How literacy hub improves children's confidence in reading and writing
Jo Stephenson
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Middlesbrough hub helps improve reading levels among pupils who had fallen behind
Project: Middlesbrough Literacy Hub
Purpose: To improve literacy levels
Funding: Includes £100,000 from the Booker Prize Foundation over two years plus funding from Middlesbrough Council
Background: With high levels of deprivation and low levels of literacy, Middlesbrough was a natural starting point for the National Literacy Trust's literacy hub programme. Many young children in the area start school with poor literacy and language skills and in 2012 just 47 per cent of pupils left school with five GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and Maths, well below the national average of 58.6 per cent. The aim of the hub was to bring local partners together in a concerted effort to address poor literacy levels.
Action: The hub, which launched in June 2012, was established in partnership with Middlesbrough Council. The council seconded a member of staff to act as hub manager and contributed another £20,000 towards operational costs.
The project has involved a wide range of activity including a media campaign to raise awareness of the importance of literacy and research to identify local issues. For example, a survey of nearly 3,500 schoolchildren uncovered widespread negative attitudes towards reading and writing. Thirty per cent revealed they only read if they have to and 20 per cent felt they did not need reading in everyday life.
"A lot of support for schools doesn't exist anymore," says Emily McCoy, the trust's literacy hubs programme manager. "Some were working together in clusters but maybe not sharing good practice or talking about common challenges so part of our role was enabling that to happen more." The hub helped establish twice-termly meetings with school literacy leads to discuss literacy issues. In a bid to get more boys reading, 23 schools delivered the trust's 10-week Premier League Reading Stars programme in 2013.
To increase the number of families accessing reading and literacy resources, the hub initiated innovative partnership work, including with the Arriva bus company. Free children's books were loaded onto buses on routes through some of Middlesbrough's poorest neighbourhoods and drivers encouraged families to help themselves. Another successful partnership was with the Erimus housing association, which now distributes children's books and information about local libraries in tenant starter packs.
Additional funding from the publisher Hachette went towards establishing the trust's Literacy Champions scheme, which saw 50 community volunteers trained to mentor and support families. The hub has also trained staff from the home-visiting scheme Home-Start as well as providing training on speech, language and communication to health visitors and nursery workers.
Outcome: Thousands of books donated by publishers and companies like McDonald's - worth an estimated £100,000 - were distributed to Middlesbrough families, says an evaluation of the hub's first year by the National Literacy Trust.
Early data from the Premier League Reading Stars programme suggests it has helped improve reading levels among pupils that had fallen behind. About 830 pupils took part. Data from three schools shows nearly two-thirds of participants progressed six months or more over 10 weeks, with some making a whole year's progress.
Feedback from the Literacy Champions scheme shows 83 per cent of parents who took part felt the project had boosted their child's ability to listen and join in with literacy activities. Half said the project had increased their child's interest in reading and resulted in the family sharing books and stories at home more often, while 66 per cent said they talked more to their child after taking part in the project.
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