Life in a bustling primary school classroom of 30 or so 5-7 year-olds can be a joyous place, full of brimming enthusiasm, but it can also be a little noisy and unpredictable, particularly in the autumn term when a class and their teacher can just be getting to know each other. So, please be prepared for the fact that your sessions may not all run like clockwork, and do please take a deep breath if something goes a little awry and stick with it! The rewards are great - for both you and the child you are paired with.

First things first - remember you are not alone!

The Chapter One team is here to support you and you can also share your experiences with colleagues or draw on the knowledge and expertise of seasoned Chapter One online reading volunteers. Here are some of the most common issues that our reading volunteers come up against - along with some possible solutions.

You call in for your session but your call isn’t immediately answered:

- Please ring back - sometimes a Chapter One child’s little fingers are trying to click to answer but a laptop trackpad can be a challenge and they may need a bit more time.
- Contact our Live Chat Team - there may be a technical issue that they can fix for you remotely.

If you try again and still have no luck, it may be due to a last minute timetable change or even a school trip that didn’t make it onto the classroom calendar. We know this can be frustrating, especially when you've set aside time and are looking forward to reading with your pupil. While we do regularly encourage (and gently remind!) teachers to let volunteers know about any changes in advance, they are juggling a huge number of priorities, and occasionally things slip through the cracks.

Similarly, we train teachers at the start of the year to update you via the Chapter One platform if your pupil is absent, but again, this can sometimes be overlooked in a busy classroom.

We really appreciate your patience and flexibility when this happens. Your time and dedication truly mean a lot to the teachers - even if they don’t always get the chance to say so amidst the busyness of the school day.

Occasionally, pupils will unexpectedly leave a school, and may not even notify their teacher. So, if you have a long period (over 3 weeks) where your child is marked as absent, or is not there when you call, please contact us so we can investigate a bit more thoroughly.