Great success for Burnley primary school's Reading Buddies

At Reedley Primary School, Year 6 pupils have been supporting their younger colleagues from Year 1 in their reading, embracing the chance to make a difference in the younger students' learning.

The older students had to submit a letter of application to Mrs Kerry Gorrell, the deputy head and the English lead at the school, stating why they thought they were suitable for the role of 'Reading Buddy' before receiving full training on how they can help and how they can use phonics to help the readers sound out their words.

"Reading Buddies has been running for two weeks now and it is proving incredibly successful," said Mrs Gorrell, with the Reading Buddy sessions already strengthening bonds across the school. "The year 6 children are working well to support their Year 1 buddy to develop decoding skills and comprehension."

Showing the initiative to give up one of their lunchtimes to work with the children each week, the Year 6 pupils were each assigned a Year 1 child who needed extra support with reading out loud every day, which has boosted the profile of reading in the school, with lots of children and teachers asking the Year 6 tutors how their jobs are going.

"This is the first job I have ever applied for and I feel excited and proud to be able to teach Year 1 children," said 10-year-old Toheed, while Anaya, also aged 10, said: "I think it's good for the Year 1 children because it lets them read out loud every day to help them to understand their books."