Case Story - From a teacher's perspective

I was very pleased that eleven children in our school were given the opportunity to take part in the Suas literacy programme. The children chosen all have difficulties in the area of reading and would be significantly weaker than others in their classes in the area of literacy. It is difficult to give these children the amount of help they need in the classroom setting, as there are so many other children to cater for also. It was really great for them as they had one-to-one mentoring every day for five weeks.

The children enjoyed the programme and looked forward to it each day. They struck up a good relationship with their individual mentors from the start. They wanted to do well and felt a sense of achievement as they worked their way through the sets of cards. I feel that the programme helped in raising confidence levels among the girls. They are more willing to sound out words and attempt to spell them phonetically than before. Because of the one-to-one set up they didn't need to worry about getting words wrong in front of their peers and I think that is one of the main positives of the programme.

Both the Suas staff and the A&L Goodbody mentors were a pleasure to work with. They had a very good relationship with the children and were very friendly and reliable. The trip to A&L Goodbody at the end of the programme was well organised and was a great opportunity for the children to gain an insight into the working world. They really enjoyed it. They were made up with the certificates and book vouchers, and most of all with the special attention they received. One girl in particular described it as the best day of her life!