Suffolk volunteers needed for Schoolreaders including in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Newmarket, Stowmarket, Sudbury and Ipswich
Leaving primary school unable to read well can impact your whole life. But even before the pandemic that was the case for one in four children.
Reading comes so naturally to most of us we take it for granted. And yet around seven million people in the UK struggle with this most vital of skills.
It cuts them off not only from enjoying a book but also from understanding written instructions, looking up information, reading labels on medicines and food, and filling in forms.
The shocking statistics led to the founding of a charity that is now making an urgent call for volunteers in Suffolk.
Schoolreaders was set up by Jane Whitbread - at the time a governor and reading volunteer at her local primary school.
The idea is simple. It finds people willing to help children improve their reading by spending an hour or so a week listening to them read.
Recruits are matched with schools in their area. And those who have already signed up in Suffolk are keen to encourage others to join them.
The need for volunteers is greatest in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Newmarket, Stowmarket, Sudbury, Bungay, Halesworth, Ipswich and Lowestoft.
“If a child leaves primary school unable to read well, this is likely to have life-long consequences,” said Jane. “They cannot access their secondary education fully and their job and life opportunities are likely to be diminished.”
But 95 percent of those supported by one of Schoolreaders’ 2,500-plus volunteers saw an improvement in their reading ability.
Jane was a governor and reading volunteer at her local village primary school when she realised there was a shortage of people to listen to the children reading.
She looked into illiteracy among children and adults and what she found galvanised her into action. Ten years ago she founded Schoolreaders.
“It inspired me to do something about it and target primary school children who will be the adults of tomorrow,” she said.
“In ten years we have grown enormously due to the vast need for our reading volunteers and we are delighted to be able to support so many children, but today we are needed more than ever.
“Our vision is that every child should leave primary school able to read well.”
Jonathan Gorman, from Bury, has been a Schoolreaders volunteer since last September.
“It’s something I have wanted to do for a while, but I was struggling to get time.
“Then my boss introduced a policy where we can have an hour off a week to do volunteering,” said Jonathan, who is a technical director for food sustainability consultancy Efeca.
He grew up in Bury and returned to the town five years ago. Now he volunteers at the town’s Howard Community Academy working with around seven 10 and 11 year-olds at each session.
“It’s a pretty critical year if you are not reading well before you get to upper school - it’s tough. There is a real need for support,” he said.
“I remember being read to by my mum a lot, and loving books - and reading to my daughter, and her loving books, and she still does. And you want all children to feel that passion about books and reading.
“It’s not just because it’s a life skill, but it unlocks the world outside your own school and life. It’s lovely seeing that ignite in children.
“You get to know the children and find out what they are interested in. It’s a lovely thing to do and I really look forward to it.
“I can see an improvement in all of them in the six months I’ve been doing it. Their confidence is increasing and want to encourage other people to volunteer.”
Annie Phillips, from Boxford, has volunteered for Schoolreaders for about six years at Beaumont Community Primary School in Hadleigh, where she is now also a governor.
“I found out about the charity at a WI conference where they had a stall,” she said. “When you fill in your form you say how many hours you want to work and how far you want to travel.
“It’s lovely to be connected with one school and get to know the children.”
Annie was a deputy headteacher in Sussex before she retired and moved to Suffolk with her husband Hugh.
“When you come in as a schoolreader you’re not coming in to teach. You can be a little more relaxed, sit and chat and make them comfortable.
“At first I was doing it with the older children. What you do is very much guided by what the teachers want. You’re usually given a list of children - maybe ones who need a little bit of extra help.
“With the little ones it’s basically helping them with phonics and enjoying books. The older ones in Year 2 are reading books maybe from home. We sit in a quiet space just outside the classroom.
“I do two sessions a week, and spend five or 10 minutes with each child. We also talk about what they are reading and it helps their understanding.
“It’s very satisfying. It was interesting when I was doing Year 5 last year and all the Year 6s rushed up to see me. They wanted to tell me how they were doing.”
Annie said the teaching of reading changed a lot during her 40- year career. “Phonics is very much the emphasis these days.
“If you can’t read you can’t access almost everything ... it’s a basic life skill - I would say the most important life skill - and that’s where Schoolreaders help, especially in areas where children may not have the advantages of some children.
“I do think it’s an amazing charity, such a good way of getting people into schools,” she said.
Pinpointing why her youngest daughter was reluctant to learn to read was one of the reasons that, 30 years later, Pat McMahon joined Schoolreaders.
“I have two daughters and used to read with them quite often,” she says. “My youngest was having problems but used to enjoy listening to stories.
“We had to work out with her teacher how to get her interested in reading. It turned out she was bored with the books she was given,”
Finding a book that captured the then six-year-old’s imagination sparked a lifelong passion for reading.
“If I remember right the one that got her interested was called The Hungry Giant. After that she progressed in leaps and bounds. Now she devours books and has three or four on the go at a time.
“I volunteered to read with children at her school. I enjoyed it, and it was very rewarding. Then when I retired I decided I would like to do some volunteering, and I was looking on the internet and saw Schoolreaders.”
She was matched with St Felix Primary School in Haverhill and has been working there for just over a year.
Former civil servant Pat and her husband Phil, who was in the Army, moved to the town three years ago from Kent. They both also volunteer for the Reach Community Project.
“These days a lot of parents don’t have time to read with their children, and teachers don’t have time either,” she said.
“I’m with Year 3. They can pick books within their reading range - we have had things from science fiction to fairy tales to Shakespeare.
“Usually I see four or five children a session. It depends what they’re doing. Some want to keep reading to see what happens.
“If there is a word they don’t know we encourage them to sound it out. We have to let them try to do it first.
“It is fulfilling and seeing their progress is rewarding,” said Pat. “I would definitely recommend people to volunteer for Schoolreaders if they have a spare hour.”
In 10 years the charity has delivered almost two million support sessions to primary age children nationwide.
One in seven primary schools are registered to receive its free service. Volunteers are provided with guidance and undergo a DBS check.
“We are currently supporting 14,000 children every week, with a one-to-one reading support session in school,” said 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. Reading out loud helps children to develop their vocabulary and pronunciation and 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. Reading enjoyment is the largest indicator of future success.
“Additionally, children benefit enormously from Schoolreaders being positive role models in their school community.”
Any adult can become a volunteer. They range from retired people to students, to workers allowed time off by their employers.
Jane says the disruption to education caused by the Covid pandemic has set back some children enormously.
“Only around half of disadvantaged pupils - those on pupil premium - reached the expected standard of reading at Key Stage 1 (5-7 year-olds) in 2022,” she said.
“However, even before the pandemic a quarter of primary school children were leaving school unable to read properly.
“It could be that children are not being listened to read at home because the parents are busy working, the adults are illiterate themselves, or do not speak English as a first language.
“Additionally, some children may have special educational needs or may just requiring a little more intervention than the teacher is able to provide on a regular basis.”
