Children from a Leicester primary school have paired up with residents at a local care home to become ‘reading buddies.’
The new scheme will see year 6 pupils from Stafford Leys Primary School visit Aylesham Court Care Home each Friday, where they will read to different residents for half an hour.
All 60 residents at Aylesham Court have been invited to take part in the reading sessions, and each week, 6 residents and 6 pupils will take turns to get involved.
The idea came from Annie Southin, Activities Co-Ordinator at Aylesham Court, which sits in Kirby Muxloe.
“It is extremely important for us at Aylesham Court to stay connected with the community and we’re keen to keep our residents’ minds and bodies and as active as possible,” she explained.
As the first session was so well received, the school and care home have agreed to make the sessions an ongoing weekly commitment over the next few months.
One resident, Brenda Petcher commented: “I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the children read. They got to choose their own book and I helped them with some of the bigger words. It reminded me of teaching my grandchildren to read, such a lovely experience.”
Another resident, Albert Morris, commented: “We had some tea and cake before we started reading, so I got to know all the children’s names and what books they like to read. It was so nice to have some new faces visiting us, they brightened up my day.”
