Year 7 Reading Mentor Program

The Lighthouse Foundation has once again partnered with Greater Shepparton Secondary College, this time to provide volunteer reading mentors for a number of our students in Year 7. This program has previously run with the volunteer reading mentors coming on site to schools weekly but, due to Covid-19, Fiona Smolenaars from The Lighthouse Project has come up with an alternative so the program can continue to be offered. 

We are currently working with the Greater Shepparton Secondary College IT team and The Lighthouse Project to move this awesome program to an online environment, one the students are now very familiar with thanks to remote learning; Microsoft Teams. With the assistance of two wonderful Year 7 volunteer students, Alana Owen and Maggie Harrison, we have begun to a pilot version of the program. By doing this we are able to sort out issues that may arise and iron out all of the wrinkles before we expand the program further. 

When online, the volunteer reading mentor connects with two students, then they spend time chatting, reading, and talking about what they have read. This happens weekly during one of the students’ English classes. 

We are confident this additional focus on literacy and reading will continue to provide a supportive learning environment for all students to achieve success at Greater Shepparton Secondary College. Parents also play a significant role at home in modelling and encouraging your son/daughter to read at home. Parents and carers, please be on the lookout for a note with information on Compass soon. 

Julie Jerome 

Assistant Principal 

Teaching and Learning 

McGuire Campus