Voluntary Service Readers (VS)
RGS Sixth Form students provide weekly 1-1 reading support for the students who most need it. The Headteachers in our partner schools know their children best, so they select the students who take part in the programme. In the September of Year 12, those students who sign up for the scheme receive training in Reading Support from our in-house learning support team. This is supplemented by Safeguarding training.
Having received training in September, Sixth Formers are placed in small groups to visit partner primary schools weekly.
In 2021-22, around 100 Sixth Formers took part in this project, with around 60 in 2022-23.
Aims
‘I don’t remember a single occasion of anyone ever reading to us, and we certainly had no books in the house.’ Hashi Mohamed, People Like Us, 2020.
The words of author Hashi Mohamed speak to a growing problem among disadvantaged children: they are not being read to as often as their advantaged peers.
In their newly updated guidance report of November 2021, ‘Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2′, the EEF state that, ‘too many children, particularly those from disadvantaged homes, fall behind in literacy. Disadvantaged pupils are 20% less likely than their peers to reach the expected standards in reading, writing and maths by the end of primary school, and the gap in literacy attainment grows substantially during Key Stage 2, with pupils making less progress than their peers in both reading and writing’.
Speaking to Headteachers from our partner Primary schools over the years, we have been told that it is often the students who need the reading support the most who are unable to get it. This could be for a variety of reasons, not least that adults at home may also be learning English as an additional language, or unable to devote time to reading 1-1 due to job commitments and the pressure that a post-pandemic cost of living increase brings to bear.
Background
This is a very well established activity of many years. A truly mutually beneficial scheme, it was set up by a previous Head of Sixth Form. We hope that it will continue to run for many more years.
Resources
We place a team of 3 staff in charge of the weekly admin as part of their timetable and responsibilities. This is covered by RGS.
The students travel in groups of 4-8, depending on the size of the partner school. All travel is via taxi, and this is a significant expense that RGS also covers.
Impact
“There can be few things as powerful as regularly reading to a young child” [National Literacy Trust]
We collect quantitative and qualitative data via regular surveys collected from the Sixth Formers and teachers in partner schools. We also retain spontaneous feedback and testimonials.
As U.S. Department of Education Commission (2012) puts it, “The importance of reading aloud to children on a daily basis can’t be overestimated”. The Commission on Reading took into account over 10,000 studies and found that the most important activity for building the skills and background for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children (also see Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985).
‘Children who are read to are usually the very best readers in the classroom’, and ‘they acquire large vocabularies, write well, and do better in other subject areas, as well’.
We see VS Readers as an innovative way of addressing this problem, while also providing positive role models and valuable volunteering experience.
Pupil Involvement
In a typical year, we have around 80 RGS Sixth Form students taking part in VS, although this varies year by year. The Sixth Formers are mainly Year 12 students, so aged 16-17, although some Year 13 students continue (aged 17-18).
We encourage teachers in our partner primary schools to select the students who would benefit most from the scheme: the students can be from Key Stages 1 or 2. There is roughly a 50:50 split of girls to boys.
In 2021-22 we reached around 3,000 students in partner schools. Due to re-structuring the scheme in 2022-23 and bringing more schools on board in 6 month blocks, we will reach 3,600-4,000 students this school year.
Frequency
This activity occurs weekly, typically on a Wednesday afternoon, although some Sixth Formers do 'VS' in their free lessons.
We expect this project to continue for the foreseeable future.