ARCh - Assisted Reading for Children Oxfordshire

28/08/2026

And just like that, the summer holidays are coming to an end! We hope you’ve all had a wonderful break filled with sunshine, adventures, plenty of fun… and maybe a good book or two!

At ARCh, we’re looking forward to schools starting again next week and welcoming our Reading Helpers back into schools across Oxfordshire.

A new school year means new beginnings, new friendships, new challenges- and lots of opportunities for children to grow in confidence and develop a love of reading!

If you'd like to join us as the new school year gets under way, please just get in touch- we'd love to chat with you about how you can help use change a child's life through reading!

26/08/2026

In honour of the passing of the legendary Dolly Parton, we wanted to take a moment to share information about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. If you haven't heard of it, it's an incredible programme that gets free books to children in the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia. In the UK alone so far, 7 MILLION books have been given to children to inspire them to love reading! Dolly was a true champion of children's reading and believed in the difference books can make to a child's life. If your child is aged 0-5, you can sign up to the Imagination Library here https://imaginationlibrary.com/uk/

Celebrating 30 Years of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library!🎉

For 30 years, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has been changing lives—one book, one child, one dream at a time. What started as a small-town promise in Tennessee has grown into a worldwide gift of literacy, inspiring a love of reading in over 270 million children in 5 countries.

Dolly’s vision was simple but powerful: every child deserves the joy of books, no matter where they come from. Today, because of her heart and generosity, and with the help of local program partners across the globe, millions of children have turned their first pages, discovered new worlds, and built brighter futures—one book at a time.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, Dolly for showing us how to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More. Here’s to 30 years—and many more—of inspiring a lifelong love of reading! 📚

20/08/2026

Today, thousands of young people across the country are opening their GCSE results and finding out where their hard work has taken them. But behind every GCSE result are years of learning- and some of the foundations for that learning are laid much earlier than we might think.

Research has found a significant relationship between children's reading ability and their eventual performance across GCSE subjects, not just English, but maths, science and the arts too. GL Assessment analysed data from more than 370,000 secondary school pupils and found a significant correlation between reading ability and GCSE results across all subjects.

When an ARCh Reading Helper sits down with a child in primary school, we're not just helping them read the book in front of them.We're helping them build the vocabulary, comprehension, confidence and love of reading that can support their learning for years to come.

At ARCh, our Reading Helpers work with children one-to-one to help them develop those skills, and, just as importantly, to discover that reading can be enjoyable!

We may not see the GCSE results that child receives years from now, but we know that every book, every conversation and every little moment of reading confidence is part of the journey.

Congratulations to everyone receiving their results today-and to everyone who helped them get there!

18/08/2026

Did you know we offer Book Box sponsorship? Here's one of our lovely ARCh Reading Helpers with a Book Box kindly sponsored by Didcot Town Council. If you know of a business or organisation that would like to support our work by sponsoring a Book Box, please do get in touch!

13/08/2026

At ARCh, picture books are a much-loved part of our 1:1 reading sessions-and they’re about so much more than simply looking at pictures! These are just some of our current favourites- what’s your favourite picture book? What do you recommend we add to our library?

Picture books create wonderful opportunities for conversation. A child might spot something in an illustration, make a prediction, ask a question or tell their Reading Helper about something that reminds them of their own life. Every page can spark a new conversation and help build confidence in speaking and sharing ideas.
They also give children something really important: success. Finishing an entire book in one session can give a child a fantastic sense of achievement, especially for children who may find reading challenging.
But most importantly… they’re fun!
A great picture book can make a child laugh, wonder, ask questions and want to turn the next page. And when you’re trying to inspire a love of reading, picture books are a great place to start!

12/08/2026

Join us at either 1pm or 6.30pm on Wednesday 26th August to find out more about the work we do and how you can join us as an ARCh Reading Helper. With September around the corner, now is the perfect time to join us and help us inspire children to love reading for the new school year! You can register for the webinar of your choice here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/i4B9tQJ7Ln

Please share this with anyone you feel may be interested. Thank you!

06/08/2026

Our Reading sessions are all around sharing books, but we always include a game or two as well! Games are a great way for the ARCh Reading Helper and child to build a relationship, develop problem solving skills, and mostly importantly… have fun! What’s your favourite game that you think we could use in our Reading Sessions? Here’s a few of the games in our office!

05/08/2026

On July 14th, we held our annual Summer Volunteer Meeting, and one of the highlights each year is the presentation of our Long Service Awards. This year we had volunteers who were awarded for 5, 10 and even 15 years of service! You can read more about some of our award winners and the day here: https://archoxfordshire.org.uk/long-service-volunteer.../
A huge thank you to all of our award-winners and every single one of our volunteers for all their hard work this past academic year!

31/07/2026

Thinking about becoming an ARCh Reading Helper?

If you’ve been wondering what volunteering with ARCh is all about, but you’re not quite sure where to start, I’d love to have a chat with you!

You can book a relaxed phone call or Zoom chat with me to find out more, ask any questions, and see if volunteering with ARCh could be right for you. There’s no pressure or commitment, just an opportunity to have a friendly conversation and learn more about how you could help a child discover the joy of reading.

Whether you’re retired, working, studying, or just looking to give something back, we’d love to hear from you.

Book a chat with me by emailing [email protected] or by sending us a direct message on here.

30/07/2026

One question we often get asked by people interested in become an ARCh Reading Helper is whether we provide the books for the sessions… and we absolutely do! Our office in Bicester is stocked full of every children’s book you can imagine. Here is just one half of one book shelf in our office! We are so proud of our book collection and the fact that we will have a book for every child, regardless of their age or interests. And if you become an ARCh Reading Helper, these books are free for your perusal for your sessions, too!