Success for one-to-one reading programme

Struggling readers who get support through the Reading Recovery programme do much better than children on other catch-up programmes, say researchers.

Under the programme, children at the end of their first year at primary school who are struggling to learn to read get a daily one-to-one tutoring session with a specially trained teacher for up to 20 weeks.

According to a study in 42 London schools, children in Reading Recovery programmes had caught up with their classmates within a year, whereas other children who started off at the same reading level were 15 months behind.

In the year after the intervention, the Reading Recovery children continued to make better progress. By the end of the second year – a year after the intervention - they were equal or ahead of their classmates in their reading ability, and still a year ahead of struggling readers who had not been in the Reading Recovery programme in Year One.

Find out more at the Reading Recovery web site

More parents reading to children

More parents now say they are reading with their children and helping them with homework.

In a survey, nearly four out of five parents (79%) said they read with their children, compared to 70% in 2004.

More than half said they always or mostly help their children with their homework. Four out of five also said they worked with them on school projects, made things with them, and played sport with them.

The survey, paid for by the government, showed that parents prefer informal face to face contact as a way of keeping in touch with their child’s school.

Most parents were very positive about the information provided by schools. Half said they felt very involved in their child’s education – and parents with children with special educational needs were more likely to feel this.

But SEN parents were less likely than others to feel they had a say in how their school was run, and more thought there was too much jargon in schools.

Parental involvement in children’s education

Eyesight link to reading difficulties

One child in every classroom may experience difficulty reading due to an undiagnosed eye condition, research has suggested.

The little-detected condition is known as ‘visual stress’.

Children with the condition are sensitive to light, and words on a page would appear to them as blurry.

Although conventional eye tests would not detect the condition, it can be easily corrected with tinted contact glasses, or by placing transparent coloured sheets of plastic over the text.

Around 800 children aged seven and eight were involved in the research project carried out by Professor Arnold Wilkins at the University of Essex.

Behind at five means a life time of struggling

Children who struggle with English and maths as early as at the age of five, and who are not picked up at school, are likely to suffer disadvantage throughout their lives.

More than 17,100 people born in one week in 1970 were tracked for research, conducted by the National Research Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy at the University of London’s Institute of Education.

Children who had problems learning aged five tended to fall even further behind by the age of ten.

They were more likely to leave school early, to be unemployed and have fewer job opportunities.

At home, they were more likely to become parents at a younger age, live in crowded accommodation, and be less likely to have internet access or own a computer.

Family background was also found to be a decisive factor.

Co-author of the report, Professor John Bynner, said: “If a child’s parents are interested in their education and take simple steps like reading to them at home, then they are less likely to have problems with the basics.”

"Children are already tested at school and teachers usually know if they are struggling with English or maths," he said.

"If these children don't get extra help they are likely to leave primary school without the basics, and there's little chance that they will catch up or engage with future learning opportunities."

The research bolsters the government’s moves towards “personalised learning” - providing intensive support for primary school children struggling in English and maths.

Illuminating Disadvantage

Authors call for literacy push

More than 500 authors have written to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, urging him to act over child illiteracy.

Signatories, including Nick Hornby, Ian Rankin, Jackie Collins and Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, called for children to be taught to read for an hour every day.

An extract from the letter read: "We are deeply concerned at the low levels of childhood literacy across Britain. In a complex world, reading has become increasingly important - if not crucial.

"The prime minister has said that 'every child is special, every child precious and therefore no child should be left behind'. It's time to focus on the push to get all our kids reading in order to make this happen."

Children spending less time reading for pleasure

Children in England are abandoning books for computer games , an international study has found.

UK children read for pleasure less often than children in other countries, and the time they spend reading outside school has fallen since 2001.

More than one in three ten year olds spends more than three hours a day playing computer games says the study .

The biggest fall is among children who read well – not poor readers.

Children, Schools And Families secretary Ed Balls said that next year’s National Year of Reading aimed to instil a passion for reading in children of all ages.

“Today’s ten year olds have more choice than in 2001 about how they spend their free time; most of them have their own TVs and mobiles.

“That’s why I’m calling today for everyone’s help to get our children reading more and to kick-start a new national debate about the value of reading. We all need to help our children of all ages to see that reading can bring fun to their lives, feed their imagination, and develop their curiosity about the world."

Readers and Reading: the National Report for England 2006