Parent reading volunteers

[SoldMeDownTheRiver]

Hi, i've heard on here (and from TV and books etc) that most primary schools in the UK have parents that volunteer to help kids with reading. I'm currently living in the US with my two primary age DDs and there's nothing like that here (although they're always asking parents to volunteer for various things) so i was thinking of suggesting starting a group of parents to do that. Could someone let me know how it works?
Like how often do parents go in?
How many parents at a time?
How long do they stay?
How long do they spend with each kid?
What age are the kids?
Anything else you can think of.
Im sure it's different in different schools so would like to hear lots of examples. Thanks!

I used to go in for a couple of hours a week to my son's school (though not his class)
Reception - so 4-5 year about olds
Listened to them read for about 10-15 minutes each, helped them pick a new book and wrote a little note for the teacher.

I did it in year 1 and 2, so equivalent of kindergarten and first grade. Took about half an hour, once a week, usually 3-4 kids at a time. The others would do same with another parent, class teacher or ta. Sessions were at least 3 times a week and each child would see one parent, teacher and ta in rotation.

IME, parents tend to volunteer once a week, usually for an afternoon / hour and half ish.
That said, I've also been lucky enough to have parents who stay for 20mins / 1/2hour every morning when they drop their children off.
Usually only one parent to a class.
A surprising number of teachers I've worked with, don't like having parent volunteers - I'm amazed as I loved parent volunteers in the classroom
It depends on what the teacher want as to how long the spend per child - some teachers like to ask them to work their way through the whole class, others prefer to give a lot more time to a smaller group.
Tends to be Primary aged (that is 4 - 11 in England and Wales). Tends to be a lot easier to find volunteers in the Infant years (4 - 7).

I do an hour every Friday morning with the year one class and I so one-to-one reading with children (sometimes something else like spellings / sentences) - probably get through 6 kids in an hour.

I was a 'reading parent ' for a few years at my dcs primary school .
I went in for an hour twice a week, always in a different class and year to the ones my children were in .

I would have 4/5 regular children allocated to me by the teacher, I would be given a sheet with 'my children's ' names on , I ticked the sheet after the child had read to me .
Although we were encouraged to give praise we were not expected to make any other comments on a child's ability .
I enjoyed it and even though the majority of children do read regularly at home it builds confidence reading aloud to a different audience

I do an afternoon a week - I started in Y1/2 but now help out with Y5 and 6 - there is a dearth of helpers who will assist older kids with their reading, I was asked and tried it and it is lovely to listen to the difference you can make - most Y5/6 boys (in particular) will read to you in a never ending monotone, til you explain it is a story and reading is supposed to be fun - that different people in the story can talk in different voices etc.

I was a reading parent at my children's school when they were young. Beware , it can be addictive-in fact so addictive I trained as a teacher and am now a Head of School!

Thanks so much for the replies!
Another question - who organises it? Is there one parent that organises all the reading volunteers for the entire school? So for example at the beginning of the year a parent would register their interest in volunteering with this "organiser" who then liaises with the teachers and allocates time slots? Or is it organised on a class by class basis? Or year by year basis?

Spanieleyes Wow that's amazing! I love listening to children read too! I did this volunteering in a secondary school in England when i was a uni student and loved it.

Sold I was a parent reader. I would do 45 minutes 2 mornings a week. The teacher would highlight children to read with first and if I got through all of those, pick someone who hadn't been read with in a while. I would hear them for approx 10 minutes and jot down a short note for the teacher.

The parent readers were organised by the school senco who would request volunteers, provide a short training session and organise the timetable/allocate parents to classes (parent would never be with their own child's class).

All parents were required to have a criminal records check.

There are usually children who's parents can't read English or understand phonics and really struggle with pronunciation etc.

Usually 4 per class

I would say you volunteer for a year group and take the lowest 6 at least weekly - time arranged with the teacher

Most successful was an allotted slot 9-9:30 each morning sonallnpernets left the premises then - this is the time the teacher takes the register dinners coats etc

One idea is to have a book box for readers - so Jane and Paul put there book bag in a box and simon and Carole add there's - then a parent pops along takes a bag and finds the child to read with and then child takes the bag back to its normal place

Or

For example each parent has a selection of reading bands pink red blue and grabs a child to read the book then the next - lot less faffing with a child finding the book bag - usually empty - no reading record etc so they use the parents supply book which is changed weekly

Our school did not have anyone organising,

parents themselves just said to a teacher "Do you need a parent helper on a Wednesday afternoon?" or whenever... they'd either say yes, ask for a different time or indicate they had plenty but another teacher might need someone.

Usually not your own childs class. I loved doing this.

At our school, when entering school, they give us a questionnaire to indicate if we are interested to help. Then class teacher contact us if needed. There was section to tick, if we are willing to help with children, or prefer general back ground help.
I ticked background, so I was asked to help organising books in the library, sorting wall display etc.
I think reading parents are organised by class teacher, from list of parents willing to help in class.

My husband helps for one afternoon a week and exclusively works with yr 6 and those struggling with reading in the run up to sats. However he was the only regular parent reader in the whole school last year after the school introduced rules to say that not only did the parents have to have a full DBS but also had to provide 2 written references as to their fitness to work with children. As a result most didn't bother and so there were no parent readers for most classes.

No one organising. It is just part of the culture, so the classroom teacher would tell any interested parent which day they needed someone...
I went in once a week, first thing in the morning- there were usually 2 parents each day.
The TA would give me a stack of kids' "reading diaries" and I would get through as many of them as I could (usually 3-4).
The goal was for every child to read with an adult every day first thing for a little while, but of course that didn't actually happen.
After the kids could read a bit, they were put in very small groups of similar ability to read with an adult.
I think parents usually read with the kids who needed a bit more 1:1 help and enthusiasm from an adult.
It was lovely, very low key and easy going, and a great way to get a feeling for the atmosphere of a school. Also very nice to have a regular role which is not time-consuming, but feels like you are giving back a bit to the community, and becoming (in a very low-key way) a part of the community.
We never needed any kind of reference of police check, but this is a fairly small school with a very common sense attitude, and no parent was ever going to be alone in a closed room with a child because we sat in the open plan library or in the area outside the classroom (open plan with a desk, storage shelves, and sink for each class).

I used to go in for 1.5-2hrs once a week and get through as many children as I could in the time. Organised with the class teacher. There were a few children who needed to be listened to every day, and otherwise I used to plough through the list finding the children who hadn't be listened to at school recently.
Later in DDs lime at school I went in for an afternoon and listened to the upper primary (age 8-11) struggling readers.

Thanks everyone.
My daughter is starting 3rd grade this week (same as Y4 in England) and she says that they usually have independent reading time every day but they only read 1-1 with an adult about 3 times a year!

When my DD was in Sixth Form (so aged 16 - 18) she, and various others in her year, used to go and hear children at a local primary school read. This all happened at lunch time, so am not sure if the younger children's participation was voluntary or compulsory!

How it is organised is very individual to the school. As has been said, some will be via one appointed member of staff (sometimes but not always the SENCo, or might be the Literacy co-ordinator). Some will be direct to any teacher. I, personally have never come across a parent organising it.
Some schools have a policy of not having parents in their own child's class.
Is normal practice for the volunteers to be DBS checked.

Yes, all 3 of my dc(at aged about 15) used to be reading buddies to Yr 7s (11-12 yrs, the first yr in secondary in England), while they were at school. Slightly different I know from parents volunteers, but a reflection on how difficult it is to get adult volunteers in Secondary schools.

In our school one of the assistant heads is the person to contact, or just leave your name and times you are willing to do at the office and they will get back to you.
It is such a help to have parents willing to give up their time to do this.
I did It an afternoon a week ( to start with) which led me on to helping in the classroom, and then doing TA training! I have been there ever since in an employed capacity!

Thanks for the new replies!
Another question - do the parent volunteers go to the classroom or do they do it in another room?
I just want to have a good idea of how it works in my head before i suggest it to the teacher.

We did it either in the classroom, the library or at a table just outside the classroom door - the younger the reader the more likely it was to be in the classroom so they felt comfortable.

Does depend on the school - quite a lot will sit in the corridor just outside the room, so it is a bit quieter, and so they are not using up space inside a smaller classroom. Some have little work stations just outside the classroom or a nearby library area. Some are in the classroom. Is very individual to the Geography of the school.

I've read with reception in their classroom or year 1 in reception area which just outside their classroom. They have a few little tables out for break out groups or 1:1s, so I'm never on my own with the kids.

Sometimes one other volunteer at the same time as me. I don't think the class has more than that, space is limited, and regular time-slots where they aren't busy doing something with the whole class are limited.

Volunteers do a DBS (criminal record) check, and safeguarding training, as do any adults who are regularly in school. There is a teacher who coordinates it, though that's mostly setting up the initial checks and assigning volunteers to a teacher, after that I've just arranged with the teacher when she wants me in or not.