TOO YOUNG TO FAIL!

"In Britain today, one of the richest countries in the world, very young children still fall behind and stay behind at school. Children born poor in the UK have often failed at the beginning of primary school. Save the Children reveal in this report that a seven-year-old from a poor family has their GCSE results all but set. Seven is just the beginning of education but it is almost too late for a fair chance in life for too many children.

The report argues that if we do not act when children are young enough then by 2020 we will have left half a million children behind in reading. Without confident reading all other subjects are a closed book. Everyone would agree that seven is too young to write off a child. And yet less than a sixth of poorer children who are behind at seven will go on to achieve the benchmark five good GCSEs.

The cost of failure is unfair to children, and it matters to us all. The overall loss of potential is a national economic blight. Our GDP in 2020 would be 1.8% or £30 billion higher if we made sure education gave a fair chance to all, regardless of their family background. We shouldn’t bet Britain’s economic future that our next generation of engineers, entrepreneurs and scientists will be born into well-to-do families."

I know how powerful the 'Every Child a Reader' programme has been in schools so I wasn't really surprised to read the report published by the European Centre for Reading Recovery which revealed that since 2007 Every Child a Reader (ECaR) schools have shown a much greater increase in attainment in Key Stage one assessments than non-ECaR schools, in both reading and writing.

Every Child a Reader (ECaR) is a school wide early literacy programme for raising attainment in Key Stage one, through a layered approach to intervention, with Reading Recovery at the core. The overall aim of ECaR is that, by the end of Key Stage one, struggling readers and writers are able to achieve in line with age-related expectations or better. Further to this, it is provides a professional expertise in schools to enhance literacy standards of all pupils. ECaR supports high-skilled Reading Recovery teachers in England to work one-to-one with children aged five or six, who are the lowest literacy achievers after their first year of school. Schools are able to capitalise on the professional development provided to Reading Recovery teachers, to advise, mentor and support others in the school with responsibilities for children's literacy, including class teachers, teaching assistants and parents through lighter touch interventions. The most intensive element of ECaR is the Reading Recovery intervention, delivered by a trained Reading Recovery teacher and from 2007 to 2010, the report shows there was a 7% increase at National Curriculum level 2 in reading for ECaR schools compared with 1% for non-ECaR schools, with a 6% increase at level 2b or above, when non-ECaR schools flatlined. For writing, there was a 6% increase at National Curriculum level 2+ (level 2 -- the national standard and above) and a 7% increase at level 2b (level 2 -- the national standard and above - strong average) or above, while non-ECaR schools have made a 1% or 2% gain respectively.

So no excuses 'Every Child a Reader' by the end of their infant years... whatever it takes!
Chris