Literacy Buddies cheer on their primary school pen pals

Literacy Buddies was coordinated by the Deakin Engagement and Access Program (DEAP) in collaboration with the Ardoch Youth Foundation, and has seen 31 volunteer Deakin staff working with 31 Little Buddies from St Francis Xavier PS's grade 6 cohort in Corio, Geelong.

Deakin Manager of Access and Equity Partnerships Jane Finlay said Literacy Buddies forms part of the DEAP's work to support students' education and career aspirations, and the program had been shown to improve literacy skills, social skills, and confidence.

"The Big Buddies visited the school in June to meet their pen pals face-to-face, and have engaged in letter-writing throughout the year encouraging and supporting their Little Buddies’ academic achievement," Ms Finlay said.

"Deakin Big Buddies have been incredibly impressed with the students' writing and engagement skills and have enjoyed the friendships they shared with their Little Buddies."

St Francis Xavier PS grade 6 teacher Steph Everett said her students loved sending and receiving letters.

"The students are always so excited to receive and write their letters - it's great to see them handwriting their letters and being creative in how they present them, they are always so proud," Ms Everett said.

"Having Big Buddies from Deakin shows students that university can be something that's achievable for them, helping to develop that early connection and know that they too can go to university one day if they would like."

St Francis Xavier PS grade 6 student Angus said that he liked getting creative with his letters.

"I like how the Big Buddies are friendly and caring towards us and what they write in their letters," he said.

St Francis Xavier PS grade 6 student Charlotte agreed.

"I'm happy we get to have Big Buddies because we get to write letters to someone who has become our friend," she said.

Deakin eSolutions Senior Analyst Peter Edwards, who volunteered as a Big Buddy, said he found the program to be incredibly rewarding, and said it was something that he planned to continue in the years to come.

"Being able to have a positive impact on a young person's literacy is a profound experience, both through writing letters and meeting with the students, especially given the marked increase in confidence and ability shown by my Little Buddy over the course of the year," Mr Edwards said.

Deakin Learning Futures Learning Environments Manager Kathryn Perus also took part as a Big Buddy, and said getting to know her Little Buddy had been "really fantastic".

"Introducing my Little Buddy to the world of Higher Education was really beneficial, as they'd had very little exposure up until now," Ms Perus said.

"Plus, I couldn't tell you the last time I had handwritten a letter prior to taking part in the Literacy Buddies program – it has been quite nostalgic."

The program culminated this week with a celebratory end of year event at Deakin's Waterfront campus.

The Literacy Buddies program is an initiative of the Ardoch Youth Foundation. The program paired up 942 buddies in 2016, resulting in the exchange of more than 14,300 letters Australia-wide.