ABC to read only works with Berkshire schools. The Parent Helper Training Course consists of two full-day sessions (5 hours each) that prepare parent volunteers recruited by the school to deliver effective one-to-one support to primary school children who are under-performing in their reading.

The interactive training course covers:

• Safeguarding and confidentiality.
• How reading is taught in schools.
• Why some children find it hard to learn to read.
• Reading for meaning.
• Games and activities that encourage reading for pleasure.

The school is responsible for recruiting suitable volunteers and the expected model is that parent volunteers will work with two or three children and will spend half an hour with each child twice a week over the course of the year. The school is also responsible for providing the venue for the course, refreshments, resources and printing facilities for handouts.

Cost: £500 for two days.

About ABC to read: ABC to read is a Queens Award and Investing in Volunteers award-winning charity that was founded in 2004. Its mission is to transform children’s lives by working with schools, families and children to provide high quality support in developing literacy skills and building self-confidence. It currently maintains around 100 volunteers and works with around 300 children in Berkshire primary schools each year.