Calibre Audio and Bucks Schools Audiobook Project 2024

Calibre Audio is a national charity providing an audiobook lending service for children and adults across the UK who struggle to read print as a result of conditions like dyslexia, ADHD, autism, visual impairment or a condition that prevents them from holding a book.

The service is completely free for children under the age of 18 and for those in full time education.

The project will use the free audiobook service provided by Calibre Audio to offer reading support for students in participating Bucks Schools who struggle with reading as a result of dyslexia, ADHD, autism, visual impairment or other conditions which mean they find reading print difficult.

The project is open to both primary and secondary schools and the programme will last initially for 12 weeks and include:

·         guided reading groups in schools run by school staff using an audiobook version alongside a printed book

·         wider support for students to ‘read’ audiobooks for pleasure at home

Various research studies show that both these activities will help young people to improve their reading and comprehension skills. Some of the elements of this research are captured in a study by the National Literacy Trust and research has also been carried out directly by Calibre in association with the University of Bedfordshire.

If you haven't completed it already, please submit the electronic consent form which you should have received from your child's school. You can also access the form by following this link.

Your child will then be included in the reading groups.

The second part of the project is to support your child to listen to audiobooks for pleasure at home.

To complement the guided reading groups your child will take part in at school, we are encouraging parents to sign their child up for a free Calibre account. This will give them access to a wide collection of audiobooks that they can listen to for pleasure at home.

Your child can choose to listen to the audiobooks either via the My Calibre streaming site or by downloading them to the Dolphin EasyReader app.

We have compiled some short guides which explain how each of these platforms work here:

Shortened guides

Further information on our platforms and services can be found here.

Sign up and browse the collection by following this link or click the button below.

We've compiled some tips for how you can help to support your child to listen to audiobooks for pleasure at home. All children are different, but some of these ideas might just make the difference for your child.

Read our guide here.

If you have any issues with signing up or accessing audiobooks, please contact Calibre's Membership Services Team on 01296 432339 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday or email them on membershipservices@calibre.org.uk.

If you have questions about the school side of the project, please contact your child's school directly.

Thank you for taking part.