Schools across Weymouth and Portland are bringing seasonal cheer to older residents across the area with a video of Christmas readings from their students.
Fourteen schools have contributed to the video which has been put together by Dorset council so it can be shared with older residents who live in nursing and residential homes.
Anna Knight, chair of Dorset Care Homes Association, said:
“Because of the pandemic we have not had so many younger visitors over the last two years and many of our residents have really missed that. This is an ideal way for them to see local children and get into the Christmas spirit at the same time, particularly now that cases of covid seem to be on the rise again and we are having to be more restrictive with visitors.”
As well as providing entertainment, this project is part of the Chesil Reading Project which aims to support every child in the Weymouth and Portland area to be a reader. By finding different ways to encourage children to read, the project hopes to inspire a love of reading that will stay with the children for many years.
Cllr Andrew Parry, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Children, Education, Skills and Early Help, said:
“We know that children who are behind in their reading age struggle to access their learning and that gap, if not closed early, just gets bigger and harder to close.
“Current research tells us that Covid 19 has now impacted children’s reading ability even further, putting many of our youngest children at 3-6 months behind where they should be so we’re always keen to find exciting new ways to encourage them to read.
“The Read Aloud project gives children the perfect opportunity to embrace the joy of reading, whilst giving this as a gift to others this Christmas.”
You can watch the video on the Dorset Council channel on YouTube.
Chesil readaloud Southill Primary School