A reading champion supports literacy in a school, working alongside teachers to give learners more reading practice than a full class allows. In South Africa the role is most often filled through national school assistant programmes, and the duties are set by the programme and the school rather than by a professional teaching qualification.
This guide covers reading champion duties and responsibilities, the shape of a school day, and how the role differs by phase and setting. It sits in the Education duties and responsibilities cluster, part of the wider job duties guide.
What Does a Reading Champion Do?
A reading champion runs structured reading activities with individual learners and small groups, under the direction of a teacher. The point of the role is time on task: in a class of forty, a teacher cannot hear every learner read aloud often enough, and the reading champion closes that gap.
The role is a support post, not a teaching post. A reading champion follows the teacher’s plan, works to the school’s reading programme, and does not take responsibility for assessment decisions, curriculum coverage or discipline beyond ordinary supervision.
Key Reading Champion Duties and Responsibilities
- Listening to learners read aloud individually and recording progress.
- Running small-group reading sessions using the school’s chosen approach or programme.
- Supporting phonics, decoding, sight words, vocabulary and comprehension activities.
- Preparing reading materials, flashcards, worksheets and classroom displays.
- Identifying learners who are falling behind and reporting them to the teacher.
- Keeping records of sessions, attendance and each learner’s reading progress.
- Managing and issuing reading books, and tracking what has been borrowed and returned.
- Supporting reading corners, libraries and school reading events or campaigns.
- Encouraging reading for enjoyment as well as for assessment.
- Supervising learners during sessions and maintaining a safe, orderly space.
- Attending the training and coaching provided under the programme.
- Safeguarding learner wellbeing and reporting concerns to the teacher or principal.
Daily Tasks of a Reading Champion
- Before school: check the day’s plan with the teacher, prepare materials and set up the reading space.
- Morning sessions: take small groups or individual learners for structured reading, working through the planned activity.
- Between sessions: record progress notes, swap out reading books and reset the space for the next group.
- Afternoon: support classroom activities, prepare materials for the next day and update the reading register.
- End of day: feed back to the teacher on learners who struggled or made progress, and flag any concerns.
Reading Champion Skills and Competencies
- Patience: hearing the same learner struggle with the same sound repeatedly without showing frustration.
- Clear reading aloud: modelling fluent, expressive reading in the language of instruction.
- Encouragement: building confidence in learners who have learned to avoid reading in front of others.
- Record keeping: simple, consistent notes so a teacher can see progress over weeks.
- Following a programme: working to the school’s method rather than improvising.
- Reliability and safeguarding awareness: consistent attendance and appropriate conduct around learners.
Reading Champion Duties by Workplace or Industry
The core work is the same everywhere, but the phase and the setting change the emphasis.
Foundation Phase
Work centres on phonics, letter and sound recognition, decoding and early fluency. Sessions are short and frequent, and duties include a lot of material preparation and repetition.
Intermediate Phase
The focus shifts to fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, and to supporting learners who reached this phase without secure reading foundations. Duties often include reading across subjects rather than only in language periods.
Multilingual Classrooms
Where learners read in a home language and in English, duties include supporting the transition between them and being clear about which language a session is working in.
Programme-Based Placements
Where the post is funded through a national school assistant initiative, the contract sets the hours, the duties and the reporting requirements. Read that document: it defines the scope more precisely than the school will.
Reading Champion Duties for a CV
Give the phase, the number of learners you supported and any measured progress. Use the duties for a CV guide for the method.
- Ran daily small-group reading sessions for 24 Grade 2 and Grade 3 learners identified as needing literacy intervention.
- Listened to learners read individually and recorded progress against the school’s reading benchmarks.
- Prepared phonics and vocabulary materials and maintained the classroom reading corner.
- Managed a reading book library of 400 titles, tracking issues and returns with no unaccounted losses.
Related Job Roles and Responsibilities
These guides cover the roles and next steps most closely related to this one.
- Education Assistant duties and responsibilities
- Teacher duties and responsibilities
- Tutor duties and responsibilities
- Educator duties and responsibilities
- Education duties and responsibilities
- Job description duties and responsibilities
Frequently Asked Questions About Reading Champion Duties
What are the duties of a reading champion?
Listening to learners read, running small-group reading sessions, supporting phonics and comprehension activities, preparing materials, recording progress, managing reading books, supporting reading events, and reporting learners who are falling behind to the teacher.
Is a reading champion a teacher?
No. A reading champion is a support role working under a teacher’s direction. They do not carry teaching responsibility, make assessment decisions or take a class unsupervised.
What qualifications do you need to be a reading champion?
Most placements ask for matric and strong reading ability in the language of instruction, with training provided on the reading programme. Requirements are set by the school or the funding programme, so check the advert.
What is the difference between a reading champion and an education assistant?
A reading champion focuses specifically on literacy support. An education assistant has a broader classroom and administrative brief that may include reading support alongside other duties.
Duties vary by school, phase and programme. Where the post is funded through a national initiative, the programme contract and the school’s instructions take precedence over this general guide.
Last reviewed: 2 September 2026