Lower Sixth Formers Arthur Sowerby and Max Lusty joined a group of Y3 primary school children at Scott Primary School for a guided reading session on Wednesday 5 February.

The exercise, which is now a regular weekly fixture in the boys’ timetable, forms part of a wider ‘Community Partnerships’ school initiative which will see more boys than ever working in partnership with community groups such as schools and care homes.

The initiative allows us to engage fully with the world around us, especially with our local town, at both an individual and at institutional level and help us to play our part. We aim to teach responsible citizenship to our boys, to act as a responsible organisation and to encourage harmony amongst people of varying backgrounds. This will be done through partnership work, where both sides of each partnership are equally valued and mutually respected.

Arthur told us, “The idea of developing and nurturing young minds appealed to me as I thought it would be a great contribution to the community. Not many boys had chosen this option and so that was another reason why I was drawn to it.”

After a briefing from the Head Teacher at Scott Primary, Mrs Barker, the boys accompanied a group of seven children to the tranquillity and comfort of the school library where each child was able to spend around 10 minutes reading their books aloud to the boys.

Both Arthur and Max listened attentively to the children and discussed the stories afterwards. They were both very gentle and patiently worked through the books, helping the readers with pronunciation and breaking down more tricky words.

Scott Primary’s Head Teacher, Mrs Barker, told us, “We are so grateful for the opportunity that Bedford School are offering. It is a fabulous way to share the love of reading and it gives our children another opportunity to be heard reading.”   

Max said of the experience afterwards, “It’s nice to interact with children outside of Bedford School. It’s very rewarding especially when you’re with the child when they finish a book. It feels like I have done a little bit to help them achieve that.”

 

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