Measuring the impact of the Young Readers Programme on family literacy
Both WHSmith and the National Literacy Trust are keen to understand the impact these workshops have on attitudes to reading. Participating families are asked to complete an evaluation before and after the project. Results from the workshops which took place this year are set out below. We will continue to measure the impact of the workshops to understand their impact and look at ways we can improve.
As a result of taking part in a ‘first wave’ Young Readers Programme for Families programme:
• 69% of families who had not previously used the public library system signed up to become a member of their local library
• 100% of families felt they had learned practical strategies to support their child’s reading
• 50% increase in the number of children reporting frequent (e.g. daily) reading at home
• 67% of parents said they saw their children reading more at home
• 66% increase in the number of children who said they share regular reading time with someone at home.
Part of the programme focused on increasing families’ understanding of the importance of reading for enjoyment, in order to provide a good basis for supporting reading in the home. Parents were asked their opinion of the statement “Children who read for pleasure do better at school and have better chances in life than children who don’t”. Just over 45 per cent of parents agreed with this statement in the first session, but by the final session, more than 90 per cent agreed.
“Instead of watching TV he goes to read a book... Not just reading books, word searches, scanning books, re-reading to understand and working together to read which is great for his memory.” Parent, Southampton
“Amazing – in five weeks attitudes were changed! One Mum just laughed to begin with when hopefully I said her son will ‘enjoy his reading’– but by the fourth session her son was excited about books.” Project coordinator, Exeter
“Since this course we have been spending five minutes more reading together at home every day and going to the library more. Sarah is coming to me more to ask about her reading if she doesn’t know the words – I had to buy her a dictionary! Another mum who wasn’t sure has heard about the sessions from me and said ‘I wish I’d done that now!’” Parent, Glasgow