Read Experiences from Reading Buddy Students and the University of Southampton on this year's Fantastic Scheme (Copy)
Reading Buddies is a scheme that we are really proud to be apart of at the shop. Please find below experiences of a couple of Reading Buddies from the scheme brought together by the University of Southampton.
Reading is a reading intervention delivered by the University of Southampton in collaboration with Cantell School and newly this year, St George. School students are paired 1:1 or in small groups with University and College students to read for at least one half an hour session a week. The sessions include reading aloud to each other and discussing the text.
More often it is being recognised that young people are entering secondary education with a reading age lower than expected and Cantell wanted to do something to not only to ensure literacy mobility in future life, but also to encourage the enjoyment of reading and to increase confidence. Research tells us that there are a myriad of benefits that come from reading for pleasure such as; health & wellbeing, developing communities, expanding skills and wider learning. You can hear about this in practice from 2 students who have taken part in Reading Buddies this year:
Sam Miles – St George Reading Buddy
During my time at university, the reading ambassador (buddies) programme has been one of, if not the most rewarding things I have done. I was pleased to be given the opportunity to become a reading buddy from the start, as one of my reasons for doing it was to gain some experience, to go towards my goal of someday teaching. However, the experience has only grown on me more and more and given me so much more than I expected.
Throughout the year it was especially nice to see their confidence build not only within their reading, but around me. The support provided by the teachers and the environment provided is one of the key reasons behind this.. The reading buddies were beginning to get more confident at answering more and more in-depth questions about the books and trying to explain certain elements of the book. This was the most rewarding part of the experience for me, to see the progress of the reading and their understanding gave a sense of achievement and fulfillment that’s hard to describe.
At the start of the programme, we were given the book ‘The Huntress – Sea.’ This was a good choice as it suited the level of reading the students were at, challenging them where needed yet still being an enjoyable and readable book. One thing my reading buddies never struggled with was being able to recall in quite some detail what had happened previously in the book. Considering Considering we met once a week for them to be able to keep up and remember what had been happening was impressive and good to see.
I would highly recommend this opportunity to others, as I will certainly be looking to return in my second year. It is a rewarding experience that is well facilitated and the communication between university, the school, and the ambassadors was excellent . The fact that it’s a paid position is something that surprised me, as I presumed it would be a volunteering scheme. However, the money that comes from it is a nice bonus, especially as a university student, helps you get by.
Overall, I’m grateful for the experience and would definitely recommend it to others.
Megan Oldfield – Cantell Reading Buddy
When I signed up to Reading Buddies, I was really looking forward to helping kids love books and reading. What I didn’t expect was just how excited they already were and just how hard they were willing to work. It was amazing to see the children I worked with excited to read the next chapter and gaining confidence in their reading and in themselves.
Our text, Morris Gleitzman’s Once, followed a young Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Poland— no easy read for children or adults. The students weren’t always familiar with the atrocities of World War II and many questions inevitably arose. ‘What else happened during the war?’ — ‘Why would anyone ever do these things?’ — Students were faced with difficult topics and had to engage with them emotionally. It’s an education in empathy that isn’t quite captured anywhere but in literature.
As a reading buddy, I could answer questions about facts, about meanings of words, but that most powerful and crucial part of reading was between the student and the text. ‘What do you think Felix is feeling?’ I would ask. It’s a big question, and grown-ups might answer it in big words with lots of complicated ambiguities, but students are straight to the point. They reorganise all of the big ideas and the humungous feelings that Once offers them and put them into words that they understand and use. ‘He’s sad because he wants his mum and dad,’ someone said and it’s right. Students instinctively pull out the feelings that they can understand and empathise with.
Reading is vital to young people learning about the world, about the people in it and about themselves. Even if reading buddies only allowed me to play a very tiny part in helping students to engage, it was special to me to get to help. I know some of the kids I worked with probably won’t finish the books we were reading. But I know some of them will. And hopefully, some of them will pick up another.
Widening Participation & Social Mobility at the University of Southampton would like to say a massive thank you to October Books for their support with Reading Buddies this year. They have provided books with a short turnaround and attended all of our events, meeting the staff, teachers and families we work with. All participants of this year's Reading Buddies have walked away with a bookmark giving them 10% off in store and 2 lucky children won a £10 voucher each!
