poet'. The poetry competition,
which encourages children to read about war history and write an
original poem on the topic of war, was launched on the 9th of
September and will be judged by well-known spoken word artist,
writer and author Anthony Anaxagorou. All
entries should be sent to press@kirkgateshopping.co.uk
before the 1st of November 2017. The three winning entrants will
perform their poem live at the shopping centre on Armistice Day,
Saturday the 11th of November, beside the Royal British Legion.
Prizes include an iPad, tickets to see War Horse at the Alhambra
Theatre and Kirkgate Shopping vouchers. Rachel Kelly, Reading
Matters' Chief Executive commented, "Last year in England over
63,000 children left primary school unable to read to the expected
level so we really appreciate Kirkgate Shopping's commitment to
this competition which recognises the importance of literacy."
Volunteers
needed in Doncaster
We need dedicated and enthusiastic adult volunteers to support
children with reading in Doncaster. Volunteers need to be available
for a couple of hours each week and be keen to share their love of
reading with young people for whom it is currently a challenge. If
you would like to find out more about becoming a Reading Mentor please contact
us on 01274 692219 or info@readingmatters.org.uk.
Happy Reading!
From the team at Reading Matters
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Reading Matters travels to The Hague to train
international Reading Leaders
We were delighted to return to The International School of The
Hague in the Netherlands recently to train a group of their sixth
form pupils to be Reading Leaders.
The pupils, all currently in year 12, who took part in the training
day spoke multiple languages. The school has students with a wide
variety of nationalities and first languages and intends to use its
newly trained Reading Leaders to support the reading development of
primary pupils who are currently less confident with English.
Reading Leaders are older
pupils trained to become reading role models for younger children
and support their reading development in regular one-to-one
sessions. The training is available in both secondary and primary
schools and young people aged 14 and over can gain a level two
accreditation in recognition of their valuable work. The programme
improves the literacy skills and confidence of children on both
sides of the partnership and encourages the older child to use
initiative, be organised and enjoy helping others. Children who
have been supported by a Reading Leader benefit from an average
improvement in reading age of 13 months and from raised self-esteem.
The feedback from the training was really positive. One student
said "Thank you for coming all this way to train us, I am
really excited now and eager to get started as a Reading Leader and
put to use everything that I have learnt today".
Contact us today to find out how you could use Reading Leaders to support
reading development in your school.
Reading
Leaders in more schools thanks to new grants
Since the start of the new academic year we have received some
fantastic support for our Reading Leaders programme from
several grant making trusts and foundations who recognise the value
of the scheme which trains older pupils to support younger ones
with reading.
The Scurrah Wainright Charity is supporting
Reading Leaders programmes in the Yorkshire area. The Prince of Wales' Charitable Foundation
is helping us to train more Reading Leaders nationwide and the
James Neil Trust is funding Reading Leaders training in a Sheffield
school.
We are extremely grateful to each of these funders for their
crucial support which enables us to improve the reading skills of
children and young people and change their lives for the
better.
Help us
to find Bradford's Young War Poet
We are excited to be working in partnership with Kirkgate Shopping in
Bradford to help find this year's 'Young War Poet'. The poetry
competition, which encourages children to read about war history
and write an original poem on the topic of war, was launched on the
9th of September and will be judged by well-known spoken word
artist, writer and author Anthony Anaxagorou.
All entries should be sent to press@kirkgateshopping.co.uk
before the 1st of November 2017. The three winning entrants will
perform their poem live at the shopping centre on Armistice Day,
Saturday the 11th of November, beside the Royal British Legion.
Prizes include an iPad, tickets to see War Horse at the Alhambra
Theatre and Kirkgate Shopping vouchers.
Rachel Kelly, Reading Matters' Chief Executive commented, "Last
year in England over 63,000 children left primary school unable to
read to the expected level so we really appreciate Kirkgate
Shopping's commitment to this competition which recognises the
importance of literacy."
Ilkley Literature Festival starts tomorrow
It's that time of year again, when the summer is over and you need
something to look forward to, so thank goodness for Ilkley
Literature Festival! The largest literature festival in the north
runs from Friday the 29th of September until Sunday the 15th of
October with a packed programme of over 250 events including Alan
Bennett, Sarah Millican, Richard Osman, Shami Chakrabarti, Judy
Murray, Richard Dawkins and many more!
The Children’s Festival is headlined by BBC Radio 1’s Greg James and Chris
Smith and includes fantastic events for anyone
ages 3-12 including Ben
Faulks, Nadia Shireen, Robin Stevens and
Festival favourites tutti
frutti. Young People have the chance to meet some
of their favourite authors including Alex Wheatle and Samantha Shannon.
Plus there are workshops and masterclasses with leading writers and
the Festival Fringe. Follow this link for full details of all the
festival's events.
Happy Reading!
From the team at Reading Matters
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