Making a lasting difference to children’s literacy

She has written for Vogue, Tatler, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Saturday Express, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and Madame Figaro and was the Health and Beauty Director of Woman’s Journal for seven years. Now, she volunteers with Schoolreaders, and below shares her experiences and how rewarding she finds it.

“The head of English at the Portsmouth primary school that I visit commented the other day that after she and other staff had scrutinised the ‘data’ on reading abilities, the pupils who have one-to-one attention from reading volunteers have a marked improvement in their reading standard. Of course I’m glad to hear this, but it is both sobering and sort of miraculous given I only spend 15 mins with each child on a Monday listening to them read.

I had been toying with idea of reading with children in primary schools for some time. But having just emerged from the coalface of motherhood and watching my own children heading off as young adults into the big wide world with misty-eyed pride, the thought of committing to more ‘school stuff’ was not appealing at all. It felt regressive. But then I met a friend of a friend who is a reading volunteer for a charity called Schoolreaders and it sounded a good deal easier than I imagined and with minimal impact on new-found freedoms.

There were two critical bits of information that convinced me I wanted at least to try it. Firstly, that it is a commitment of a minimum of an hour a week during the term time but this is flexible if you are away or on holiday. Secondly, the state of literacy in our green and pleasant land. It turns out that 1 in 4 primary school children do not reach the required level of literacy to harness their Secondary School education – and this is nationwide.

We hear quite often how British children are sailing up the international literacy charts but that is the top performing lot – not the bottom 25 percent. It all boils down to reading to and with children – or not. Obviously not everyone is able to read with their children but if, as it turns out, a child’s chances can be transformed by one 15 minute session a week and foster a life-long love of reading, then it had to be a no-brainer to at least try to lend a hand.

The idea that a quarter of primary school children are falling short in what will help them most in life was a real shock to me. Life chances crash when you can’t read easily. In Winchester prison, for example, a high proportion of the prisoners are illiterate. So I signed up.

Founded ten years ago, the Schoolreaders model is simple. Volunteers read for free to children in primary schools for a minimum of an hour a week in the term time. The school selects the children they think would most benefit from the extra one-to-one attention. Schoolreaders offer great choice and flexibility to the volunteers – you can choose how far you would like to travel to a school and they provide information on the demographics of the children.

The charity conducts a phone interview with a potential volunteer and also require a DBS check before they can start. To volunteer, you simply go onto the Schoolreaders website and fill in the necessary forms. I was struck by how efficient and easy it was and within a month I found myself meeting the friendly, appreciative and impressive staff at the obviously happy Portsmouth primary school I go to.

The teachers know what a difference just a little bit of extra attention with reading makes as they see it first-hand. But they also know that a child having the attention of an adult who listens to them one-to-one for even just a few minutes a week, who isn’t a teacher or parent, builds confidence.

The children I help with reading every week are delightful – some are restless and find it tricky to concentrate or even sit on chair – others are serious and eager to please. Every time they enjoy reading a sentence, story or even a few words, it is a joy to share their success and pride. They make progress but most of all they seem to be enjoying themselves. It is fun to work out how to get their different personalities motivated and make reading their own thing rather than something they are told to do.

The most revealing thing, literally, that I experienced recently was one little girl who I read with each week, whispering confidentially that she had something exciting to show me in her school bag. She looked quite furtive and slowly opened it. I thought it was going to be a collection of half-eaten sweets, or even worse, a phone. It was neither. She smiled up and she declared her hand, it was a library book she had chosen herself. She was proud and reading for pleasure.”

To learn more about volunteering with Schoolreaders, visit: www.Schoolreaders.org/volunteer