It was a great honour to help out at the Barnardos Ireland Wizards of Words (WoW) graduation last month. This wonderful reading programme pairs children from DEIS schools with adult volunteers. The volunteers are trained and supported and work with the children on a one to one basis for half an hour a day, three days a week for eight months. The children are tested before and after and significant progress with literacy is reported, not to mention lots of other benefits as well.
The graduates from four schools (mostly from first class) received a mini Gringer workshop and each was presented with a signed copy of Gringer.
The staff from Barnardos who run this fantastic programme: Michelle King, Suzanne Connolly and Therese O’Doherty.