Reading Together® at Mt Roskill Intermediate School

The following excerpts regarding the Reading Together® programme at Mt Roskill Intermediate School are sourced from pages 39-40 of the April 2018 NZ Education Review Office publication 'Responding to language diversity in Auckland', available here:

Context
This story is about how Mt Roskill Intermediate extended learning opportunities into the home by providing Reading Together® workshops for parents. Flexibility was the key to success for this programme.

Plan for learning
Staff noticed that children were reading English fairly fluidly but were not comprehending deeply so they decided to focus on comprehension.

Response
The school introduced the Reading Together® programme to learners and parents. As well as learning strategies to support their child's reading at home, parents were encouraged to read with their children in English but discuss the story and concepts in their home language. This helped learners to develop a deeper understanding of the story being read. Teachers worked with parents and whānau over a period of time and noticed positive changes with the learners. Teachers continued to encourage the use of home languages, and connected parents and whānau with the Mt Roskill community library where the librarian helped families become members. The community library became a common meeting place for these learners and their parents.

I know that my close involvement with the schools (primary and intermediate) has enabled me to understand the support my child needs to succeed. (Parent)

I try to encourage other Pasifika parents, including my husband, to learn about these strategies [referring to Reading Together®] and spend time at school etc. (Parent)