Understanding our one-to-one support for primary schools

1.1 What impact does Coram Beanstalk have? 

You can find our latest impact information and statistics here. Schools tell us time and time again that they see an improvement in reading ability but also in a child's confidence, engagement and attitude to general learning in the classroom, after having worked with a Coram Beanstalk reading helper. We're very proud of the way we work and the difference our reading helpers can make.

1.2 Where do Coram Beanstalk work?

We can work across the whole of England and Wales. We have a bigger presence in some parts of the country for historic reasons. In some parts of the country we find it easier to recruit new reading helper volunteers than in others. Wherever your school is, rest assured, we will do our very best to find quality volunteers who we can train up to work with you. Sometimes we might ask for your help in publicising the available role.

1.3 Which children do you work with and how do we select the children for Coram Beanstalk's support?

It's entirely up to you as to which children you choose for our one-to-one support. We find that most schools select children who, for whatever reason, do not have access to sufficient positive reading experiences outside of school. Our initial training for our reading helpers covers how to support children from YR to Y6, with additional learning and development opportunities to allow reading helpers to tailor their sessions to the children they are matched with. 

Our reading helpers are not best placed to support children who need the time for decoding practice as we don’t equip our reading helpers with fully decodable texts or train them in the schools chosen systematic synthetic phonics scheme. 

1.4 What books do the reading helpers use and who selects them?

We provide all of our Coram Beanstalk schools with a starter pack of books chosen to engage children, featuring a range of authors and genres. The new volunteers will have used some of these books within their initial training so will be familiar with them - and different ways to use them to entice more reluctant readers. We then recommend paths for follow on titles and suggest places where the reading helpers can get hold of them. Sometimes this will include looking in the school's own library or borrowing from a local public library. We'd want to avoid using reading scheme books, however if this is required we would dedicate no more than a third of the session to this to allow time for other activities to take place. 

1.5 How does Coram Beanstalk fit with our Reading for Pleasure strategy?

Our one-to-one support gives children consistent, dedicated time with a trained adult who focuses on the child's needs and interests to give them a positive reading experience. We know that this time can transform children's attitudes to reading, ultimately showing them that reading is a good thing to do and help them become readers for life. The children we support often do not have an adult in their life modelling reading for pleasure and our service can fill that gap. 

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