The tables were turned on a team of solicitors from the Bristol base of commercial law firm Thrings last week when pupils they have helped under a year-long reading scheme were given the chance to find out what goes on at their office.
Almost 20 eight and nine-year-old Whitehall Primary School pupils and staff toured the city centre office to chat to staff and grill them about their legal careers.
The visit was organised under the scheme between the school and Thrings run in conjunction with Ablaze, the Bristol-based charity which aims to develop sustainable partnerships between businesses and schools and provide structured volunteering opportunities to raise young people’s aspiration, attainment and achievement.
Twenty solicitors and support staff at Thrings have volunteered over the 2014/15 academic year to work with the school to improve the pupils’ confidence, understanding and enjoyment of reading.
The programme was set up in 2013 by Thrings associate solicitor Robert Barnes, who remains an active member 
of the firm’s reading volunteer group.
He said: “Our volunteers have travelled to the school one lunchtime every week to assist with motivating the children to improve and enjoy reading. Each volunteer is partnered with two pupils for the year – a system which enables them to focus on getting to know the reading ability of the children and understand how best to improve it.
“Over the past two years, our volunteers have gained a huge amount of pleasure from reading with the children and seeing their confidence, ability and appetite for reading books grow.
“The pupils’ visit to our offices was something of a role reversal and we were thrilled to be able to show them where their reading buddies work and learn a little about what they do.”
One pupil on the scheme said: “The volunteers from Thrings are friendly and kind and I love reading with them. I’m really happy they come to my school to read with me.”
Following the tour, each pupil took part in a reading session with their Thrings buddy before selecting free books to take home by award-winning authors Michael Morpurgo, Roald Dahl and David Walliams.
Whitehall Primary head teacher Sarah Allen added: “The reading volunteers from Thrings provide a valuable resource, adding to our reading provision.
“The children look forward to their time sharing books and benefit from growing confidence, improved understanding and increased enjoyment. The volunteers are a dedicated and committed team, and we are hugely grateful to them for giving up their time to support us.”
Pictured: Above, Whitehall Primary pupils Grace, Iacov, Ugne and Maaike during their visit to Thrings’ office. Below, some of the Thrings team with their reading buddies and school staff
