Friday 29 September 2017

Reading Matters

With details of Bradford's young war poet, volunteer opportunities and more, here is the latest Reading Matters newsletter:


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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Copyright © 2017 Reading Matters, All rights reserved.
           

Our mailing address is:
Reading Matters
Western House, Western Way
Halifax Road
Bradford, West Yorkshire BD6 2SZ
United Kingdom

           





 

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


 
Reading Matters - footer
 
 
Copyright © 2017 Reading Matters, All rights reserved.
            

Our mailing address is:
Reading Matters
Western House, Western Way
Halifax Road
Bradford, West Yorkshire BD6 2SZ
United Kingdom


          




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