Reading Together® at St Michael's School in Taita

The June 2013 issue of Talanoa Ako discusses Reading Together® at St Michael's School in Taita, as follows (pp 9-10):

Reading Together
Raising the level of achievement was also a driving factor for Suzanne Pereira's involvement with St Michael's school. After the Pasifika parents meeting last November, the school introduced the Reading Together programme.
Naturally Suzanne jumped at the chance to be part of it. "The programme has given me a great deal of information about the things that are important when children are learning to read," says Suzanne. "I've learnt that encouragement, support and regular help with reading at home does help children. I've taken some of the advice and information and incorporated this into my 5-year-old daughter Ariah's reading time."
"Her reading has improved tremendously and her vocabulary is more extensive. It used to be a frustrating experience for us both because we were on different levels and my expectations for her were very high. It took me a while to understand that reading on her own was something new for her."
As a Board of Trustees representative - one of six Pasifika parents that make up the panel of 11 - Suzanne says she wants to support and encourage St Michael's to keep celebrating Pasifika achievement. She also wants to encourage more new initiatives to get parents involved with their children's learning.