Simplified Grants

Rotary's District Simplified Grant scheme supports projects for Literacy and Numeracy or Water Conservation projects.  The Rotary Club of Dingley Village is part of the worldwide network of Rotary Clubs that devote themselves to doing positive things in our local communities.  Rotary supports and encourages literacy activities worldwide.

Studies have shown that developing literacy in early childhood is a key factor in developing scholastic achievement as well as both intellectual and social development.  Reading at an early age promotes a love of reading and learning in later life.

Athol Road Primary School West Campus (formerly Springvale South P.S.) received funding from the Rotary Club of Dingley Village to purchase literacy programs for their interactive whiteboards.  These programs are used extensively in every classroom, not only with the interactive whiteboards for classroom delivery, but also on stand alone computers by the children to read and write and complete highly engaging literacy activities.

Coomoora Primary School Reading

 

Knowing how to read and write can transform a person’s life.  These basic skills, which so many of us take for granted, can change a person’s life.  Literacy opens doors to employment and economic security.  Even in wealthy countries, like Australia, children can slip through the system and not be proficient in reading and writing by the time they leave school.

 

Rotary supports and encourages literacy activities worldwide.  Did you know that nearly 800 million people worldwide over the age of 15 can neither read nor write.  Studies have shown that developing literacy in early childhood is a key factor in developing academic achievement as well as both intellectual and social development.  Reading at an early age promotes a love of reading and learning in later life.

 

To boost literacy rates in our immediate community, we have a partnership program with Keysborough Primary School, Coomoora Campus wherein we provide reading volunteers who listen to the children read in class. 

 

These children predominantly come from non-English speaking homes.  Often there is no-one at home with English skills who can hear them read.  Sometimes, the parents do not have enough basic English skills to help their child, or the parents may be working and the children are left with grandparents who have no English reading skills whatsoever. 

 

Our helpers attend the school one morning a week between 9.00 and 10.45am.  The children are beautiful well-behaved kids who are all very eager to have the one on one reading attention that we can provide.  They are mainly Grade 2 and Grade 3 children, and since we started helping them at the beginning of the year their reading skills have improved considerably.  We know that we are making a difference in their future life. 

 

We do not have enough people to help us with this program.  What is needed – some free time between 9.00 and 10.45am one morning a week – you pick the day, which is right for you.  The only other requirement is a Working with Children Permit, which you can apply for at the Post Office.  There is no charge for this permit if you are a volunteer, however there is a small cost involved for a “passport” type photo, which is used on the permit.  The permit is valid for five years. 

 

Where is the school?  The Coomoora Road campus of Keysborough Primary School is in Coomoora Road, Springvale South. 

 

What will you get out of this project?  You will see enormous literacy improvement in the children you help. You will contribute to ensuring that Australia has one of the highest rates of literacy in the first world.   But most of all, you will be responsible for transforming the life of a child and helping them with the literacy skills they will need for their future intellectual and social development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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