Sometimes, a little magic happens when you put the young and the old together.
That’s certainly what has been taking place at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Warwick, where intergenerational pairing has resulted in some great reading sessions.
Most school-day Mondays, a number of Regency Park Retirement Village residents are transported to the St Mary’s School. Together with community members who are affiliated with Churches of Christ, they listen to children reading, especially in one-on-one sessions.
Churches of Christ Warwick Campus manager Noo Shepherd is the organisational whizz behind the concept for the program, which began at the start of the school term.
“People need a Blue Card to be able to work with children, so I’ve assisted with that. It can be quite daunting for seniors, given that applications are online these days,” she said.
“Once that obstacle is out of the way there’s really no deterrent. It makes volunteering in the local community possible for them.
“It’s quite lovely to see the connection between the generations.”
Churches of Christ, which created Residents For Reading program, organises the transport for the residents.
St Mary’s School assistant principal Sharon Young, who helped set up the program, said it had been so successful that a second time slot was being set up for Wednesdays next term.
“We feel so blessed to have this lovely group of ladies who come and read and listen to our children every week,” she said.
“It has been wonderful, and sometimes it seems as though there is no age gap between the older people and the little people.
“The children feel special having someone new to read to, and it’s certainly inspiring them to read.
“The feedback from teachers is very positive, and the children certainly talk about it. You’ll hear a child say, ‘When Phyllis comes back I’m going to read this book to her.’ It’s really wonderful that the visits have a lasting impact throughout the week.“
Mrs Young said it was one of those programs that helped everyone who was involved.
“We hope it brings a smile to our volunteers’ faces just as much as it does to our little people,” she said.
“Once people retire they often have some spare time on their hands. It’s wonderful for them to know they’re still very much valued in the community.”
Currently the program has only a handful of volunteers and Mrs Young said the school was hoping the program would grow.
She said reading sessions were currently for Year 1 and 2 children, and the new Wednesday session would be for preppies.
One of the program volunteers is Phyllis Hudswell, who has a passion on the subject of reading.
“I worked with Youth at Risk for 20 years and I’ve seen firsthand how important reading is,” she said.
“It has such a devastating effect when people can’t read. We take it for granted but if you can’t read a road sign or a note on the fridge, life can be very hard.
“When I worked with Youth at Risk, 90 per cent of the early school leavers were poor readers and they thought they were stupid. But it wasn’t that. All it meant was that their reading hadn’t been addressed by parents and teachers.”
She said she enjoyed the sessions.
“We sit with the children one-on-one. They choose the book they’re going to read. It’s the one-on-one that helps the most. Starting early is such a wonderful thing.”
Another volunteer is Julie Simpson, who said the books were vastly different to the ones that were around when she was a child.
“They’re much more interesting stories these days,” she said.
“The children are very good with their reading, even with difficult words. It’s quite fun. Children are very keen to learn at that age – they seem to enjoy being able to read a bit better.”
More seniors are waiting on Blue Cards (and sometimes on ID cards which are needed to apply for their Blue Cards!) so they can join the program.
