Help children learn to read

We all want to make sure that all our children get off to the best possible start with their education, and being able to read well by the age of 11 is a vital part of that.

Some of our children are in need of some extra help to get them reading well. All the evidence shows that this should be done as early as possible, so we are inviting you to step forward and volunteer to read with some of our 5, 6 and 7 year olds.

Bristol Reading Partners is a group of organisations and individuals who are working hard to make sure that ALL Bristol’s children can read well by the time they finish at primary school. A recent Save the Children report highlighted the problems that occur when a child has not reached the required level of reading by the age of 11. If a child is unable to understand their lessons in the first year of secondary school, it is much more likely that they will continue to fall further and further behind and fail in their education altogether.

Research conducted by the National Literacy Trust for the Read On. Get On campaign has demonstrated how low literacy affects individuals’ health and employment prospects, as well as increasing the risks of getting involved in crime.

So what can you do about it?

We are asking you to become a Bristol Reading Partner and volunteer to read with children in school.

The commitment you will be making will be for 1hr per week (plus travel time to and from the school) for 10 weeks. Most of the schools we are working in are in the south of the city at present, however we are expanding to include schools in the central and north areas in the autumn term and, along with our partners and the citizens of Bristol, we intend to cover a lot more of the whole city over the coming eighteen months or so.

We provide excellent training and you could be reading with the children as early as the week commencing the 21st September 2015. If that’s not convenient, we are planning reading sessions for the spring and summer 2016 terms.

The next training date is the 16th September 2015.

Our highly professional trainers deliver a course over a complete day that will equip you with the skills to support children who are having difficulty learning to read and to assist the teachers in monitoring their progress….you will become a vital part of their ‘reading recovery’. We have had fantastic feedback from our last three sessions and it’s all FREE!

The training venue is the Bridge Learning Campus, Teyfant Road, Hartcliffe, Bristol, BS13 0RG. We can pay your travel expenses if need be and we provide the lunch and refreshments throughout the day.

If you’re interested in this opportunity to help make sure all our children get off to the best possible start, please register your interest HERE 

Or if you would like some more information, please contact us on volunteer@bristol.gov.uk