With World Book Day just around the corner, and literacy on people’s minds, Edinburgh based business, Voxblock is celebrating that it has helped over 50 schools improve children's literacy skills in 6 short months. Since launching Voxblock Schools, the first ever schools and educational settings audiobook product, designed specifically for use in primary and nursery classrooms, the business has provided over 100,000 minutes of audiobooks to schools throughout the UK, receiving unanimous praise from educators.
While literacy has always been a core component of children’s education, teaching methods have evolved and adapted. Innovation in education is key as times change and pupils engage with learning in different ways. For example, it’s hard to believe that under 100 years ago, slates would have been commonplace in a classroom rather than notebooks or even laptops! What never changes is that engagement is key to children’s learning and Voxblock Schools provides this for today’s generation of young learners.
The World Book Day theme for 2024 is Read Your Way and focuses on the fact that children are more likely to enjoy reading when empowered to choose their own reading materials. Reading for pleasure is known to improve children’s life chances across a range of social, educational and well-being measures. However, 2023 research from National Literacy Trust found that fewer than 1 in 2 (47.8%) children now say they enjoy reading; this is the lowest level since 2005, and reading enjoyment is lowest among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Voxblock children’s audiobooks are designed to allow children as young as three years old, to operate independently while the audiobook format engages even the most reluctant readers.
Voxblock Schools launched late last year in response to demand from educational establishments familiar with the easy to use personal Voxblocks and seeking a reading aid for the whole class. Voxblock Schools provides a valuable addition to literacy education resources. Schools have the flexibility to integrate Voxblock into their classrooms or libraries; as well as incorporating it into special education (SEN) or learning enhancement programs. Teachers and librarians use the players in a variety of different ways such as individual or group learning, as part of a listening station in a school library and as part of independent play.
A teacher currently using Voxblock Schools explains how it helps; “Voxblock has provided an additional play-based independent learning tool into the classroom. A huge benefit of the Voxblock is its durability and that it can be given to a child or group of children as an independent task. It is very user-friendly and simple for students to navigate and change between the different stories. The children can take the lead and they feel like they have ownership and there are no concerns of damaging or breaking the player or books. Since having a cassette player in the classroom, nothing has been able to be used in this way.”
“The use of the Voxblock player helps cover many of the literacy outcomes, focusing on listening, talking and reading. It has helped students engage in new stories and gain exposure to more words, ultimately improving vocabulary and comprehension. One of my students said independently - It gave me good words in the stories and I used them in my writing.”
Voxblock co-founder Rebecca Lundgren says; “Research shows that there are huge rewards to be found in audiobooks and that they can help unlock a love of reading in children. Since launch we’ve been delighted at the success of Voxblock Schools and can’t wait to expand to more classrooms. We’re passionate about using technology to engage young people in reading and stories, and love working in conjunction with teachers to help improve literacy skills.”
Pupils can embark on a literary adventure with Voxblock, where every stage of learning is covered. There are many titles for Early Years, Key Stage 1, and Key Stage 2.The youngest Early Years learners can discover classics like A Bear Called Paddington or The Gruffalo, igniting imaginations and fostering early literacy skills. As children progress into Key Stage 1, they can immerse themselves in the mischievous world of 'Horrid Henry,' alongside timeless favourites such as Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree adventures. For the older adventurers of Key Stage 2, they can get lost on thrilling missions with Alex Rider, or read as the Grand Witch hatches plans with 'Roald Dahl's The Witches.' There are over 200 books to choose from and this is being added to monthly.
Voxblock Schools is available from only £275 excluding VAT and comes in a variety of different sized packages. All include Voxblock screen-free audiobook players, a range of audiobooks, supporting resources, charging hub(s) and aux cable(s) to allow connection to a speaker for whole class listening, as well as a discount for buying additional books and players. Ranging from the mini package which includes 5 players and 10 audiobooks for £275 plus VAT, to the largest including 20 audiobook players and 40 audiobooks for £1,000 plus VAT.
To find out more visit https://voxblock.co.uk/pages/voxblock-schools-offer
