Meet the kind buddies changing students’ futures

Two years ago, beautiful friendships started to form between two groups of Victorian students who wouldn't usually cross paths. It all began when a teacher at Ballarat Grammar read about our need for student2student reading buddies in the local paper. The school’s Director of Leadership and Service, Adele Ryan, knew her students would want to help. 

“We are always asking ourselves how we can make a difference in the lives of others,” Adele says. “This was a chance to get involved in our community in a very useful way.”

Since that fateful day, over 70 Ballarat Grammar students have been able do good and feel good as volunteer student2student buddies. Interest in the program is growing every year. 

With student2student, each of Adele’s student volunteers is buddied with a child growing up in disadvantage somewhere in Victoria who needs reading help. Thanks to generous people like you, the buddies get training and ongoing support to help their students get the most out of the program. Buddies phone their students for 20 minutes, two or three times a week for 18 weeks. It’s a powerful formula with proven results: in 2020, 97% of participating students improved their reading.

Ballarat Grammar student Ruby, Year 12, heard about student2student from a friend in her boarding house and signed up last year. “It made my day calling my buddy,” she says. “I loved watching her confidence transform and her skills improve so much. I think that’s why it’s such a great program – because it’s peer to peer. And we didn’t just read – we chatted about our pets and our interests, and what we did during the day.”

“The relationships they form through their social interactions, are significant,” Adele says. 

“The human connectedness is what our students cherish foremost. There is a warmth and pride in supporting a younger child’s growth and development. Our students say how rewarding it is to watch their readers go from being self-conscious beginners to confident, empowered young people. There’s so much joy in the result!”