Words Up!

 One of the greatest pleasures in life is sitting down and reading a good book, not only entertaining it can be highly informative. Being able to read and understand the written word is an essential tool to be able to do just about anything from understanding the rules of tennis too making a cake!

People develop these skills at their own pace, but at The Commonweal School Year 10 students are encouraged to help those in Year 7 who may need a little extra help. Every year a pool of Year 10 students are encouraged to take up paired reading. This activity helps the younger ones to increase their confidence and ability and encourages leadership skills in the older students.

Commented Ellie Dewdney, age 14, “ Nikita is my paired reader and we meet once a week and she reads aloud to me and each time she gets better at it. Together we monitor her progress, go over difficult words and spelling.”

Each year the students visit Boarders Bookshop in North Swindon and the students pick out books they would like to read after which they take up residence in the school library for others to read. “ I know what type of books Nikita likes, so we browse together and discuss titles. The most beneficial thing about going to a bookshop is to see the diversity of books available.” Ellie added.

“I really enjoy my paired reading with Ellie. I read more books and I find them more interesting than the TV as you can use your imagination a lot more with books. The best thing about going to Boarders is being able to read the blurb to see if the book looks interesting.” Commented Nikita Collier, age 11.

Commonweal’s paired reading initiative is in its seventh year and recruitment for next years Year 10 begins next month with a promo video made by the students and the school’s Community Arts Development Officer Josie Williams. “The video will be shown in Year 10 assembly to draw out new recruits. Reading is an art form where the imagination can really get the chance to develop.”

The aim of the programme is to develop confidence and enjoyment of reading for understanding and pleasure. Commented teacher Jane Weir who runs the programme with a small team of teachers, “We currently have 16 Yr 10 readers matched up to the same in Yr 7. A good paired reader is someone who has patience, a love of reading, is reliable, has empathy with the reader and a passion for books.”