Case Studies
Principal David Hutchinson, Roberta Howell, Jackie Gregg (DRD), Janet Watson (DRD) & Patricia Crossey (First Trust Bank) with the Time to Read children and their parents 
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Workplace visit—24 June 2010
Seaview PS to SHS Group Ltd
Christine Wallace & the Time to Readchildren from Seaview Primary School visiting the company premises. |
Workplace visit—24 June 2010
St Mark's PS to Botannic Inns
Nathan, Carly & Philomena O'Hagan from St Mark's PS with Gordon Harvey & Tierna (seated) of Botanic Inns |
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Conor of Botanic Inns with Nathan and the design work he created on the visit.
Workplace visit—23 June 2010
St Comgalls PS, Antrim to Firmus Energy
Firmus volunteers and the children from Harryville PS & St Comgall's PS are joined by Peter McMahon from NITEC (second from left at back) on the visit to Firmus Energy. |
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Workplace visit—22 June 2010
Holy Rosary PS, Forge IPS, Lisnasharragh PS,
Our Lady of Lourdes PS & St Matthew's PS
to the Whitestar House Offices of Citi Bank
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Inside the Pump House of the |
A reconstruction of part of the |
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The final struggle—pulling to exhaustion!
Workplace visit—17 June 2010
Cairnshill PS, Finaghy PS, and Lisnasharragh PS to Business in the Community NI, Belfast
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Time to Read children from the three schools pictured with their volunteers from BITCNI together with staff from the respective schools
Workplace visit—9 June 2010
Edmund Rice PS & Harding Memorial PS to Lagan Construction
Edmund Rice PS & Harding Memorial PS Time to Read children visited Lagan Construction's office and site (Shaw's Bridge). Lagan's Time to Read volunteers, Nicola McDermott and Karen Dilworth, are pictured in the photograph together with colleagues and the Time to Read children. . |
Workplace visit—9 June 2010
Redburn Primary School to George Best Belfast City Airport
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Ellie Miskelly, Paula McFarland, and Rhona Rowan from George Best Belfast City Airport support the children in Time to Read in Redburn Primary School. On an extensive workplace visit to the Airport the children were accompanied by David Fullerton and Ellen Rowley (who also read with the children) and the school Principal, Linda Sloan.
Workplace visit—8 June 2010
Hollybank Primary School to Marsh Ltd
Peter Kelly of Marsh with the Time to Read children. 
L-R: Sharon Haggan, Nora McIlwain from Hollybank PS & Kathleen Hamill with (front L-R) Elsdaida, Cameron, Sarah & Jay |
Workplace visit—7 June 2010
Rathmore Primary School to the Department of Education, Rathgael House, Bangor
A busy and enjoyable time was had by all!  |
Workplace visit—2 June 2010
St Colmcille's Primary School to Ballymena Academy
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John McElrea and his Time to Read pupils from St Colmcille's Primary, Ronan & Cameron, pictured in the entrance hall of Ballymena Academy with the School's Cup displayed, which the school won in 2010. John was previously a teacher in the Academy and arranged for the boys to have an extensive tour of the school buildings. |
Workplace visit—2 June 2010
Ballysillan Primary School
to Royal Mail Returns office, Tomb Street, Belfast
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Debbie McAuley and Barbara Whitten of Royal Mail are pictured with the volunteers: Jill Harvey, Christine Wilson, and Jill McMullen. | |
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Workplace visit—27 May 2010
Hazelwood Integrated PS to Aurion Learning
Ormeau Road Belfast
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Ciaran O'Hare & Sandy Kane de Saissy of Aurion with Graeme McKimm of BITC and the Hazelwood IPS children | |
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Workplace visit—21 May 2010
St Eithne's PS, Derry to Airporter
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L-R: Jennifer McKeever, Airporter, Janet McGonagle, St Eithnes PS |
2 June
Time to Read at Seaview PS
Michelle McGuire (Hamilton Holdings) & Christine Wallace (SHS)
with the Time to Read children: Blane, Reece, Taylor, and Caiti
2 June
Time to Read at Harryville PS, Ballymena
L-R: Caren Crockett (NI Courts Service) and Kathryn Kirk (Firmus Energy)
with Troy, Leah, Amy, Joshua
2 June
Time to Read at Redburn PS, Holywood
L-R:Jaymee, Russell, Aaron, Amy, Charley & Craig
Seated: Ellie Miskelly & Paula McFarland from George Best City Aiport
27 May
Time to Read at Knocknagoney PS
The children in this school have a session of Time to Read with Tom Clarke from AccessNI and Linzey Grierson of the Citi Group. On the 2nd morning each week they have Time to Read with Stephen Cowan from the NIO and Allison Brown from First Trust Bank.
On the occasion of this photograph, Tom is seen working with Michael and Adam.
L-R: Michael, Tom, and Adam
18 May
Time to Read at Elmgrove PS
The programme in this school has been supported over the years by volunteers from the First Trust Bank and other individuals, including more recently, volunteers from the Department of Regional Development. When our photographer called, he was able to photograph Patricia and Nichola from First Trust Bank with the Time to Read children.
Standing L-R:Nichola McAllister, Madison, Matthew & Patricia Crossey
Seated L-R: Cameron, Chloe, Brooklyn & Joshua
Workplace visit—26 May 2010
King's Park PS Lurgan's Time to Read children
to DRD Roads Service, Southern Division HQ
in Marlborough House Craigavon
Ann Dawson and Maureen Simmons from the Roads Service, together with Susan Beattie from Almac, support the children in Time to Read in King's Park Primary School.
A very informative visit was arranged to the Road Service Southern Division Head Quarters in Marlborough House.
The group was welcomed by the Manager, Bertie Ellison, and this was followed by a tour of the workplace and a presentation by the Principal Engineer, Leslie McCullough, on the major construction work of the almost completed Newry bypass. The children and adults were then treated to refreshments!
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Bertie Ellison, the Southern Division Manager for Roads Service welcoming the group at the start of the visit | |
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L-R: Laimonas, Adam, Madison & Ann Dawson |
L-R:Campbell Dixon, Raymond Smyth (school Principal), Andrea McCooke
& Kay Galbraith with pupils Glenn, Philip, Jade, Rebecca, Craig & Cain
17 May
Time to Read at Finaghy PS
Time to Read in Finaghy Primary School is supported by volunteers from NIE Energy Ltd, the NI Audit Office, Equinity ICS, BITC, Mark Hamill Solicitors and SHS.
Our photographer was present on the morning that Ashlene, from SHS, Claire, from Mark Hamill Solicitors and Cathy from the NI Audit Office were reading with the children.
Standing L-R: Shivani, Khaled, Bradley & Rebekah.
Seated L-R: Kara, Natasha, Ashlene Torney, Claire Hamill, Cathy Robinson, Allex & Josh
17 May
Time to Read at Lisnasharragh PS
Time to Read volunteers from the Northern Ireland Office, Citi, DRD and BITC, together with several retirees, read with the children in this school. Michael, Angela and John are pictured below with the Lisnasharragh Time to Read children
Standing L-R: Joshua & Victoria.
Seated L-R: Benjamin, Leah, Michael Power, Georgia, Angela Corkey, Emma
John Barrons, Charlotte & Eva
13 May 2010
Time to Read at Our Lady of Lourdes PS
The children in Our Lady of Lourdes PS have Time to Read on Tuesday and Thursday mornings this year. On Thursdays, they are supported by Gail Barber from the NIO, AnnMarie Murray from the Social Security Agency, Declan Lavery & Sean McKenna, who are both employees of the Citi Bank group.
L-R: Declan Lavery, Gail Barbour, AnnMarie Murray & Sean McKenna
Seated L-R: Aeron, Matthew, Eoin, Molly, Caitlin, Elisa & Laoise
13 May 2010
Time to Read at Hazelwood Integrated PS
Standing L-R: June Sheridan, Sandy Kane de Saissy (Aurion)
Patricia Murtagh (school Principal) & Ciaran O'Hare (Aurion).
Seated L-R: Niall, Geraldine, Rebecca, Tyrique, Angela & Caitlin.
11 May 2010
Time to Read at Braniel PS
The company Equiniti, during this school year, committed volunteers to join the Time to Read programme in several schools in the Belfast area.The photograph below shows Daphne Donnelly & Joy Young with Jake, Jack and Lee
L-R: Steven, Jake, Daphne & Joy from Equiniti, Jack and Lee
10 May 2010
Time to Read at Avoniel PS
Time to Read in Avoniel PS is supported by four volunteers. Terry Weir and Joan Kirkpatrick, from Funeral Services NI, have been reading with the children for a number of years. More recently, they have been partnered on a different morning of each week by Michael Bradley and David Crabbe from the DRD.
L-R: Nathan, Michael Bradley of DRD, Ryan, Robbie, Jessica and David Crabbe of DRD
28 April 2010
Time to Read at Edmund Rice PS, Carlisle Circus
Standing L-R: Ciaran, Catherine English (Musgrave RP)
& Nicola McDermott (Lagan Holdings)
Seated L-R: Tyler, Matthew & John-Joe
28 April 2010
Time to Read at The Good Shepherd PS, West Belfast
L-R (standing): Carrie Benson (NIHE) & Lesley-Anne McMullan (HBOS)
L-R (seated): Daniel, James, Carla & Darren
27 April 2010
Time to Read at St Comgall's PS, Antrim
Standing L-R: David Fusco & Shelley Burns from Firmus Energy
& Bernard Lynn from DRD Roads Service.
Seated L-R: Christian, Brendan, Gavin, Patrick & Gabrielle
April 2010
Time to Read at Primate Dixon PS
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Peadar Quinn helping Cormac from Primary 5 |
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Kate O'Hagan working with Vitalina |
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24 March 2010
Time to Read at St Bernard's PS, Wynchurch
(L-R) Tracie Andreaason from Equiniti with Luke,
Jordan with Wendy Stephenson from the NIO
24 March 2010
Time to Read at Holy Rosary PS
(L-R) Tierna, Faustina, Kerri Telford from HBOS, Edith Trudgett from BMC, Sean and Shea
Workplace visit—10 March 2010
Edmund Rice PS and Hollybank PS Time to Read children
to Musgrave Retail Partners in the Belfast Harbour Estate
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John the Guide with Annette McGroary MSC and Hollybank PS children Megan & Jordan |
Edmund Rice boys with Clare McKeever from the school, Catherine English MSC & Nicola McDermott from Lagan |
March 2010
Time to Read at Mossgrove PS Glengormley
Paula Kane & Elizabeth Brownlee with Amy & Kyle
L-R Andrew, Paula Kane, Elizabeth Brownlee & Emily
March 2010
Time to Read at St Bernard's PS Glengormley
L-R: Josh, Orla, Conor, Emmie, Caiti & Tammy Leigh with volunteers Kathleen Quinn, Margaret Mitchell & Lynn Holmes
Stephen Fryer from DRD with Caiti
March 2010
Time to Read at Hollybank PS
Claire Carlisle from Abbey Bond Lovis & Jonathan Lindsay from HBOS with Jay & Elsdaida
March 2010
Time to Read at Orangefield PS
Jake, Zara & Amy with volunteers David Anderson, Penny Grieve & Niall Bayly
March 2010
Time to Read at St Joseph's PS
KPMG Volunteers (L-R): Julia D'Arcy, Cathy McLean, Ciara Bradley & Claire Keenan with Christopher, Declan, Stephen, Daniel & Francis
March 2010
Time to Read at King's Park PS
Sharon Beck, Roger Armson, and Tina McClelland from Norfolkline with the Time to Read children from King's Park Primary School, Newtownabbey—
Rianna-Rose, Courtney, and Matthew
March 2010
Time to Read at Seaview PS
Siobhan Shaw and Robert Stewart from Abbey Bond Lovis with Taylor and Blane
March 2010
Time to Read at Our Lady of Lourdes PS
Gillian Somerville with Elisa; Lesley McClure seated with Matthew
Karen Logue with Caitlin
March 2010
Time to Read at Harding Memorial PS
Karen Dilworth from Lagan Construction with Ewa and Ethan
The Time to Read Research Project Schools 2009/2010
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Workplace visit—Knocknagoney PS and Finaghy PS
to First Trust Bank Head Office in Ann St Belfast (13 May 2009)
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Time to Read in St Bernard's Primary School, Glengormley
In this school, there are four very dedicated Time to Read volunteers: Kate McFaul and Geraldine Spence are from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, while Kathleen Quinn is from HBOS in Belfast, and Lynn Holmes works at Tesco's Head Office at the Abbey Retail Park.
There was added excitment on the Friday our photographer visited as it was the school sports day—hence the colourful attire of all the children.
 Lynn and Nicole |
 Geraldine and Caolan |
 Time to Read volunteers hard at work, although Kate has managed to find a table of her own out of this picture! |
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 Kate and Rachel |
 Kathleen and Clare |
Time to Read in Cliftonville Integrated Primary School
Brenda McMullan, the Principal of Cliftonville IPS, has been a supporter of Time to Read since the early 1990s, and her school has benefited from participating in several of the 'Time to' programmes. Two of our long-service volunteers, Bob Magee and John McGregor, have been supporting the children in this school since 1992, and they have recently been joined by Mary Black from the Belfast Health Action Zone.
On the 28th of May, our photographer visited the school to picture Brenda presenting a long service Time to Read award to Bob Magee. John McGregor had received his award on a previous occasion. Included in the photograph with Mary Black are the current Time to Read pupils (L-R) Gemma, Ryan, Morgan, Dylan and Katelyn
Time to Read in Our Lady's Primary School
June McCandless from Houston and Williamson on the Crumlin Road has been volunteering in Time to Read in Our Lady's Primary School since October 2005. A more recent recruit to the programme in the school is Suibhan Hynes from HMRC.
In the photograph, they are shown with (L-R) Tina, Seinalee, Niamh, and Rachel.
Another long-term volunteer in Our Lady's has been Lesley McGarry from Northern Ireland Electricity, who recently went on maternity leave and is now the proud mum of baby Grace, with whom she is no doubt starting to read in her first few months!
Time to Read in St Mark's Primary School
Gordon Harvey from Botanic Inns has been a long-term volunteer in this school and has recently been joined in Time to Read by Mavis Bracegirdle and Laura McKeown from HM Revenue & Customs. The programme in St Mark's has been extremely well coordinated by Margaret Hollywood, who has retired at the end of the 2008/2009 school year.
We wish her all the very best for her retirement!
Margaret Hollywood from St Mark's PS with Mavis Bracegirdle,
Gordon Harvey (Botanic Inns) and Laura McKeown (HMRC).
Pupils shown are Carly, Cliodhna, Declan, Shaun, Nathan and Vivienne
Time to Read in St Aidan's Primary School
St Aidan's Primary School only started Time to Read in the past school year, and on the day our photographer called, he was able to capture all the fun and excitement of Time to Read in the photograph above! Jean Sansome is a Time to Read volunteer who works for NI Libraries in the White Rock Library. She is pictured with (at right) Joyce Rainey from Business in the Community and a group of very excited Time to Read boys!
Time to Read in Harding Memorial Primary School
Harding Memorial Primary School is in the fortunate position of having 5 Time to Read volunteers. Margaret Kernaghan and Shelley Heasley from the Castlereagh Campus of the Belfast Metropolitan College do Time to Read every Friday morning while Mark McClean from the Northern Ireland Courts Service, Crystal Jiang and Karen Dilworth from Lagan Holdings work with the children on Tuesday mornings of every week. On Tuesday, 19 May, our photographer visited the school and pictured Mark and Karen with their Time to Read chidren, Abby and Jamie (seated), Thomas and Stuart
Time to Read in Seaview Primary School
Tracey Newman and Michelle Maguire from Hamilton Shipping are recent recruits to Time to Read. On a visit to the school, in the middle of May, they were photographed with Neil Telford of Nortel who has been a Time to Read volunteer for 4 years. Included in the photograph are the children (L-R) David, Jade, Dillon, Jack, Dean and Jay
Time to Read in St Eithnes Primary School
St Eithne's Primary School in Derry is supported in Time to Read by volunteers from three local companies: Airporter Ltd; First Trust Bank; and HML. Jennifer McKeever and Maria Jackson work for the coach company Airporter, Helena Begley and Stephanie Curren are from the Strand Road branch of the First Trust Bank, and Mary McElhinney works for HML (Home Loan Management). In the new school year, further volunteers from HML will be joining the team in St Eithnes.
Time to Read in Ballysillan Primary School
On a return visit to Ballysillan Primary School, our photographer pictured Donna Magee from FG Wilson with Reece and Thomas, Holly and Jonathan. Donna's colleague, Larry Donaghy, was not able to attend on this morning. Both these volunteers from FG Wilson have been supporting the children for an incredible 8 years in Time to Read! Donna was frequently a guest volunteer at training sessions for new volunteers, where she was able to enthuse others of her love of Time to Read—to the extent that she would write plays for their children to perform!
Time to Read in Hart Memorial Primary School
A new set of Time to Read volunteers from the Almac Group Ltd in Portadown recently started to support the children in this school. Julie Shipley, the school Principal, and Andrew Poots, the Time to Read coordinator (Centre back), are pictured with the Almac volunteers Stephen Henry, Mervyn Preston, Kelly Neill and Shawn McBrinn and pupils Ben, Tommy, James, Tyler, Katie, Morgan, Shannon and Lucille.
Time to Read in Holy Rosary Primary School
In Holy Rosary PS in Belfast, there are three Time to Read volunteers: John Mallon and Catherine Black are from the Citi banking group, and Edith Trudgett is from Belfast Metropolitan College. On the morning the picture above was taken, Catherine was attending a training course at work. Two of the Time to Read children, Jordan and Chloe, are shown with Edith and John.
Time to Read in Hazelwood Integrated Primary School
Barbara Bell and Robert Mullan from Canyon Europe in Newtownabbey have been Time to Read volunteers in Hazelwood for many years. More recently, they were joined by Maureen Holland from Nortel in Whiteabbey. Pictured below are Barbara, Robert, and Maureen with the Time to Read children.
Time to Read in Whitehouse Primary School
The children in this school are supported by volunteers from Tesco in the Abbey Retail Park in Newtownabbey and from HBOS in Belfast.
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Main picture shows Maureen Clugston with Grace. Below (left) is Colin Montgomery from HBOS with Michael and (right) is Ena Beattie with India
Time to Read in St Joseph's Primary School
KPMG has been a major supporter of Time to Read for many years and currently 18 staff are volunteers on this programme in St Joseph's Primary School in West Belfast and Euston Street Primary School in East Belfast. In each school, Time to Read takes place with different year groups of children on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of every week. Pictured below are Ciara Bradley and Marion McErlain from KPMG, together with Hazel Patterson from HM Revenue & Customs (a more recent Time to Read volunteer) and Julie D'Arcy.
Julia is not an employee of KPMG but is in fact the wife of Jon D'Arcy, a Senior Partner in the company—surely this reflects the commmitment of KPMG to Time to Read!
Julia D'Arcy, Ciara Bradley, Marion McErlain and Hazel Patterson with
(seated L-R) Rebecca, Leah, Jamie, Elisha, Marianne and
(standing L-R) Tomas, Gian, Jessica, Paul and Gerard
Time to Read in King's Park Primary School
In this school, a local company, Northgate, has provided support with volunteers in both Time to Read and Time to Compute programmes, while also supporting the Time to Compute programme in Whitehouse Primary School. Kim Colman, Lisa Maginnis, and Samantha (Sam) Norgate have been recently joined by Jonathan Hunter from Musgrave Retail Partners. Missing from the picture below is Kim Colman, the longest-serving volunteer, who was attending a work-related course on the day our photographer called.
King's Park PS Principal Len Johnston with volunteers Samantha and Lisa from Northgate and Jonathan from Musgrave Retail Partners and the Time to Read children (L to R) Andrew, Jodie, Courtney, Jessica, Hope, Ben, Corbin and Jordan!
Time to Read in The Good Shepherd Primary School
L-R: Carrie Benson, Brigid Farnan, Noreen Cahill and Lesley-Anne McMullan
Seated L-R: Gary, Matthew, David, Christine, Rachel and Maretta
Noreen Cahill, the Principal of The Good Shepherd Primary School, recently welcomed Brigid Farnan as a new volunteer in Time to Read, joining with Carrie Benson from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Lesley-Anne McMullan, who works in HBOS. This school has been very supportive and appreciative of the Time to Read volunteers, and Noreen commented "Time to Read has made a real difference to the children involved, and we have seen during the past 2 years significant improvements in reading fluency and comprehension because of the wonderful one-to-one support given by the volunteers from business".
Time to Read in Ashgrove Primary School
All the happy Time to Readers in this school!
Heather Nelson and Katherine Mawhinney work for the Henderson Group at Mallusk, while Josephine Lindsay and Julie Waters work in the Head Office of Tesco Stores Ltd. These four enthusiastic vounteers have been supporting the children in Time to Read in Ashgrove Primary School since 2007, enjoying the experience of working with the children.
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| Julie | Josephine |
Time to Read in Mossgrove Primary School
In this Glengormley School, Time to Read takes place with three volunteers from one of the local Tesco stores: Hannah Chivers, Julia Crozier, and Andrene Glover, together with Heather Smyth from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive office in New Mossley.
Back row: Heather, Hannah, Julie and Andrene with
Front (L-R): Matthew, James, Ross,Thomas, Graham, Beth and Maia
Time to Read in Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School
Elizabeth Hunter and Liz Torbitt work for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, and they volunteer in Time to Read in Our Lady of Lourdes PS on the Antrim Road in Belfast, alongside Gillian Somerville from the Henderson Group and Arlene Blackadder. Until her retirement last year, Arlene was also an employee of the Henderson Group. All four of these volunteers have been supporting the children in this school since 2007.
The School Principal, Ciaran O'Grady, has commented on the excellent commitment of these volunteers and their terrific support of the children, and they are highly valued by the school.
Arlene, Elizabeth and Liz with (L-R) Nathan, Caoimhe, Jack & Brendan. Gillian Somerville was unavailable, due to work commitments, on the day our photographer called.
Time to Read in Hollybank Primary School
On 5 March, Gregg Davidson from Nortel & Annette McGroary from Musgrave Retail Partners (at right) were welcomed to Time to Read in Hollybank PS by the Principal, Stephen McConkey. Kathleen Hamill & Sharon Haggan from Marsh Ltd are in their third year of Time to Read in the school
Kathleen & Sharon with (L-R) Tammy, Stacey, Josh, Jack, Robert and Brooklyn
Time to Read in Ballysillan Primary School
Volunteers from Royal Mail read with the chilren every Wednesday morning. On a recent visit, these photographs were taken. Both Jilly Harvey and Jill McMullan have been supporting the children in this school for eight years, and this impressive commitment has been much apprecaited by the parents and teachers in Ballysillan.
They each provided volunteer stories in that section.
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Jill & Jill with Chloe, Lisa, Kerry, Tammie-Lee, Joshua and Robert. |
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Jill McMullan, Chloe and Lisa (left) on the sofa with Jill Harvey, Kelsey and Robert (right) |
Time to Read in Forge Integrated Primary School
Imelda McGowan, a new volunteer in Time to Read, has joined the team in Forge IPS. She is pictured with Lorraine Magill (from Sainsbury's at Forestside), Patricia King (from the NI Blood Transfusion Service), and Grainne Kerr (the Time to Read Coordinator in the school) along with the group of Time to Read children.
LtoR: (Back Row) Grainne; Lorraine; Patricia; Imelda; (Middle) Conor; Adam; Panashe; Leon; (seated) Jacob and Taylor
Time to Read in Avoniel Primary School
Time to Read in Cavehill Primary School
Cavehill Primary School has been a Time to Read school for 7 years and during that time Katrina Nelson (from NIE) and Bill Poag have been supporting the children there - they have each followed 4 children through two 3 years cycles of P5 - P7 and have started reading with new P5 pupils in the 2008/2009 school year.
NIE was the first company to commit employees to Time to Read in 1999, and Bill had also worked for NIE when he began volunteering in the programme. He now works for the Simon Community in Northern Ireland. On the morning, Anne Mullan, a new volunteer, first met Katrina and Bill in Cavehill PS, an opportunity was taken to present to Bill his award for long service in Time to Read. These had been presented at the Celebrate and Inspire event held on 12 June 2008, when Katrina had received her award but which Bill had been unable to attend - "all good things come to he who waits" and Bill now has his inscribed award to place on his mantelpiece!
Isobel Johnston, the acting Principal, presented Bill with his award, together with presents for Katrina and Bill in recognition of their long-term commitment to the children in Cavehill Primary School.
Time to Read in Brooklands Primary School
A photographer from the Northern Ireland Office recently visited Time to Read in Brooklands Primary School to highlight Brenda's involvment in the programme there. He took a group photograph, showing Irene Acheson (the School Vice Principal) and Graeme McKimm from Business in the Community with Brenda, Dorothy and Bill and some of their Time to Read pupils (Left to Right): James, Matthew, and Andrew.
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Pictured L-to-R are Anne Mullan, Katrina Nelson, Isobel Johnston, and Bill Poag. |
KPMG and Time to Read in St Joseph's Primary School, Belfast
The Atlantic Philanthropies have been supporting Business in the Community over the past 3 years in evaluating the Time to Read programme. Time to Read has featured in the 2008 Atlantic Philanthropies Annual Report, with photographs of volunteers from KPMG working with "their" children in St Joseph's Primary School.
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Caren Hasson and Fiona Elder enjoying reading with the children in St Joseph's. |
SpenglerFox & BluePrint: Time to Celebrate Business in the Community Annual Membership!
SpenglerFox and BluePrint Specialist Appointments are celebrating their first anniversary as members of Business in the Community NI. The combined workforce of almost 26 has undertaken a wide range of initiatives, including working with primary school children, skills programmes to communities and higher educational establishments, charity work, and business & youth mentoring. This has all been strategically placed within a structured CSR policy and has also resulted in SpenglerFox gaining an award for contribution to the local economy at the BITCNI Awards, in conjunction with the Management and Leadership Network.
One of the most rewarding initiatives has been the involvement in Time to Read. Almost a quarter of the combined staff of SpenglerFox and BluePrint took part in this initiative—contributing one hour each per week for the school year to assist local primary schools to help improve their reading skills.
Joanne McAuley, Regional Manager of SpenglerFox and BluePrint, stated, "Not only was it a great honour for our staff to spend time with the children, but it also allowed the children to interact with adults from the business community and to realise that we are approachable and willing to help—at any time in their career. This is a starting point for us, and through our other skills initiatives in schools, colleges, and universities, we may even accompany some of these children throughout their chosen career.
"It was also a great personal reward for those who attended from our company, as they could see what their time meant to the children. I would highly recommend this to other individuals and organisations."
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Pictured at the BluePrint offices are Killian and Cara Spence with their favourite books under the guidance of Vicky Baird (left), one of the BluePrint Time to Read contributors, and Clare Sinanan, Business Unit Manager, BluePrint Appointments |
Celebrate and Inspire: Thursday 12 June from 4:00 to 6:00 pm in St Joseph's Primary School
Almost 100 volunteers, school representatives and company personnel attended this event, planned to thank and congratulate all the Time to Read volunteers who give time and commitment to support "their" children in "their" schools. The afternoon's programme included a presentation from Fiona Elder and Caren Hasson of KPMG with their Time to Read children Elisha, Giann Kharlo, Marianne and Tomas. During March all 6 of them had worked on a national World Book Day competition (Beast Quest) in which Tomas had won a first prize for his project.
Business in the Community had linked the BBC with St Joseph's Primary School in a major literacy project called RaW (Reading and Writing). Caroline Morelli, the Parent Coordinator in the school, together with a parent Cornelia Costello and her daughter Keela, informed the audience how they had worked with other pupils and their parents to produce a compilation of short stories which had been published in a booklet - a major achievement that had received much critical acclaim!
Everyone present was then treated to a performance of the highlights of the school's recent production of "The Wizard of Oz", involving some 50 children in the cast and choir, and were amazed at the talent and virtuosity of all the performers - a truly inspiring production.
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KPMG Partner Arthur O'Brien (right) is joined by Will Haire, Permament Secretary at the Department of Education, Chloe and Cliodhna from St Joseph's Primary School, and Graeme McKimm from Business in the Community at the "Celebrate and Inspire" event. For 6 years, KPMG has committed volunteers for Time to Read in 2 Belfast schools, St Joseph's PS and Euston Street PS. |
The programme concluded with the presentations of awards, which Will Haire, the Permanent Secretary in the Department of Education, handed over to the 23 volunteers who have participated in Time to Read for 4 years or more. The 28 Time to Read volunteers who have committed to 3 years in the programme were each presented with a copy of the book "Change the World for a Fiver". This formal part of the event was followed by refreshments kindly provided by the Belfast education and Library Board.
Click Here to view the full list of award winners in Time to Read
Workplace Visit to Sainsbury's Forestside
Lorraine Magill works in Sainsbury's at Forestside in South Belfast, and for 5 years, she has been volunteering in Time to Read at Forge Integrated Primary School. Also supporting the children there are Patricia King and Kathleen Madine from the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service. In June, Lorraine arranged for the children and mentors to see around the store, and they all enjoyed a very interesting morning there.
Workplace Visit to Canyon Europe
Robert Mullan and Barbara Bell, the Time to Read mentors from Canyon Europe in Glengormley, arranged a visit to the factory for their Time to Read children from Hazelwood Integrated Primary School. The children had the opportunity to see all aspects of the work undertaken in the company and to find out exactly what Barbara and Robert did through their working day.
Workplace Visit on 19 June 2008 to Hughes Christensen
Margaret Flynn from the Royal Group of Hospitals, John Logue from Canon UK, Jill McCluskey from Business in the Community and Caitrona Miskelly from Hughes Christensen are the Time to Read volunteers in Holy Family Primary School in North Belfast. In June, Caitrona arranged for the volunteers and all the Time to Read children to visit the company plant on Montgomery Road where they toured the premises and found out everything about the company.
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Workplace Visit to TESCO store at the Abbey Retail Park, Newtownabbey
The children from St Bernard's Primary School, Glengormley, were treated to a very informative and interesting visit to this large TESCO store. Lynn Holmes, one of the Time to Read volunteers, had arranged for the children to visit each of the counters and the bakery section of the store where they were given lots of information by the section personnel. The children and their Time to Read mentors (Kate McFaul and Geraldine Spence) each commented that they had a terrific time on this visit, and congratulated Lynn on her organisation skills.
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Workplace Visit to NORTEL Newtownabbey
Pictured are the children from Hazelwood Integrated Primary School and Seaview Primary School with several of their Time to Read NORTEL volunteers.
Time to Read at Avoniel Primary School
Joan Kirkpatrick and Terry Weir from NI Funeral Services have been involved in Time to Read in Avoniel for the past 2 years. In May, the new Business in the Community Business Development Manager, Lisa Murray, visited during one of their sessions and is pictured with Terry, Joan and the Time to Read children.
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Lisa with Terry, Joan and the children |  |
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Demi-Leigh and Chloe with Joan Kirkpatrick | David and Robert with Terry Weir |
Time to Read and World Book Day
at Lisnaharragh Primary School
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All Time to Read volunteers were encouraged to explore the World Book Day website and to undertake reading tasks to tie-in with this special day. Our photographer was present in Lisnaharragh Primary School where the children dressed up as their favourite literary characters. Debbie Lennox from Vodafone NI Ltd with her Time to Read pupil, Russell. Pictured below are Debbie's fellow Time to Read volunteers, Keelin Hamill from Business in the Community and John Barrons. |
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Time to Read at Elmgrove Primary School
Three volunteers from the First Trust Bank, Jane Harris, Patricia Crossey, and Nichola McAllister, are joined by one of our retirees, Roberta Howell, in supporting the children in this East Belfast school. The school Principal, David Hutchinson, has commented that the volunteers have formed a terrific team, who are very enthusiastic in working with the children every week. David has always been very passionate about the importance of the links between schools and businesses, and over the years, he has seen real benefits in the mentoring programmes.
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Jordan, Nichola and Claudia | June with Jonathan and Amy |  |
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Quentin, Patricia and Jack | Roberta with Jordan and Hannah |
Time to Read at Cairnshill Primary School
Donna O'Connor, the Time to Read Company Coordinator in BMC explained the following:
"There are four Time to Read volunteers from Belfast Metropolitan College supporting the P6 children; three of these volunteers are in Orangefield Primary school (Agnes Duncan, Jayne English & Lynn Warburton), while Jennifer Roberts is in Cairnshill Primary School. The College welcomes the opportunity to participate in Time to Read in these schools and feels it has a social responsibility as an education and training provider to help their local community and primary school children improve their reading skills. It is also helping to motivate staff who sometimes underestimate the importance of their role to the organisation and ultimately to our customers."
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| Diane Coulter from NI Housing Executive with Ross and Myles | Jennifer Roberts, Karl, and Jonathan with Donna O'Connor from BMC |
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| Matt Hilton from Fujitsu with Lauren and Ben | Sandra Cousins from NI Courts Service with Jonny |
Time to Read at Rosstulla School, Jordanstown
The students in Years 8 and 9 in Rosstulla School have been supported for over 2 years by employees of Nortel in Newtownabbey—Virginia Herron, Victoria Finlay and Marie Devennie. Recently, to coincide with their mentoring session, visitors from The Atlantic Philanthropies visited the school to see their work in action and were very impressed with the commitment and dedication shown by these Time to Read volunteers.
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| Alice Walker-Duff and Paul Murray from The Atlantic Philanthropies in conversation with Cara McCoey from Rosstulla School | |
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The Time to Read display created by Cara and the volunteers | Virginia, Victoria and Marie with their students |
Texthelp in St Comgall's Primary School, Antrim
Volunteering at St Comgall's Primary School in Antrim are Heidi Nicolls and Donna Thomson from Texthelp Systems Ltd. Texthelp Systems specialises in the design of assistive software solutions to support those struggling to read and write. Heidi and Donna work diligently to improve the reading and writing abilities of pupils in schools today and feel that the 'Time to Read' initiative is a great opportunity to further enhance their aim.
"Donna and I became 'Time to Read' volunteers in September 2007 with St Comgall's Primary School in Antrim" says Heidi "and already we have witnessed great improvement in 'our kids' in terms of their literacy skills and their confidence. We are very much looking forward to working with these kids right up until they leave primary school. Our goal is to teach them that reading can be fun as well as educational and to provide an insight into the great opportunities that lie ahead in the world of business."
Mark McCusker, Texthelp's Chief Executive Officer says, "Getting a fair start in life is something that we all take for granted, but for many, this is not always the case. Through the 'Time to Read' initiative, we can impact positively on young people in education to improve their basic skills, develop their confidence, and motivate them in their academic studies."
Donna and Heidi get great satisfaction from their mentoring at St Comgall's Primary School. They believe that the 'Time to Read' programme really makes a difference to the children involved and they would encourage as many firms as possible to get involved.
For further information on Texthelp, contact Donna on 028 9442 8105 or email d.thomson@texthelp.com. Alternatively, visit their website at www.texthelp.com.
Read about Heidi's experiences as a volunteer in St Comgall's Primary School . . . more . . .
Loughview Integrated Primary School
Pictured during a visit in May are Denise Tan, Conor Owens (from HBOS) and Geraldine Moore (from Northern Ireland Housing Executive) with their Time to Read children.
Denise, Conor and Geraldine with Dylan, Lois, Sharon, Naomi, Jack and Conor
Volunteers and children in Hazelwood Integrated Primary School
Robert Mullan and Barbara Bell work in Canyon Europe in Glengormley; they have been Time to Read volunteers for a (magnificent) 6 years in Hazelwood Integrated Primary School, where Robert frequently amazes the children by speaking in Japanese (he is, after all, the translator in Canyon Europe when senior management staff are visiting from the far east!).
Maureen and Daphne are from Nortel NI in Newtownabbey—Maureen has been supporting the children in Time to Read since October 2005, while Daphne is a relative newcomer in her first year on the programme. Despite these different "lengths of service", after calling with them in the school, it was apparent that each volunteer was very enthusiastic and felt they were getting a great deal of satisfaction from their involvement in Time to Read and from working with the children.
The photograph shows the group: (pictured from the front, left to right): Daryl, Rachel, Emma, Anita, and Aaron. From the back, left to right: Barbara, Robert, James, Maureen, Paul, Daphne, and Paulius.
Time to Read in Carryduff Primary School
Hughes Christensen and Hillsborough Consulting, during this school year, have both purchased and supplied books for use in the Time to Read programme in this school. Graeme McKimm from Business in the Community called in on a volunteering session and is pictured with Margaret Hill from Hillsborough Consulting and Judith Moorehead from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive together with the Time to Read pupils. Not present that particular day was Susan Brennan from Hughes Christensen.
May Hill, Graeme McKimm and Judith Moorehead pictured with Aaron, Hannah D, Christopher, Stephen, Alice and Hannah M
Time to Read in St Bernard's Primary School, Glengormley
In St Bernard's Primary School in Newtownabbey, there are four Time to Read volunteers supporting the P6 children; two of these volunteers are from the HI Housing Executive (Kate McFaul and Geraldine Spence), while Fiona McBriarty is from Henderson's, and Lynn Holmes works for Tesco. Fiona was attending a conference on the Time to Read day, when our photographer visited the school, so pictured are (L to R) Lynn, Kate, Geraldine, and Grainne Walsh (the programme coordinator in the school) with the Time to Read children (seated L to R) Declan, James, Michael, Alicia, Conor, and Eoin. Standing with the volunteers are Darragh and Catriona. Grainne commented "In St Bernard's, we are delighted that the volunteers are able to come in during the school day to support the children in Time to Read—they are making such a difference and are a valued (and much appreciated) group of ladies. Our thanks goes to each of them for their commitment"
Time to Read in Holy Child Primary School
In this West Belfast school, Gillian Whittle, Siobhan Wort, and Karen Anderson (from Dillon Bass), together with Fionnuala Johnston (from Parity) are now in their second year of supporting "their" children in Time to Read. The photographer captured them in 2 groups:
From L to R: Francis, Fionnuala J, Chloe, Siobhan W, Diarmuid, Gillian W, Karen A, and Karla
From L to R: Jack, Daniel, Matthew, and Conor
The volunteers say they have built-up very good relationships with the children & the school, and when asked, the children were enthusiastic about really enjoying their weekly reading sessions with their Time to Read volunteer.
Time to Read in Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School
In Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School on the Antrim Road in North Belfast, there are four Time to Read volunteers supporting the P6 children—two of these volunteers, Liz Torbitt (from the HI Housing Executive) and Arlene Blackadder (recently retired from the Henderson Group) are pictured (L to R) with Marcos, Carl, Jordan, and Cortney (P6 pupils in the school).
Time to Read in Whiteabbey Primary School
Gail Keys (NI Housing Executive) and Denise Gourley (Henderson Group) with two of the pupils they are supporting in Whiteabbey Primary School: Daniel and Kenneth.
Hollybank Primary School children visit Marsh UK Ltd
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| "A busy day at the office" | "A typical day at the office!" |
Sharon Hagan and Kathleen Hamill volunteer for Time to Read in Hollybank Primary School. In June, the children they support (Adam, Jordan, Andrew and Courtney) spent a morning at the Marsh offices, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Also in this picture are Stephen McConkey, the school Principal, and Peter Kelly, Head of Office at Marsh in Belfast.
Tildarg Primary School
When one volunteer decides her local school needs Time to Read…
Time to Read started in Larne in February 2003 a number of local companies and government organisations - FGWilson, Housing Executive, Ledcom, Larne Town Development, Larne Port and Harbour and Kilwaughter Chemical Company agreed to release their staff to support literacy mentoring in three local primary schools St Macnissis Primary, Glynn Primary and Cairncastle Primary.
FG Wilson also provided financial support to the three primary schools by sponsoring the cost of the books and in total over the past four years of involvement this has amounted to £6000.
In the first year over 56 hours of company support was given to eighteen primary five children in the Larne area. One employee of FG Wilson contacted Business in the Community and mentioned her interest in volunteering in her son's local primary school Tildarg Primary near Ballyclare.
The North Eastern Board was happy to support a new school coming on board and FG Wilson provided the funding for books. Lorraine encouraged her work colleague Elaine to also become involved in the Programme.
The Time to Read slot at Tildarg primary has been taking place each Tuesday morning and the four P7 pupils have working with their mentors for over three years.
Elaine and Lorraine have watched their Time to Read children grow both in confidence and their reading abilities. The P7 children love to perform plays and have been known to recite Ulster Scots poems for school visitors.
Workplace visit to Hughes Christensen
Susan Brennan, one of the Time to Read volunteers at Carryduff Primary School, arranged for the pupils and their teacher (Mr Magee) to visit the company premises on Montgomery Road, Belfast. This proved to be a very informative and enjoyable time for all involved.
St Eithne's children visit Northbrook Technology, Strabane
Mark, a Time to Read volunteer, organised a work place visit for the Time to Read pupils from St Eithne's Primary School in Derry. The children were accompanied by the Time to Read coordinator Margaret Grant and their teacher Mrs Gonagle. They were given a tour of the facilities including the ECC ('Enterprise Command Centre') which Mark manages.
Mark commented, I'm glad I have the opportunity through my job to participate in Time to Read as it is a way of helping my local community and primary school children improve their reading skills in a fun environment.' Mark presented the children with a fun pack including a copy of the book Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End...
One of the Time to Read pupils, Shane Boyle, wrote . . .
"On Monday I went to Northbrook Technology in Strabane to have a look around Mark's workplace. First we got a drink, then we went into the room where Mark and his friends solve big problems on the computer. To get in and out of the door you need a special key!
Next we went upstairs where we went across a bridge and down the hall. Mark used the key to open the door. The trainers were on the computers, and then we went back down the stairs; then Mark gave us our goodie bags. There was a book in the goodies bag. I opened it at the first page. It said best wishes from Mark.
After that, we went upstairs. We sat down and we got our picture taken to get put in the newspaper. I would like to go back to the Northbrook Technology Centre. We had great fun! "
"I think the Time to website, created by Business in the Community, will be an excellent help and ongoing resource for me (as someone who has been a Time to Read volunteer for 5 years) and for all other business volunteers involved in the Time to Read, Time 2 Count and Time to Compute mentoring programmes. It will be wonderful to have all the programme resources easily available, but it will also be especially important to be able to communicate with other mentors from different parts of the country who have the same interest I have in supporting children and in helping to make their lives better."
Donna Magee—a Time to Read volunteer from the major Northern Ireland engineering company FG Wilson
© Copyright BITC Northern Ireland, 2007.