Bonding & Communication

Best Beginnings, a charity supporting parents with babies, discusses how daily positive communication with children, will support their emotional, language and social development. A useful article with related videos can be found on this page. 

The National Literacy Trust have gathered up a range of popular songs and nursery rhymes which can be sung to babies; it is understood that rhythms and repetitive language make it easier for babies to learn language skills and as babies hear the same rhymes over and over again, they soon learn to join in with the actions. Singing and reciting along with a child also helps with bonding.

Literacy Trust

The National Literacy Trust works to improve the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in the UK's most disadvantaged communities, where up to 40 per cent of people have literacy problems. 

Their website offers a wealth of information on literacy; they have recently revamped their Resources page, which contains links to nine new pages focusing on different key literacy areas

Reading Ambassadors needed....

The Publishers Association (PA) are calling on members of the public to share their love of reading by volunteering in their local communities; they will be asked to undertake a range of activities to promote more reading for pleasure and to help boost literacy - their website provides numerous ideas on how to get involved. A series of road shows across the UK will aim to to recruit 10,000 Reading Ambassadors by 2020.  

Free sticker books!

Reading charity, Book Trust have produced a sticker book as part of a pilot project to encourage more families with pre-school children to visit their local library; the children can collect the book at their library and will receive stickers each time they visit, to help complete 'Bear’s Reading Adventure'. Author of the book, Gemma Malley, said, 'If a parent reads to their children every day, they will be almost 12 months ahead of their age group when they start school. Even reading to them three to five times a week gives them a six-month head-start over those who read less often.'

'Reading is Cool'

A report published by the National Literacy Trust, shows using ebooks increases boys’ reading progress, making them confident, keen readers; attitudes toward reading improved over the course of the project, with more pupils stating that 'reading was cool', compared to the start of the project. Overall, it was found that boys were more likely to enjoy reading ebooks than print books, while girls were more likely to enjoy reading print books.

Report: State of the Nation and Impact

The National Literacy Trust (NLT) have published their 'State of the Nation and Impact' 2014/15 report, which provides a snapshot of literacy in the UK and showcases the impact that their work has had on children and families in the UK at key moments of literacy development; details are also provided of the various campaigns and reading initiatives that have been launched, to encourage reading in schools and across communities.

Nurseries influence reading ability

The Read On. Get On. campaign have highlighted that half of independent nurseries currently do not employ a qualified early years teacher, failing disadvantaged children in need of skilled support. They are asking for the next Government to ensure all nurseries are led by a qualified early years graduate and as an incentive, to increase the early years pupil premium for those nurseries that do. Their report, 'The Power of Reading', details how early years investment and the quality of staff in nurseries must be prioritised, or the gap in reading ability between England’s poorest and better off children will remain one of the worst in Europe. 

The recommendations come as research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) links the value of strong reading skills in school-age children to future earnings as an adult.

Walk-in Books

UK-based designer Melanie Smith, is hoping to make 'walk-in books' for kids. With no technology involved, the project focuses instead, on presenting children with characters, maps, story cards and a mask to prompt them to come up with their own tales, providing a 'walk-in' experience. 

Having now successfully raised the amount she needed to produce the first run of her product through Kickstarter, the first story 'Adventure to the Woods', should be in production soon. 

Meanwhile, 'Lost My Name', a book launched last year through investment by Dragon's Den, has now topped the book bestseller chart.

Guide: Support for Schools

In partnership with Routledge, the National Literacy Trust have launched a 'Support for Schools' guide. It provides information on how schools can embed reading, writing and communication outcomes within the wider curriculum, develop a creative teaching/learning environment and maximise the impact of the Pupil Premium spend.

What Kids are Reading

According to the annual study, 'What Kids are Reading', secondary school pupils are being “seriously under-challenged” by the difficulty of the books they are given to read. The report on the book-reading habits of children in British schools, suggests that teachers must do more to encourage students to read demanding literature.

To support children's reading, various guides and resources for parents and teachers can be downloaded at the Read for Pleasure website, which also provides advice on how to create a reading culture, literacy in the curriculum and preparing for Ofsted.

Reports: EAL

The Education Endowment Foundation have recently published two reports, which analyse the evidence on the achievement of English pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL). The project by three charitable groups, also explored effective interventions to raise the attainment of this group of pupils. The overall purpose of the project is to help schools and policymakers to effectively target policy, interventions and funding to address achievement gaps. Both reports can be accessed here.