Staff and students at St. Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe have been delighted by the support offered by BW3’s team of reading mentors who have been visiting the school each week.
St.Paul’s worked with the charity BW3 to pair young people with mentors from companies in the area, working together on a dedicated programme to enable the students to become confident readers.
BW3 reached out to its 260 member businesses in the area to find employees who would like to volunteer. They teamed up with the Shannon Trust for the project, which it says can have a “marked effect” on a young person’s prospects.
St. Paul’s literacy coordinator Jamie Sharrock highlighted the benefits of the scheme. “We believe that reading is integral to pupils’ understanding and appreciation of the world around them,” he said. “It is a platform that allows our children to see beyond what they know, share in cultural experiences, and develop the vocabulary they need to effectively express themselves.”
“We feel incredibly fortunate to be working with BW3 and the reading mentors. All of the students taking part in this initiative thoroughly enjoy the sessions and many have made rapid progress in such a short period of time. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work alongside businesses in our local community, and we would like to thank BW3 and all the reading mentors for the support they give to our readers at St. Paul’s.”
BW3 chair Adam Jupp spoke of the importance of ‘improving literacy levels.’ “BW3 is committed to delivering programmes that tackle the most important issues in the Wythenshawe area,” he said. “There is clear evidence that improving literacy levels in young people goes a long way to boosting their career opportunities in the future and it has been inspirational to see the impact our team of mentors has had.”
“I would like to thank everyone involved in the launch of this successful mentoring programme for their hard work and dedication, and we look forward to working with St. Paul’s again in the new school year.”
St. Paul’s Headteacher Alex Hren shared his thanks to the BW3 team.
“To highlight the importance of reading in our school community and encourage our students to read for pleasure, we tell our students to put aside all distractions and enjoy books,” he said. “We are extremely grateful to BW3 and their team of reading mentors. The sessions have been very successful, with some students complaining when their reading time was over. We certainly sparked their enthusiasm for reading and books.”
