Senior Royal Wootton Bassett Academy students help younger ones with reading skills

Sixth formers at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy are taking life-changing steps with younger students whose schooling was affected by the pandemic.

They are giving the younger pupils weekly reading support.

A total of 40 students from the lower and upper sixth years responded to a call by the senior leadership team to train to help Year 8 schoolmates improve their reading skills. 

The sixth formers undertook training led by Nicky Mills, the school’s KS3 English and Maths Primary Lead Practitioner, which included recalling their own experiences in learning to read, tips on how to listen and support younger students and checking whether the reader understood what they had just read aloud.

Ms Mills said that one of the effects of the disruption in education caused by covid was a drop in reading skills in children of late primary and early secondary school ages.

“Some children have not found home schooling easy, and many parents have understandably struggled to provide support in listening to their reading,” said Ms Mills.

“What these sixth formers are doing is truly life-changing for the Year 8s. Fluency in reading is absolutely crucial to get the most out of adult life. Research has shown a strong connection between good reading skills and future achievement. 

“We all need to be able to read if we are to access so much of modern life, from passing exams or learning to drive, or searching the internet or following safety instructions. But reading stretches far beyond practical applications.

“If we can foster a love of reading in a child early on in the school, we open up so many opportunities for them to enjoy literature throughout their entire lives – novels, short stories, biographies, historical books and so much more.”

Once a week, the sixth formers listen to 40 younger students for half an hour at the start of the school day.

“The atmosphere is very calm, and it is so rewarding seeing the older students being encouraging and patient with the younger ones,” said Ms Mills.

“Both cohorts are getting a lot out of it. The Year 8s see the sixth formers as great role models, and are becoming more confident and self-assured, and the older students are developing important mentoring and training skills which they will take on with them to higher education and employment. Some of the sixth formers want to go into the teaching profession, and this is excellent experience at quite an early stage.”