A Huge Success.
The Smith Family found that 94% of students improved their reading when using The Reading Buddies platform, these were disadvantaged children in years 3 to 8 assessed as being up to two years behind in their reading development.
The Smith Family collect a list of disadvantaged kids from across Australia through schools, where teachers identify the students who are falling behind and need some extra assistance. Australia is a big country with 10,000’s of children who need that extra help spread across the continent.
Older students volunteer through their school, they are able to read well and willing to help those who need it.
The Smith Family match 1,000’s of kids together into reading pairs, they set up the initial meet & greet online meeting then monitor the progress of the buddy reading program.
They couldn’t operate such a massive scale national literacy program without the Chatty Kids platform.
Student2Student a national peer support literacy program.
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What is Student2Student?
The Smith Family student2student program works by matching students who need to improve their reading with peer buddies who help and encourage them with their reading. In the old days we would post physical books to each child who would then read with each other over a phone call.
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Delivering Student2Student digitally.
Each student and buddy can access an online book library from Pearson. The reading buddy then connects with the student online two to three times a week for at least 20 minutes, over an 18 week period. The student reads to the buddy, who uses the skills learnt in their training to assist the student with their reading and offer encouragement and praise..
