www.literacytrust.org.uk

National Literacy Trust

• One in six people in the UK struggle to read, write and communicate

• We believe that society will only be fair when everyone can communicate as well as they need

• We deliver projects, campaign, investigate and innovate, share knowledge and work in partnership to transform lives through literacy

• We are an independent charity

Poor literacy excludes

• 95% of all employment in the UK requires employees to be able to read

• 41% of employers are concerned about their employees’ basic literacy skills

• 76% of C2DE parents see no link between literacy skills and success in life

• 50% of all offenders leaving prison are unable to read

• Men and women with the poorest literacy or numeracy skills were the least likely to have voted in the 1987 and 1997 general election.

POOR SELF-ESTEEM

UNDER ACHIEVEMENT

WORKLESSNESS

Literacy: a lever for policy

• Improve productivity, skills and economic performance (PSAs 1, 2 and 7)

• Maximise employment opportunities for all (PSA 8)

• Halve child poverty (PSA 9)• Raise educational attainment, narrowing the gap

in attainment (PSAs 10 & 11)• Improve health and wellbeing (PSA 12)• Build more cohesive, empowered and active

communities (PSA 21)

Reading KS Level 4

1998 2003

Boys 75% 82%

Girls 82% 87%

Enjoying Reading at Year 6

1998 2003

Boys 70% 55%

Girls 85% 75%

Source: Sainsbury & Schagen 2004

• Getting stuck at 84% - adults and children therefore focus on the 16%

• Where’s the pleasure going? Behaviour and attitude.

Reading: the biggies

The need for a multi-agency model

• Reach to priority audiences – golden opportunities to reach the 1 in 6

• Sustainability• Service improvement

and efficiencies• Workforce

development

Evidence from Rochdale MBCSince 2005:• The most improved

primary schools nationally • A 50% increase in uptake

of adult basic skills courses

• Most improved KS2 results nationally from 2004-2007

• Helped to end child poverty by breaking the cycle of worklessness in households suffering from inter-generational unemployment

“I used to nag, nag, nag but now

I know how to help my child.”

What parents do (and where) is more important than who they are:

• Parental involvement is the most important determinant of language development

• Parents’ interest in reading is a more powerful force than social class, family size and level of parental education

• The earlier parents become involved the more powerful the impact

• Research suggests attainment can be predicted from eighteen months

• Low literacy rates are associated with disadvantage

Hart and Risley

“This was our most surprising discovery: that the size of the differences between families in the amount of talk to babies is so enormous – and that those differences add up to massive advantages or disadvantages for children in language experience long before they start preschool.”

The result – a multi-agency approach to literacy focusing on:

• Families with children aged birth to five

• Particularly those families with children aged birth to five who are disadvantaged in some way, for example:– Foster carers– Teen parents– Parents in temporary housing– Asylum seekers

2009-2011: testing the PiL approach

Community-wide awareness & support

Awareness: parents & carers are aware of their role in supporting child’s literacy

Access: families access local services that

support literacy in the home

Action: parents & carers support literacy within

the home

Community outcomes:Improved educational attainmentImproved employability/employmentPositive health outcomesCommunity engagement/participation

Family outcomes:Increased parental confidenceLiteracy activity in homeExpectations of achievementParental involvement in

education

Individual outcomes:Increased literacy skills and

confidenceRaised educational outcomesEmployment, further education,

trainingVolunteering, community

participation

What is the PiL model for local authorities?

• Establishing need, identifying target audiences, mapping provision and partners

• Developing and extending partnerships

• Bringing together provision and improving it

• Focusing on sustainability – advocacy and planning

• Capturing impact

The National NetworkYear One Pilots:

KnowsleySheffieldDerbyshireWiltshire

Year Two Pilots:

Knowsley SheffieldDerbyshireWiltshireCoventrySuffolkLambethKentGateshead

Partner authorities:

BarnetHackney Halton Luton Oldham Peterborough Rochdale Rotherham Staffordshire Stockport Stoke-on-Trent Suffolk Tameside