Why REP?
"Learning to be a reader gives us a terrific advantage" - Roald Dahl
The transition to secondary school can be tricky. Finding new friends, adjusting to different systems, managing a heavier workload – all of these are demanding enough, and an additional struggle with literacy can make for a very challenging time for students.
The Problem
To achieve success at secondary school, strong literacy is a necessity. At this level, it goes beyond learning to read, to reading to learn. Unfortunately, this is a barrier for many young people.
Students from low literacy backgrounds may not have the fluency and confidence they need to handle the literacy standards of NCEA – these young people can get left behind.
Individualised support is what is needed, but schools aren't in a position to provide it.
The Solution
This is where REP comes in!
REP (Rotary Reading Enrichment Programme) is a mentoring programme that brings in volunteers from the community, in coordinated teams, to work 1:1 with these students. It is within these pairings that the magic happens – intergenerational, mutually-enriching relationships are built between people who otherwise might not have crossed paths.
REP's goal is to give the students a boost – lift their literacy levels, increase their confidence, and set them on an improved academic path for the rest of their school life. It is a model of purposeful partnership between school and community, where each plays to their strengths.
