Buddies building a love of literacy

Volume 10 Number 12 December 8 2014 - January 11 2015

 

Students from the University of Melbourne have been working with Ardoch Youth Foundation on their Literacy Buddies program with some great results. By Kate Dukes.

There are many Victorian children who need extra help with their literacy skills, and this is where Ardoch Youth Foundation’s Literacy Buddies program is helping out, in line with the Foundation’s mission to provide education support for children and young people experiencing disadvantage.

The program teams adults, the ‘Big Buddies,’ with children, their ‘Little Buddies’, to encourage the Little Buddies to read and write, while providing meaningful interactions with positive adult role models. 

St Thomas Aquinas School in Geelong has been collaborating with Ardoch for a number of years to help enthuse their students about the importance and joys of writing. On a beautiful Spring day this year, the Year 6 students from the school visited the University of Melbourne as part of the program being run with a group of creative writing students.

The buddies have been exchanging letters throughout the year, sharing their interests and stories they have written and often decorating the letters with wonderful illustrations and graphics.

“This experience has been different from anything they have done before,” explains the Little Buddies teacher, Christie Waight.

“It has been great for them, not just for the writing aspect but for the mentoring – having someone to look up to. It has given our students the opportunity to meet new people, learn more about study and life at university and that there can be wonderful rewards when you step outside your comfort zone,” Ms Waight says. 

During their visit to the University of Melbourne, the group of excited Little Buddies had an opportunity to do just that, travelling to meet their buddies and experience university life for a day. The young boys and girls shared stories with their buddies before heading off on a tour of the campus, which included a walk across the lawns and a short history lesson in the quadrangle. To their delight the tour ended in the Sports Precinct where an impromptu soccer game was a highlight of the day. 

The program has been a really positive experience for the University creative writing students as well, who have previously faced the challenge of writing stories for children without knowing what a child wants: they aren’t children themselves any more and some don’t have younger siblings. 

“This year I thought it would be a good opportunity to give them their own young reader to provide feedback on their work,” says Dr Amy Brown, the students’ tutor.

“I think it has surprised them seeing the range of literacy levels and vocabulary. That’s the nice thing about corresponding by letter rather than in person – they get to assess the reading age as well as learn about their interests and try to enthuse them with books,” Dr Brown says.

The collaboration between the University of Melbourne and Ardoch looks set to grow with other programs being discussed with other faculties for 2015, all with the same ultimate goal: to foster a love of learning.

 

www.ardoch.asn.au