NEWS, VIEWS & OTHER INTERESTING THINGS

For 10 years, World Read Aloud Day has drawn global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories with children. As it was celebrated on 1^st February, it is worth taking time to consider the countless benefits of reading aloud and the opportunity to integrate it into our daily interactions with children.

Help2read Community Literacy Tutors World Read Aloud Day Activities:

Since the launch of the   help2read Reading Clubs in 2017, reading aloud and story circles have been one of the ways through which our Reading Champions have facilitated engaging learning opportunities to spark the love of reading in the learners they support.

World Read Aloud Day celebrations with children at Hope Day Care Centre

Corporate Literacy Champions – Partners

help2read’s passion for literacy and breaking the cycle of illiteracy in South Africa cannot be tackled alone. Funders and partners are central in helping us to reach thousands of children and provide them with the lasting gift of literacy. We would like to acknowledge the following partners for their collaboration and support during this year’s celebrations of World Read Aloud Day

Learners at Denegeur Primary in their new container library

Breadline

Breadline Africa has been an active collaborative partner of education, providing container libraries as they recognise the importance of literacy development support for learners. The learners at Denegeur Library celebrated World Read Aloud Day with Breadline Africa team members in their new well stocked Library.

Nali Bali

This year the goal was to reach at least 1.5 million children this World Read Aloud Day. In partnership with literacy organizations and we are pleased to report that not only was the goal reached, but it was surpassed. A total number of 1559, 730 of children were reached and enjoyed the joy of reading.

Lightsail

Since the launch of our partnership with Lightsail on 8 September 2018, we are pleased with the growth of the pilot programme in South Africa. Through the pilot programme, Community Literacy Tutors have been trained and are using the resource as a tool to measure individual learners reading ability by matching the Lexile^{® (}level of a learner to the level of texts within the “just right” range) to build confidence whilst also providing the ability to stretch and develop skills and vocabulary further.

The learners at Wemmershoek Primary School enjoyed a variety of activities including a reading by author of the enchanting tale of The Blacksmith and the Dragonfly – Charles Siboto

World Read Aloud Day celebrations at Wemmershoek Primary School

On behalf of learners, we would like to thank all our partners in literacy for their dedication and commitment to strengthen the love for reading through engaging in fun activities.

1473 learners participated in the 2019 World Read Aloud Day activities this year.

2019 World Read Aloud Day Participating schools:

• Denegeur Primary School (Western Cape)
• Sullivan Primary School (Western Cape)
• Cecil Road Primary School (Western Cape)
• Wemmershoek (Western Cape)
• IRG (Gauteng)
• FDR (Gauteng)
• Lisakhanya Ikusasa Reading Club (Gauteng)
• Diepsloot Primary (Gauteng)
• Hope Day Care Centre (Diepsloot)

World Read Aloud Day celebrations at Sullivan Primary School

Reading aloud to the learners at FDR Primary in celebration of World Read Aloud Day