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Written question asked by Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 8 July 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 July 2015. It was answered by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Friday, 17 July 2015 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Children: Reading

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of meeting the aims of Save the Children's Read on. Get on. campaign.

Answer

The government is committed to eliminating illiteracy so that all children are equipped to succeed in education, and in life. We welcome the ‘Read On. Get On.’ campaign and its goal to get all children reading well by 2025.

We have placed phonics at the heart of the early teaching of reading, and this is reflected in the reformed national curriculum. A large body of research evidence shows that systematic phonics is the most effective method for teaching literacy for all children. The proportion of 6-year-olds achieving the expected standards in the phonics screening check has risen from 58% to 74% between 2012 and 2014. That is equivalent to 102,000 more children on track to become confident readers. We recently announced funding for eight school-led phonics partnerships in which schools will work together to improve further the quality of phonics teaching.

In relation to early years, we have introduced ‘early years teachers’ and put in place robust standards for level 3 (A Level standard) Early Years Educator qualifications. We have allocated over £50 million for the early years pupil premium and provided an additional £10 million to voluntary organisations and schools. We know many are using the funding for literacy, communication and language development.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
6060
Session
2015-16
Subjects
Children Reading Save the Children Fund
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk