Alice had no confidence and preferred to be invisible in class rather than be asked to speak. She was very quiet with her RQ tutor at first but loved playing games and sharing books. Soon, she was amazed at how much she could read but was still reluctant to write. She was persuaded to make a book about being a chef in a restaurant as that was what she wanted to do. She found that writing was fun with the support of her RQ tutor and she grew in confidence day-by-day.

Ryan had missed quite a lot of school due to poor attendance and illness. He was angry that his friends could read better than him and his family seemed unwilling to help him. He was unsure about Reading Quest but liked the kind tutor and started to make progress. He was delighted when he was praised by his class teacher for his written work and had his work put up on a board at school. He managed to persuade his older brother to watch a lesson and now reads to him regularly.

Nadia found literacy hard in class as she had only arrived in the UK a year ago and her family spoke little English at home. She loved the speaking and listening aspects to RQ lessons and spent some time learning to spell of lots of English words that she didn’t know and loved choosing a book to take home each day. She encouraged her Mum and Dad to watch lessons and they began English-speaking classes in order to support her. By the end of her RQ course, Nadia enjoyed reading books to her younger siblings at home and felt she could enjoy literacy lessons in class.

John was disruptive in class and avoided all contact with reading and writing. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do Reading Quest lessons but quite enjoyed the 1-1 contact and after some lessons, he found he was getting really quite good at literacy. He realised he could keep up with his friends in class and was proud to read to his Mum at home. He loved attending Family Libraries and still comes. He has also become an avid reader and a regular contributor to classroom discussions.