Staff at a local building society are going back to school to help youngsters improve their reading skills.

A team of volunteers from Bradford and Bingley Building Society are swapping the office for the classroom at Crossflatts First School to take part in the Better Reading Partners scheme.

And it is a winner all round, said headteacher Andrew Neal, who says it is producing dramatic results. "We already have high reading standards, but with this initiative our children are now reaching even higher levels of achievement," he said.

Pupils' reading ages are being boosted by an average of nine months during the ten-week scheme which sees staff from the building society go into school three times a week to spend 15 minutes on a one-to-one reading session.

"The children are very keen to become involved and parents and governors have been delighted with the impact it has had," added Mr Neal.

The group of 15 staff were allowed time away from work to complete an intensive two-day training course run by the Better Reading Partnership, which is itself run by Bradford City Council's Language and Literacy Team.

Liz Fisher, teacher advisor on the team, said Bradford and Bingley staff were very keen to sign.

"Both sides get a lot out of the scheme and parents have been thrilled at the impact it has had on their children's reading level and confidence," she said.

The company's Community Project's Manager, Barbara Smith, added: "It is great being able to make a real difference in our local community. Watching the children progress so quickly in such an important area of learning is wonderful."

Crossflatts is the latest school in the district to join the scheme, which is now in its third year.

Since then some 1,300 Better Reading Partners have been trained, ranging from parents and classroom assistants to sixth formers, to help more than 4,000 children in around 160 schools.

The success of the scheme has attracted interest from other local authorities and so far representatives from 32 local education authorities have been trained by the Bradford team.

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