Investment
Fonetti
A five-year MASANAS funding commitment bringing whole-school reading support to ten Welsh primary schools, delivered with Auris Tech Limited.
Five Years of Reading Support for Ten Welsh Schools
MASANAS has committed to fund five years of whole-school reading support across ten Welsh primary schools, helping thousands of children build their reading skills and confidence.
The commitment is being delivered in partnership with Auris Tech Limited, the British company behind Fonetti, a reading platform that listens to children read aloud and helps them as they go.
It is the first education commitment made by MASANAS since its launch earlier this year.
Commitment Snapshot
- Five yearsA long-term funding commitment, with every new intake able to benefit throughout.
- Ten schoolsTen Welsh primary schools, to be confirmed during the autumn term.
- Around 3,500 childrenReached at any one time, with no cap on the number of pupils who can use the platform.
- At home tooWhole-school access in the classroom, with families able to use Fonetti at home.
Why Reading
MASANAS Co-Founder, Mark Sweeny's, own route into business has shaped his view of the importance of opportunity. He left school with minimal academic qualifications, then spent eight years studying at night school while working full-time, eventually achieving a first-class honours degree and an MBA.
In his view, qualifications are something you can go back and get. Reading is different: if a child leaves primary school struggling to read, it can affect everything that comes after.
The schools have already used Fonetti with their pupils through this year's National Read-Aloud Challenge. Having seen the platform in use and the results with their own children, each has asked to continue. Funding is the only barrier.
That's a big part of why we wanted to make a long-term commitment to these schools. Wales is where we're starting, but I'd like to see other businesses get behind this too and help more children across the UK.”
Reading aloud to someone who listens is the most effective thing a child can do to become fluent, and it is the thing schools have least time for. Fonetti gives every child that listener. MASANAS has removed the only reason these ten schools could not have it.”
A Starting Point, Not a One-Off
For MASANAS, the ten-school commitment is intended to be a starting point rather than a one-off programme. Other businesses will be invited to fund schools on the same basis, with the aim of building a wider group of organisations willing to make a long-term commitment to improving children's reading.
Wales is where the programme begins, but the opportunity is open to schools elsewhere in the UK.
The ten schools will be confirmed during the autumn term. Individual schools will then be announced separately, with each school given the opportunity to share its own experience of the programme.
About Fonetti and Auris Tech
Fonetti is a reading platform from Auris Tech Limited, a British company, that listens to children read aloud and helps them as they go. The programme forms part of a wider Auris Tech ambition to improve children's reading through regular reading aloud and personalised support.
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