“These students can be the forgotten children and the books have given them a voice and a higher profile in the college”. This was just one of the benefits of Soft Touch’s English reading books scheme mentioned by Karen Gregory, EAL teacher, at the book scheme launch on 21 June.
The books are designed to encourage students to progress with reading English and all the stories and photos were put together by a group of young people who themselves receive support with English.
Karen added: “This scheme has provided value for money as these students would have slipped under the radar and not really been noticed.
A project like this gets them out and about with motivation and a personal reason to improve. It also gets them to mix, especially out of their first language groups.
It’s too early yet to see the full benefit of the scheme, but I feel all the students’ speaking and listening levels will have improved. They have all gained confidence”.
