A new report
revealing the literacy levels of constituencies across the UK has concluded
that ‘local action’ is key to tackling the UK’s literacy challenge.
The report,
entitled Reading England's Future: Mapping how well the poorest children read
compares poor children’s reading ability at age 11 across the country’s 533
parliamentary constituencies.
The research was
published by Read On. Get On. – a coalition comprised of charities, parents,
teachers and businesses which launched earlier this year in response to the
UK’s reading challenge. The charity behind the Bradford Literacy Campaign,
the National Literacy Trust is a leading partner of the coalition, which
calls for commitment to the goal of getting all children reading well at age
11 by 2015. Reading well means children can read, understand and discuss
stories, such as Harry Potter.
The report
concludes that local communities, schools and parents will need to ‘own’ the
Read on. Get on. ambition to achieve change and that businesses and the whole
of society need to play a role by creating ‘reading towns and cities, which
critically, bring together schools and early years services’.
Jonathan Douglas,
Director of the National Literacy Trust says:
“This report
recommends the creation of reading towns and cities and shows that the
Bradford Literacy Campaign is taking the necessary steps to achieve the Read
on .Get on. campaign’s crucial goal of getting all children reading well at
11.
Our continued work
with local partners to champion reading in the community and focus on early
years services will make a difference to many Bradford families but we still
have a long way to go. Our ‘literacy hub’ approach here in Bradford and also
in Middlesbrough and Peterborough understands that schools, pre-school
professionals, local and national government and businesses all play an
important role in celebrating the joy of reading .”
You
can read the report here.