Blackpool agrees 10 year education vision including pledge to drive up literacy standards

That was the stark warning as councillors agreed a 10-year strategy for the town which they hope will end the cycle of under achievement.

The 2020-2030 Education Vision has been put together by the Blackpool School Improvement Board (now Blackpool Education Improvement Board) working in partnership with the Blackpool Opportunity Area Board.

Coun Neal Brookes told a meeting of the council’s executive, which approved the document: “The commitment from cradle to grave in literacy is great and it’s something we have missed in the past.

“We forget sometimes that not all our children have the benefit of being read to at night by their parents, and that’s possibly because we have failed in the past in Blackpool, or elsewhere, to teach people to read and write properly.

“They are then in a position where they can’t really help their kids. It’s really important that we all focus on that.

“I’m pleased the vision talks about bringing all the council’s resources to bear on that as it’s fundamental to improving the position of kids in the future.”

It is hoped to improve adult literacy by setting up college courses and using library resources.

Coun Brookes also told the meeting it was vital to give disadvantaged children more access to digital technology.

He added: “We have to accept not all our kids have access to a tablet or laptop or a device to access remote education, and sometimes not even the internet.”

The Education Vision says: “The role of adults in the family is crucial because they are the child’s first and most important teacher.

“If adults are not confident in speaking and listening, reading and writing, it will impact on the child.”

Projects already underway include literacy family learning organised by Better Start, the Blackpool-based project focused on early years intervention, while libraries have “redoubled their efforts so that they become ‘the living room of the community’”.

Other priorities set out by the strategy include reducing the number of children expelled from school, improving school readiness for five-year-olds, and enabling more children with complex needs to attend mainstream schools.

It is also proposed to set up a specialist vocational centre for 14 to 16-year-olds which will initially concentrate on catering, but be extended to other career options over time.

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