Reading Coach

Could you help someone to learn to read?

New Readers meet with their volunteer Reading Coaches for just half an hour, twice a week, at approved local venues. Together they work at their own pace through a phonics-based reading programme. Typically, people take between one and two years to complete the course.

As a volunteer Reading Coach, you will receive two training courses. Initial Coach Training introduces some of the issues faced by adults with reading problems, how to use the reading manuals and guidance on establishing an appropriate relationship/working one-to-one. After this first training, the group’s Coordinator will keep your details listed until an appropriate volunteering opportunity arises. Please be aware that this can sometimes take some time.

Once you have been paired with your Reader, we will ask you to attend a Consolidation Training course. This gives ideas for how to use other resources, techniques and activities to help your Reader's learning. Attendance at both training courses is an essential requirement if you decide to volunteer. The training is very interactive and volunteers generally find the sessions very interesting and rewarding.

If you are to be coaching in person, you will be given a list of approved venues you and your reader will be able to choose together a convenient place to meet, which you would then book. If you have volunteered to coach remotely your Coordinator will make arrangements for meeting online.

You will be asked to keep a regular record of your arrangements and progress and submit this to the Coordinator. After the first few weeks of meetings, the Coordinator will observe a session and offer advice and support. They will keep in touch with you and visit to provide support as necessary.

Turning Pages is a phonics-based reading programme for adults (published by the charity Shannon Trust), which has been designed to be used by volunteers and is central to the way we work.

Volunteering will take place locally in approved venues or online.

About Read Easy

Read Easy groups are changing the lives of individual adults across the country by providing them with the support they need to learn to read. In so doing, they are opening doors for them to all sorts of new opportunities in life.

Read Easy provides free, confidential, one to-one reading coaching for adults who struggle with reading, through a network of volunteer groups. For more details about the organisation, please see the Read Easy website: www.readeasy.org.uk

By helping people to tackle their reading difficulties, Read Easy enables people to become more independent, improve their employment opportunities, support their family's reading and begin to explore many other opportunities. Above all, our Readers experience remarkable improvements in their confidence and self-esteem.

"It's been a life-changing experience. Last week I read a book to my grandson. I never read to my children because I couldn't." Peter, from Read Easy Poole

What skills do I need?

No specific qualifications are needed to become a Reading Coach, with training and support provided.

Personal qualities required to be a Reading Coach:

• an ability to talk and listen to the person you coach in a patient, positive, encouraging and purposeful way;
• a non-judgemental attitude and a positive respect for others, regardless of abilities, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or age;
• an ability to focus on your Reader and his or her needs;
• an ability to work alone, seeking support when necessary;
• a willingness to work within the guidelines and policies of the project
• reliability and consistency;
• an ability to handle disappointment;
• a commitment to maintaining confidentiality;
• willingness to undergo an Enhanced DBS check, if required;
• the ability and confidence to work on a computer and access documents online, or the willingness to learn to do so.

When is this role available?

This is a flexible role available on various days/times.

Details

The secret to success in learning to read is working one-to-one, little and often. We therefore ask our Reading Coaches to commit to providing two separate, half hour coaching sessions a week, whenever possible (please give us notice of holidays). To make this viable we will attempt to provide venues that are local enough for both Coach and Reader to spend as little time travelling as possible. Readers can also be coached remotely online either exclusively or through combining face to face and remote learning. Some Readers may complete the course in as little as nine months, others take as long as two years, and sometimes longer. It varies a great deal according to the individual Reader, so please be aware of this. The great advantage of one-to-one coaching is that people can work at their own pace without feeling rushed. Reading Coaches are also asked to commit to attending termly Coach Meetings whenever possible, to meet up with others, discuss how they are getting on and receive extra training.

Where does this role take place?