What the Dickens is going on with our children’s ability to read?

As the UK celebrates the birth of one of the best loved writers, Charles Dickens (7 February 2012), how many of our children have the ability and opportunity to enjoy books such as Great Expectations and Oliver?

Almost one in five pupils continues to leave primary school not having achieved the expected level in English and Maths.

According to the Department for Education’s Literacy and Numeracy report in May 2011: “Almost one in five pupils continues to leave primary school not having achieved the expected level in English and Maths”. Lack of investment in early literacy intervention leaves children ill-equipped for the future. Intervention is essential if we are to enhance the life-prospects of our future generations.

Business in the Community’s literacy intervention programme Time to Read is doing just that. With over 500 business volunteers participating every week in local schools, it has been noted in the top third of global interventions of its type. Using business mentors gives the added benefit of providing a direct link between improved literacy and the world of work as well as raising the aspirations of participating children.

Extensive research carried out by the Centre for Effective Education at Queen’s University Belfast and supported by Atlantic Philanthropies was conducted for Time to Read in 2011. It was one of the largest evaluations of its type undertaken internationally and the results provided clear evidence that Time to Read is having a positive effect.

Paul Connolly, Professor of Education at Queen’s University Belfast and founding Director of its Centre for Effective Education explains: “Our evaluation demonstrates that Time to Read is effective in improving particular reading outcomes for children, namely in relation to the foundational reading skills of decoding, reading rate and reading fluency.”

Paul Rooney, Chair of Business in the Community, explains: “Low levels of literacy present a huge cost to the local economy and significantly reduce the future prospects of the next generation who are at the lower end of the scale in terms of academic achievement.

“Time to Read is a huge investment by employers and provides an immense saving for government with outstanding results in our schools.”

If you would like to find out more about Time to Read, please contact Graeme McKimm, Education Manager, Business in the Community, by e-mail at graeme.mckimm@bitcni.org.uk or call (028) 9046 0606.