Labour’s Big Summer Read

The school summer holidays began last week. For 11 year olds, the SATs tests are done and dusted and they can now begin to prepare for the transition from primary to secondary education. I know from meeting young children in schools in my constituency that this is an exciting, albeit often daunting shift. On a recent visit to Knotty Ash Primary School for World Book Day, pupils told me of their hopes and expectations for secondary school.

On leaving primary school, pupils should have reached expected levels in maths, reading and writing so that they are ‘secondary ready’. ‘Secondary ready’ means having the foundations in the 3Rs but it also means having the character skills that are needed to succeed in the secondary curriculum and in later life- speaking and communications skills; the ability to work in teams and take on leadership responsibilities; and an ability to independently analyse information. Indeed I made this argument recently in the House of Commons following the government’s announcement of planned changes to the primary accountability system. The government is selling children short with its plan, not accounting for the whole picture of what it means to be secondary ready, failing to grasp what I call the ‘rigour of the future’.

If children are not equipped with the knowledge and skills to take on the secondary curriculum, then they start secondary education from a deficit position. This is bad for social mobility, bad for the life chances of young people and ultimately, it will be bad for our future competitiveness.

Labour made huge strides in primary education. Through the National Literacy Strategy, great progress was made.  In 1998, 65% of pupils achieved a level 4 or above (the expected level) in their Key Stage 2 national tests in English. By 2010, standards had transformed with attainment in English above 80%. In 1998, 71% of pupils achieved a level 4 or above in their Key Stage 2 national reading test. By 2010, this was 83%. The Tory-led government has recognised this success, reporting that ‘98 000 more children have reached national expected attainment in English since the start of the National Strategies’.

But it remains that too many children are leaving primary school unable to reach the expected level in reading and that problem is often compounded with a loss of learning occurring over the summer break.

There is a vast body of research showing what the Americans call ‘the summer slide’ or what we have traditionally called the summer learning loss. This is especially acute in relation to young children and reading. Children- in particular, children from lower socio-economic backgrounds- regress in their reading capabilities as a result of the six week summer break. A Department for Education report from 2011 found that double the number of pupils fall behind in reading between summer and autumn than at any other time in the school year. This is attributed to the time not spent in formal education.

Pupils fall behind and their learning is stinted. That is why this summer, Labour Members of Parliament, Councillors and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates will be taking part in The Big Summer Read, our campaign to get children reading throughout the summer break. Join us by taking action in your communities and tweeting using ‘#BigSummerRead’. In the coming weeks, we will be visiting summer schools and taking to social media to call for action in communities across the country.