UK Literacy & Reading Initiatives 2015

Prepared by Annie Everall for IFLA Literacy and Reading Section, Cape Town

 

Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge is the UK’s biggest reading promotion for children aged four to 11. The 2015 This year’s Summer Reading Challenge theme is Record Breakers, and it is being done in partnership with the champion of record-breaking achievements, Guinness World Records. At the beginning of July, thousands of children and families pledged to use their local library over the summer and helped libraries set a new Guinness World Records™ title for Most Pledges Received for a Reading Campaign. The SRC was started in 1999 and is run annually by The Reading Agency in partnership with the public library network (98% of UK libraries take part).In 2014, 839,622 children took part, a 3.6% increase on participation in 2013. 81,908 children joined the library to take part, up 22.7% from 2013 approximately 18,000,000 books were borrowed during the summer. The Summer Reading Challenge also offers young people aged 12-24 the opportunity to volunteer. The volunteers support the children taking part while increasing their employability as they gain useful life skills and confidence. In 2014 a record 8,126 volunteers got involved at their local library, representing a 43% uplift from 2013. http://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/

 

2015 Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Awards

Real-life historical adventures have inspired both winners of the 2015 CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest and most prestigious children’s book awards, Tanya Landman’s Carnegie winner, Buffalo Soldier, was inspired by the true story of former slave Cathy Williams, who was the only known African-American woman to enlist in the US army, under the guise of a man, serving for three years before her true identity was discovered. The Kate Greenaway Medal, awarded for an outstanding illustrated book for children, was won by debut author and illustrator William Grill for his non-fiction account of Ernest Shackleton’s epic crossing of Antarctica in Shackleton’s Journey. www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk

 

Children’s Laureate 2015 – 2017

Chris Riddell was appointed as the new UK Children’s Laureate, succeeding Malorie Blackman. Chris is an award-winning writer, illustrator and political cartoonist and has also one the Kate Greenaway Medal twice. As the new laureate Chris’ focus will be to, use the immediacy and universality of illustration to bring people together and lead them all into the wonderful world of books and reading, whilst championing creativity in schools and beyond. http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk

 

Literacy for Life Program

The Reading Agency has launched the Literacy for Life program. The aim is to narrow the attainment gap between pupils who are eligible for free school meals and their peers by addressing the language and literacy deficit that many children from disadvantaged backgrounds bring to secondary school. The program will equip pupils with the academic language they need to succeed, while building reading for enjoyment. The program has received £1m funding from the JJ Charitable Trust, is being piloted by six schools from the Aldridge Foundation and the Ormiston Academies Trust. It will be evaluated by the University of Durham and Literacy Leaders will be accredited in partnership with the University of Exeter. http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/literacy_for_life

 

National Literacy Trust Hubs: Understanding the role of literacy in public health

A new report from the Literacy Trust ‘Understanding the role of literacy in public health’, found that literacy is directly related to health because it enables people to understand and act on information about their own health, treating ailments effectively and preventing disease. The research highlighted that families with low literacy are more likely to be in poor health and improving literacy skills can empower individuals to take control of their own health, leading to reductions in health inequalities and the pressure on public services. http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/research/nlt_research/6713_national_literacy_trust_hubs_understanding_the_role_of_literacy_in_public_health

 

Read On, Get On Campaign

Read On. Get On. is a national campaign to get every child in the UK reading well by the age of 11. At the moment far too many children are leaving primary school without this key skill – including, in England, one in three of the poorest children. The ROGO mission is to change this for good so that all UK children start secondary school as confident readers. On behalf of the ROGO coalition in England, the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce) has been commissioned to develop a national reading strategy for England. This work will provide analysis of the problem, identify key objectives and set out the strategic action needed over the next decade to achieve the following target goals for 2020 and 2025:

1. All children achieve good early language development by age five by 2020
2. Every child is able to read well by the age of 11 by 2025, with good progress made so that we are at least halfway towards this goal by 2020

As part of the process of developing the national strategy, submissions based on a series of questions were invited from all individuals and organisations with an interest in promoting children’s reading and early language development. These will support identifying key issues and strategic priorities for action, to help achieve the 2020 and 2025 target goals. http://www.readongeton.org.uk/