Suzanne Hill, SHE Submissions Co-ordinator at our Silver Partner GRAHAM Group is one of our amazing 19 GRAHAM volunteers, who collectively provided 227 hours of one-to-one reading support to Chapter One children this school year. We recently caught up with Suzanne about her first year of being a Chapter One online reading volunteer.

What motivated you to begin volunteer reading with Chapter One?
Chapter One was advertised by our Social Impact Manager, so I contacted him initially to see what was involved. I also spoke to colleagues who have volunteered, and they've all had such positive experiences, so that motivated me to sign up myself. I’m so glad I did!

What are the benefits of being a Chapter One volunteer?
It's been really good for my personal development. Supporting my pupil and coaching them along throughout our reading sessions has helped me to develop my communication and mentoring skills.

How have you found the support from Chapter One?
The support from Chapter One has been absolutely fantastic from the get-go - being able to sign on and complete a practice session before my first session was very beneficial. And the resources in the Knowledge Base are excellent. I knew a bit about phonics, but then I got to go a bit deeper with the resources, and I also attended one of the Expert View Zoom sessions too. All of this really helped me to develop my knowledge to be able to support my pupil.

I have never done anything like Chapter One before, so I have found these resources helpful. It can feel a bit daunting when you’re thinking that you’re going to help a child with their phonics.

There are really useful parts of the training that remind you that your pupil might not speak to you at first, as they might be nervous or not understand what’s happening, or they might be distracted by what’s going on in class. This was all really good to know before my first session.

Have you ever done any other volunteering? How does it compare to Chapter One?
At GRAHAM Group we get the opportunity to complete two volunteering days a year, which is brilliant, so I've just volunteered for our local tree planting scheme. With Chapter One, I get to dedicate a small portion of my time each week to support somebody, and I like that it’s a long-term opportunity. There’s a real feel-good factor knowing that you're helping someone on their reading journey.

The Online Reading Volunteers Programme works well because the system is built so that it is fun for both the child and the volunteer. It’s just so important to help these children to develop their reading and also give them that enjoyment from reading.

Thinking back to the start of the programme, how was your pupil getting on with reading? What changes have you noticed since then?
In the beginning, my pupil was quite shy. So when we got talking, I started with the games to get that engagement up. I also gave them autonomy by letting them choose which game they wanted to play. When we got to the reading, I let them choose the stories as well.

When they first started reading, I was surprised. I think it was probably just a bit of naivety at the start of the scheme. I thought, “Oh, you can read kind of well.” But then the more I listened to them and the more sessions we did, I realised that there was more to it.

For example, even if they sounded like they were reading well, sometimes they weren’t too sure of the word, they would try to read it quickly or skip over it. That’s when I’d say “Let’s go back to that word and break it down. There’s no rush.” Then they’d break down the word and we’d get it.

I can really see their confidence has really improved since the start of the school year, as well - their shyness has gone away, which is brilliant! I have also noticed changes in their fluency. At the start, they would have been fine reading the passages, but would have been a bit stop-start, stop-start - that has definitely improved.

How else has your pupil benefited since participating in Chapter One’s Online Reading Volunteers Programme?
My pupil absolutely loves the games, especially Word Whirled, which we like to call spin the wheel. I love to spin the wheel and they sort of sing along when the wheel's spinning! They have been very engaged throughout all our reading sessions, which is a good sign.

My pupil has also surprised me with the words they've been able to pronounce. Sometimes we’ll come across a longer word that we haven’t seen before and they're able to pronounce it perfectly, which has been great.

They look forward to reading each week, as do I! It’s been fantastic to support a child with their reading and also see the difference that you're making.

How can companies get involved in Chapter One?

Chapter One’s virtual, time-efficient, flexible model for volunteering will enhance your company’s employee value proposition, whilst fulfilling CSR or social value commitments around education, social mobility and inclusion. Employees can:

- volunteer online directly from their desks with no travel

- make a direct impact on the lives of children from disadvantaged communities

- support local communities across the UK

- improve their own well-being by helping others

- reconnect with your company’s social purpose

If you’re interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you! You’ll find out who we currently work with on our partners’ page. You can contact us here or email sarah.taylor@chapterone.org.