Reading Aloud Project Amsterdam 

De Springplank primary school is situated in Amsterdam's Bos en Lommer area. More than 90% of the pupils in the school come from a non-Dutch background. Many of these children have difficulties in reading and speaking Dutch, because they do not, or hardly, speak Dutch at home or their parents do not encourage reading (of Dutch books). It has emerged that these language problems cause learning difficulties at an older age and hamper leading a successful life. This learning difficulty can be removed by giving the children extra coaching when they're young. The extra coaching is what we have been providing since 2009. For one hour a week, a growing number of lawyers and civil law notaries give extra reading support to children with language problems in groups 1 to 8. The programme has been set up in consultation with the school’s teaching staff. The teachers supply the materials and select the children who will benefit from the extra support. In addition to this active participation, De Brauw also provided De Springplank with new books to stimulate the children's pleasure in reading.

Project managerStefan Molin