Clarien Bank has donated $50,000 to The Reading Clinic’s I-PLAY preschool programme that helps improve preschool literacy and reading ability.

Michael DeCouto, Clarien’s chief marketing officer, said: “Bermuda depends on a well-educated and literate workforce.

“By developing good literacy skills and identifying and helping those with learning difficulties at an early age, I-PLAY helps ensure that children who might otherwise ‘fall through the cracks’ are not left behind.

“Clarien is proud and privileged to have been a sponsor of I-PLAY since 2013 and we are delighted to once again make a donation to support this important and vital programme.”

Interactive Phonological Literacy Activities for Youngsters runs in four Government preschools: Southampton, St Paul, Lyceum and Victor Scott.

The programme is designed to improve preschool literacy and reading ability by promoting phonological skills such as rhyming and recognising the sounds in words.

Weaknesses in these areas can indicate possible future reading difficulties, including dyslexia.

According to the latest evaluation report, I-PLAY delivered 710 sessions over 236 hours during the 2016-17 school year.

A total of 120 children were screened. Of these, 91 received additional small group instruction and showed improvements of between 18 and 29 percentile points based on UK standards.

The Reading Clinic’s executive director Glenn Faries said: “We are grateful to Clarien Bank as our lead sponsor for their ongoing support of this important programme.

“In addition to their very generous financial support, we greatly appreciate the volunteer hours donated by Clarien employees in reading to preschoolers twice a month.

“This activity has been shown to help improve literacy skills in the children being read to.”

To read the full report, go to www.readingclinic.bm