Wanted: Reading Mentors

Oxfordshire has more than 16,000 children living in poverty. Around 20 per cent of children leave primary school with a reading level below expected and this has worsened following the pandemic and cost of living crisis. This has an impact on children’s ability to learn across all subjects and severely affects their confidence.

ARCh helps pupils in Oxfordshire who struggle with their reading. They send trained volunteers into primary schools and aim to aspire in the children, a love of reading.

Being an ARCh reading mentor is rewarding, building up a relationship with children on a one-to-one basis during the course of a year means you can make a real difference to their self-esteem and ability to read.

ARCh volunteers do not need any particular qualifications or experience. They need to be patient, enjoy reading and have the appropriate interpersonal skills to help children and liaise with school staff.

The council encourages colleagues to undertake voluntary work and in line with our employee volunteering policy our scheme provides for you to use two paid days (15 hours) a year for volunteering. You must match this with two days (15 hours) of your own time for example, annual leave, flexi, or non-working hours. Time off for part-time colleagues will be calculated on a pro rata basis.

Any planned volunteer leave must be discussed with your line manager.

How to get involved with ARCh

Further informaton about volunteering for ARCh and how to sign up can be found on its website.