PROJECT
Story Starters, England
PURPOSE
To support disadvantaged children aged three to five to be “reading ready” by the time they reach primary school
FUNDING
A two-year pilot was funded through a £1m grant from the People’s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund. Ongoing work is funded through contributions from early years settings and fundraising
BACKGROUND
Charity Coram Beanstalk has delivered a one-to-one reading programme in primary schools for 45 years, recruiting, training and supporting volunteers. It was keen to respond to concerns from teachers that many children were starting school with poor language and communication skills.
“Schools were saying ‘These volunteers are making a difference, can we have them for younger children?’” says Angela Fuggle, head of programmes at Coram Beanstalk. “However, our volunteers were trained to support the development of reading skills, and that is not appropriate for younger children who need support to develop pre-reading skills.” So the charity decided to design a new programme that would support children earlier.
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