Concerns over UK Literacy Rates and Education

Pupils in England who fail to achieve at least a C grade at GCSE in English and maths will have to carry on taking the subjects to the age of 18, the government has announced.

This follows concerns too many teenagers leave education without adequate skills in literacy and numeracy needed by employers.

It will see some pupils re-taking GCSEs and others taking less demanding tests, aimed at improving basic skills.

This will apply from September 2013.

The changes are set out in a written ministerial statement from Education Secretary Michael Gove.
Leaving age

Alongside high levels of youth unemployment have been complaints from employers that too many youngsters lack basic skills needed to make them employable.

Leaving age
Alongside high levels of youth unemployment have been complaints from employers that too many youngsters lack basic skills needed to make them employable.

The statement quotes a CBI survey saying two in five employers were not satisfied with literacy levels among school leavers.

It also follows the report from Professor Alison Wolf which warned some pupils were being diverted into cul-de-sac vocational qualifications - when they lacked the basic skills they most needed.

More than 40,000 youngsters a year reach 19 without having had any further lessons in English, after failing the subject at 16, says the Department for Education.

For maths, the figure is more than 60,000 each year.

The changes, linked to raising the leaving age for education and training, will mean youngsters in the education system beyond 16 will be expected to reach an adequate level in maths and English.

Those who have already achieved a grade C or above at these subjects will be unaffected.

And in a detail which may indicate the proposed return of the O-level, supporting notes mention GCSE grades but the ministerial statement talks only about a "good pass".

For those with near-miss D grades, there is an expectation pupils will re-take to get to a C grade or higher.

For those who have weaker skills, there will be other tests or lessons which might not lead to a qualification.

The plans are underpinned by a funding change.

"Rather than funding per qualification, we will fund institutions 'per student'," says the ministerial statement.

As an interim measure, and recognising the concerns of more academic schools, the statement promises a three-year guarantee of no cuts in per-student funding for individual institutions.

Childhood reading can turn nightmares into life dreams

Edinburgh City Libraries’ reading champion Niall Walker talks about his work with young people who stay in residential care units

‘I don’t read books, I just don’t . . . oh, is that one about a dog?”, asked the 12-year-old girl in residential care.

It was. She liked it. Hopefully, next time I see her she’ll have picked up another.

Young people in Britain’s care system have experienced significant adversity and this can often affect their chances at school and beyond.

In adulthood they may have difficulty finding work, training or studying, and some will be at risk of becoming homeless or imprisoned. Their life chances have been hit hard by the negative experiences that brought them into care.

I believe that reading offers hope. In fact, we know that reading for pleasure is a more powerful indicator of a child’s educational performance than their socio-economic status or their parents’ education.

This creates better life chances for young people of any background – and, crucially, for our most vulnerable young people, reading can lead to emotional resilience, confidence, functional literacy, empathy and the ability to form attachments to others more easily.

This is where libraries come in. We are working hard to cater for vulnerable young people. This means improving access to books and other reading that matches their interests and abilities, and ensuring our libraries are always welcoming, safe and interesting spaces.

As reading champion, my objective is to develop strong and sustainable links between care staff and librariy staff so that young people are encouraged to use their local library and its resources at all stages of life.

In the past week, residential care staff have been volunteering to receive training in paired reading and literacy development to better support our looked-after children. Together, we are tailoring this service to each individual.

Funding from the National Literacy Trust’s Young Reader’s Programme is being used to provide them with books.

So far, 156 books have been chosen by Edinburgh’s young people in residential care.

Hopefully, that number will have increased by the time you’re reading this, as I’m due to visit a young woman who will almost certainly love Malorie Blackman’s Boys Don’t Cry, a teenage radical who will lap up George Orwell’s Animal Farm and a girl in need of some laughs, which Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid can provide.

My message to any young person who is searching for something fun to read is to visit your library and ask the professionals there for help and advice. Tell us what you’ve enjoyed reading before and we will find you one of many books you’ll enjoy.

The recent boom in publishing books for teenagers is unsurpassed in history. There are books written entirely about things you already love, and at a level you’ll be comfortable with. I’ve witnessed children and teenagers finding that “first book” about gamer records, kitten care, gross facts, otherwordly manga, cinematic graphic novels, Lionel Messi, and the best works of fiction.



The Reading Champion Project works closely with other partners, carers, teachers, families and, primarily, children in care. We must never underestimate how each individual can be full of surprises, with a lifetime of enjoying reading – and its benefits – ahead of them.

“Those books on hip hop you got me were good. Yeah I’ve finished them now. How about something about boxing . . . or y’know what, a couple of years ago I had to read a Rabbie Burns poem for school. Could you get me something by him?” This was a 15-year-old boy in a secure unit. My response: “Umm, yeah buddy. I think we’ll manage that.”

n World Book Night tonight is a celebration of reading and books which sees tens of thousands of people gift books to spread the joy and love of reading.

Five titles are selected and printed in their thousands in World Book Night editions. Givers apply to give away a particular book, which they must commit to give to those who don’t regularly read. Each giver receives 24 copies, which they will have picked up from their local bookshops and libraries in the week before April 23.

Edinburgh City Libraries staff will be giving out books at libraries and other locations and much-in-demand author Maggie O’Farrell will be at Central Library on George IV Bridge at 6.30pm – a real coup for Edinburgh.

Find out more at www.worldbooknight.org.

Dyslexia: Making Sense of Literacy

Part 1: Literacy and the 9 Essential Skills

Part 2: How Literacy is Measured

Part 3: Literacy and Self Esteem

More Information on Literacy and the remaining 3 parts of this series are available at the 'More Than a Book' website.

US The Literate Nation Movie - YouTube

This shocking video gives startling facts about the rapid deterioration of America because it is neglecting to educate its young people with even a basic education—much less world class. EDUCATION: What are the FACTS?

Dyslexia: Practically Literate

Many children with literacy difficulties or a diagnosis of dyslexia have associated speech and language difficulties.

These speech and language needs can be overlooked, though, as literacy skills are more noticeable and tend to become more of a priority, so that children are able to keep up with learning to spell and read.

In fact, speech and language problems, such as word retrieval difficulties, limited sentence construction skills, difficulties producing sounds and overall reduced speech intelligibility, can sometimes be an indicator of dyslexia amongst younger children before they are diagnosed.

So how can speech and language therapy help a child who has weak literacy skills or who has a dyslexia diagnosis? There are several areas to consider, and language needs to be addressed directly, in addition to developing alternative, multisensory strategies that can be used to support overall language and literacy development.

The ideas summarised in this article draw from my own experiences of working with school aged children in a variety of settings. While there is no empirical data to support the methods of therapy suggested, these strategies have proved to be effective through regular progress reviews following therapy input.

Read more at SEN magazine

Touch, Type, Read and Spell (TTRS)

Touch, Type, Read and Spell (TTRS), is a multi-sensory computer based learning course for people with reading, writing and spelling difficulties, dyslexia or other learning differences.

The program was developed in the United Kingdom in 1992 as a way to develop literacy skills, confidence, self-esteem and motivation in those struggling with their reading and writing skills.

It is a language re-education program geared to dyslexic students and learners with specific learning disabilities or reading struggles.

This means that you don't have to be dyslexic to benefit from this program. If dyslexia is not diagnosed early, the child gets grouped into a general 'learning difficulties' area where the child is not being properly assisted.

Unfortunately some children are wrongly tagged as having an ADHD; the child can't focus or CAPD, which is a central auditory processing disorder; the child is not hearing things properly and therefore is not fully understanding what is intended.

The most difficult challenge faced in helping families is that even when properly diagnosed, dyslexia can be a very difficult condition to work with and overcome.

Dyslexia simply means having trouble with words. These words can be spoken, words written, words anything that has to do with language.

The other issue you face is that no two dyslexics, just like no two people, are the same in how it manifests itself. Like all conditions, it can be anywhere from mild to severe.

It is easy to package and dismiss the condition as a child who struggles to read, and then the teachers are left to help the child struggle through their issues.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple dyslexia affects more than just their ability to hear a word, spell, read. Some students are very skilled in other areas e.g. maths, but when it comes to word issues, they have terrible issue.

They get identified as having special needs and therefore they can access certain services through the school system, but although, throughout this process the child is 'supported' by the school system, it does not necessarily teach the child to read.

Failing to teach a child to read is something that will rob individuals and the wider community, of a brilliant future.

To be a successful, functioning adult in this modern world, the child has to be able to read. If you don't diagnose dyslexia for what it is, you deny that child the opportunity to learn to read and if you can teach a child to read, you have given them the world.

As with the general population, Dyslexic children possess good intelligence, some are even above average intelligence but dyslexia can also bring other strengths. Some of those strengths are wonderful visual, spatial abilities, the ability to see or think outside the box.

They can be very are artistic, creative, athletic, analytical. The bottom line is we have no idea the kind of world this will be in five, 10, 15, 20 years, but we are suppose to be educating our children for it.

Now if we aren't accommodating the ones who are struggling, the very ones who have that ability to think outside the box, to come up with solutions, to see things in a different way, we are doing our world, our generation, our society, a disservice by pushing them aside and making them think that because they can't read well, they are stupid and not wanted on the voyage.

Convincing a person with dyslexia that they aren't stupid is something that takes time because quite often they have been surrounded by frustration on many fronts but it is something that needs to be done.

The TTRS program claims to do more than give individuals good keyboarding skills. Using the multi-sensory approach, TTRS is said to work because it makes things simple for the dyslexic learner. Anything that makes things simpler must be good, right.

TTRS claim that your fingers are trained to go where the letters are. So as you think the words, the fingers automatically know where to go; they know how to spell the word; you remove that fear of spelling the word correctly and whether they can get their thoughts out.

The argument goes, that if you train them to think, and type the way they think, they have more success in getting their thoughts on paper.

User of this sytem claim that it is geared to the dyslexic learner, it lays everything out in a very specific order. So without them realising it, they are learning to read, and spell, while building their keyboard skills and their speed.

Well, you need to try it for yourself. If it is so simple and it is such a great keyboarding program, then it should help children and students who struggle to read.

Let me know how you find this system and I am always interested to hear your comments. For more information on TTRS, also visit www.ttrs.co.uk.

17% of UK Adults have lowered Literacy Rate

One in six adults has lower literacy than the level expected of an 11-year-old, new research shows today.

It finds that only half of children enjoy reading, and that a quarter do not recognise any link between reading and success.

The report, Literacy: State of the Nation is the first coherent, national picture of reading and writing abilities, according to the National Literacy Trust.

It conducted a study of more than 17,000 pupils from 112 schools. Most read e-mails, blogs and websites more frequently than books, the survey suggests. However children who engage in technology are more likely to enjoy writing than their classmates.

Check out NLT's Reading for Life and Fun website

While literacy levels have risen among 11-year-olds in the past decade, they have plateaued in writing. Yet three-quarters of parents said their child often read for pleasure.

The report also analysed reading and writing in the workplace, and found widespread concerns.

Almost seven in ten retail firms and half of manufacturing companies reported problems with literacy among staff.

Check out the NLT's Reading for Younger Children website

Nearly two-thirds of men and three-quarters of women with very low literacy skills had never received a promotion, it found.

Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, said the findings were “extremely worrying”.

“We believe this should be of great concern to all political parties as reading for pleasure helps to develop strong literacy skills and ultimately, supports academic and future success,” he said.

“The Treasury estimated the cider tax will bring in £30 million. For just a tenth of this money the Government could establish which adults are most in need of literacy support and run a year-long campaign to support children and adults who are struggling with literacy.

“It is estimated that poor literacy costs the economy £2.5bn a year.”