It’s great to announce that we have started our Reading Buddies programme for the 2022-23 academic year; this successful initiative has run in previous years at Dallam.
The Reading Buddies programme sees younger students in Years 7, 8 and 9, who staff in our English department feel could benefit from reading with an older ‘buddy’ to improve their literacy and confidence with texts, assigned a Reading Buddy volunteer from Dallam Sixth Form. For 30 minutes a week, students meet with their buddies and read from pre-selected texts, sometimes individually and sometimes in groups.
The Reading Buddies have been provided with full training prior to the launch of this year’s scheme, led by School Librarian, Ms Adams, covering reading strategies, establishing rapport and the overall structure of the programme and texts covered.
“It has been very encouraging to note a number of Year 13s who were buddies last year returning to the fold and we’re pleased the scheme has got off to a successful start.” – Mr Stephenson, Second in English
It’s great to see our Sixth Form students demonstrating our school values of compassion by volunteering their time to support a fellow student. – Mr Henneberry, Acting Headteacher