ACCORDING to literacy charity Beanstalk,19 per cent of Key Stage 2 pupils in Bradford don’t meet the required standard of Level 4 in reading and writing.

This is worse than the national average of 12 per cent of students. Even more depressing when you consider that child poverty, affecting 33 per cent of youngsters in the district, is a major factor behind poor literacy levels.

Bradfordians can make a difference to literacy levels, by helping children learn to read. A new report by Beanstalk shows that an impressive 93 per cent of children improved their reading ability over the past year thanks to reading helpers recruited by the charity.

The Beanstalk Impact Report 2013-14 says one-to-one support is key to boosting reading levels of young children. On average, Key Stage 1 pupils supported by Beanstalk increased reading levels by 3.8 sub-levels – almost a whole level higher than the national average of progression expected of children in this age group.

Key to this improvement are the supportive, fun reading sessions provided by Beanstalk reading helpers, who give individual support to primary school children who are falling behind with their reading. Each volunteer works with three children for three terms, spending half an hour with each child twice a week, building trust, which helps develop the youngsters’ confidence and reading attainment.

Now, with rising demand from primary schools, the charity is urgently seeking more volunteers. There are vacancies in the BD3, 5, 10 and 18 areas and opportunities for more support in schools districtwide.

Beanstalk chief executive Sue Porto said: “For more than 40 years, Beanstalk has worked in partnership with primary schools to improve children’s reading attainment and confidence. Our new Impact Report for 2013-14 demonstrates the measurable impact our reading helpers have on young children’s lives. This year we will support more than 10,000 children in England. I would encourage those who can help us to supporting 18,000 children a year by 2018 to get in touch.”

The charity’s website features a new animated film encouraging people to become reading helpers. It features trustee and reading helper Sally Floyer with one of the children she helps, reading from a Jack and the Beanstalk book produced for Beanstalk’s 40th anniversary.

Beanstalk recruits, trains and supports volunteers to work with children who struggle with or have fallen behind with reading. The aim is to improve reading levels, increase confidence and inspire a lifelong love of reading.

The effects of poor literacy levels in childhood can have a damaging impact in later life. According to Beanstalk, one in five adults don’t have the reading skills to find a plumber in the Yellow Pages, and more than half of all prisoners have reading skills at or below those of an 11-year-old.

No previous experience is needed to be a reading helper, but volunteers must offer a minimum of 12 months and have a love of reading.

Lesley Matthews became a reading helper after spotting a notice in a supermarket. “Before starting, I met other volunteers, and we talked about our experience of reading,” she says. “Most of us hadn’t had problems as children learning to read – I could read before I went to school. There were ideas of things to do; you don’t just read books, you play games, do anything to engage the children basically.

“The children I help have fallen behind. It’s an inner city school, some have come from homes with books but others haven’t, so even turning a page is strange to them.”

Lesley helps children learn to write stories, believing that being engaged in this way means they’re more likely to enjoy reading. “You can’t write without being able to read,” she says. “We look at words and find them in the dictionary.

“One little boy could read but was spelling each word phonetically. We found a book in the school library about a little boy who lived with his granny, they had an Alsatian but the child came home from school one day and the dog had died. The little boy said to me, ‘Has he really died?’, and I said, ‘I think so, let’s turn over and carry on reading’. He carried on reading then later went out and found a dog tied up somewhere. He said, ‘Is that the Alsatian?’.

“I thought, ‘That’s it, he has been engaged with that story. He was obviously bright, he just needed that extra help. He needed to start running along the runway’, then he was flying.”

  • To become a Beanstalk volunteer, call 0845 450 0344 or visitbeanstalkcharity.org.uk.