Cymoedd learners make reading fun

Coleg y Cymoedd has committed itself to working with the wider community of Llwynypia with the aspiration of bringing its facilities and services into the community.

One of the projects has been an exciting collaboration developed with Treorchy Primary School, where learners from Coleg y Cymoedd are putting the theory learnt at the college into practice. The enthusiastic learners, studying on the Level 2 Child Care Learning and Development course at the Rhondda campus volunteer at the school, hosting a series of Coffee mornings and a ‘Read with me’ project in their Family Room.

The project which commenced this month promotes reading as a fun and social activity; adding some fresh ideas to encourage participation.  The school has been encouraged with the results as they have already seen an increase in the number of parents, grandparents and carers visiting the school.

The school is proud of its Open Door policy and is fortunate to have facilities such as its Family Room to host such initiatives. Headteacher, Louise Reynolds said” We welcome learners and community partners in to our school. This project very much promotes the New Curriculum and it is envisaged that families attending the project will feel more prepared to support their children at home particularly with reading and homework. It is our intention to engage pupils of all ages and we look forward to working with Coleg y Cymoedd on future projects”.

Eva Tewkesbury, Childcare Tutor at the college who has been responsible for supporting the learners’ involvement at the school added, “This is a great opportunity for our learners to develop their skills in leading on such a project. They designed invitations to encourage family and friends of the pupils to attend the sessions and provided exciting ideas to engage reluctant readers, encourage talented children and support the ‘family’ reading experience. Our learners have embraced the scheme and are a credit to our department. I would also like to extend my thanks to Mrs Anstee, leader of the project and all the staff at Treorchy Primary School for the warm welcome they have extended to our learners”.

Shan Bowen, Campus Co-ordinator echoed the comments of her colleague adding” Staff at the college are aware that transitioning from school to employment practice can prove daunting for some of our learners. At the college we hold a months’ activities, Preparing for Employment; which has proved beneficial, giving the learners the confidence to volunteer at the Breakfast Reading initiative”.

Cymoedd learner Tiegan Owens, 17, from Tonypandy who is a volunteer at the project said” I’m really enjoying working with the school on the Breakfast Reading Club project, it’s been a great experience. I really enjoy reading stories and getting a better understanding of what books children love. It’s great to sit down with a group of pupils and their families to look at different ways to enjoy books. Each week I’ve noticed the confidence of those attending improve, as we chat about the book. When I complete my college course I would like to work in a school setting and this has given me the ideal opportunity to experience this employment.

Commenting on the success of the project Mrs Anstee, Deputy Headteacher at Treorchy Primary said” We are really pleased with the success of the project, the college learners have embraced the challenge and demonstrated high levels of motivation. They have met with the pupils, discussed their favourite story books and created sacks full of reading materials to capture the learners’ imagination when reading. We look forward to working with the college on future activities”.

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