Over the last 10 weeks, The Albion Foundation have delivered a Premier League Primary Stars Reading Stars intervention at Moorlands Primary School, in association with the National Literacy Trust.
Owen Jones, Community Coach at the Foundation has inspired a group of year five children to enjoy reading during his lessons and their spare time, whilst improving those all-important literacy skills.
The impact of the workshop has been felt across the classroom, with plenty being learned and brought back into their curriculum English lessons, Moorlands Assistant Headteacher Ms Smith said.
She said: “The teacher’s reported there's been a real buzz about this intervention, and it's been clear to see from the children., They've been enthusiastic, really motivated and really look forward to their weekly sessions.
“It's been fast paced. He’s got to know the children, so it's been adapted to their needs. And also, I think it's really good to have someone from the local community, coming in that can be a role model to these young people.”
As for Jones, it’s been an enjoyable experience for him too, as he aims to bring the joy of reading into the Hub at the West Bromwich-based school.
“I think it's important to improve the reading because most kids probably don't read at home,” Jones said. “So it's important that in my lessons, they’ve always got books out, they're reading, and it's just giving that extra time to just find the love for reading.
“I think they’ve been super, they've been lovely, bubbly, they've always got on with the work and I think they've took a real go with it. I hope all the techniques we’ve been using, like the skimming and scanning, the reading of feature in the books helps them in their English lessons.”
“I like Reading Stars because you can look forward to reading and interacting with other people,” a Moorlands pupil said.
Premier League Primary Stars is the Premier League’s primary school education programme.
Funded by the Premier League, through the Premier League Charitable Fund, the programme uses the appeal of football to help children to be active and develop essential life skills.