PHOTO
Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College has become the first South Island school to adopt the Rotary reading enrichment programme.
The Rotary Club of Wānaka launched the one-on-one literacy initiative at the college this term, pairing community volunteers with students for an hour every Tuesday and Thursday morning.
The programme’s 12 volunteer tutors work with a group of year seven students and an additional 12 volunteers are on stand-by.
Programme co-ordinator Noelene Pullar said the programme was a real winner for both the volunteers and students.
"Students enjoy the supportive environment and te one-on-one time with a caring tutor and the tutors love working with young people where the age difference is notable," she said.
College staff welcomed the Rotary Club’s involvement and held a training session for tutors before the programme began — something volunteers said they found reassuring, given that few come from an education background.
Each session follows a consistent structure: an opening conversation between tutor and student, a vocabulary activity, 30 minutes of reading and comprehension work using the SRA Reading Laboratory resource and a brief wrap-up.
Each student works through a graded reading box, selected by their classroom teacher, that combines a levelled text with comprehension questions designed to build both skill and confidence.
The format was designed to be straightforward for volunteers while remaining engaging for students.
The programme operates within the school timetable at minimal cost to the college.
Anyone interested in volunteering should contact the Wānaka Rotary Club. — Allied Media