Reading at St Michaels

St Michael's has a clear vision that to have non-teachers listen to schoolchildren reading out loud makes a difference - bolstering confidence and social skills at the same time as developing reading ability.

During the school year 2022/23, benchmarking data was made available for the Year 4 children, so we were able to judge their ability and encourage accordingly. Our contribution was recognised when, at the end of the year, we were given feedback on the improvement in reading made by the children generally during the course of the year.

For 2023/24 we have switched to listening to Year 3 children, i.e. the new school intake. It is clear the Year 3 teachers are also keen to work with us, and that they and their TA's are aware of the importance the school attaches to developing reading skills.

The school always makes the Rotarian participants (and their non-Rotarian colleagues) feel welcome, and is happy to handle any concerns we have in a constructive way.

For all the above reasons, the Rotarians and colleagues involved in the project find the time they spend with the children both rewarding and enjoyable.