Thanks to a grant from the John Salmon Fund, Schoolreaders has been able to recruit new reading volunteers and partner schools, as well as provide ongoing support to volunteers including online training, forums and newsletters. They now have 54 volunteers listening to 540 primary school children read each week. The volunteers work in 34 schools across Leicestershire and Rutland, 9 schools in the top 20% areas of deprivation.
1 in 4 primary school children in England fail to reach the expected standard of reading by the age of 11. This leaves them unable to access their secondary education fully, which will have lifelong consequences. Recent research conducted by Schoolreaders in partnership with the Institute for Research in Education at the University of Bedfordshire shows that 87% of children increased their reading age after one term of support from a Schoolreaders volunteer. It isn’t only the children that have benefited. 77% of Schoolreaders volunteers say the work has given them an increased sense of purpose and value.
