More needs to be done to encourage Blackpool youngsters to read

A meeting of the council’s Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee heard secondary schools in the town had historically underperformed in literacy.

Paul Turner, assistant director of Children’s Services, said this was in part due to the transient nature of the area with most secondary schools experiencing on average a 20 per cent turnover of children.

A majority of the transient pupils had not been through the primary school system within the Blackpool area.

Members of the committee received a report into Blackpool’s literacy strategy and also asked for the council’s Head of Library Service to attend a future meeting to update them on the part libraries play in encouraging reading.

The council decided to axe library fines in April 2019 in a move designed to encourage more residents to use the service. 40,000 people have used library services in Blackpool in the past three years.

Improving reading and writing skills is part of Blackpool’s education strategy up until 2030.

Research shows while nearly 68 per cent of Blackpool children are at a good level of literacy development when they leave primary school, that level drops to just under 48 per cent by the time pupils are in their GCSE years.

It is believed this is partly because more needs to be done to encourage youngsters to read at home.

The council’s Literacy for Life report warns: “Taking these factors together, the challenges which communities face are compounded by deprivation whichrobs people of self-confidence and self-esteem.

“This can make parents less active in their children’s educationespecially when their own skills may be low and their experience of education is poor.”

Measures to combat this include the creation of reading hubs for families including at Grange Park to support households who do not have books at home.

The report adds: “Working with families from the start of their lives, inconjunction with Blackpool Better Start, will see levels of early literacy and intergenerational literacy increase in Blackpool.”

Literacy targets include ensuring at least 70 per cent of all pupils achieve a Grade 4 or above in English at GCSE level.