Why perseverance is key when helping your child learn to read
This year’s Key Stage 2 reading national curriculum tests (SATs) showed that almost 175,000 (one in four) children who started secondary school this year have some difficulty reading. We know that these children are far less likely to do well in their English and maths GCSEs.
Some might think that one in four children not being able to read well is understandable after all they have been through during the last couple of years. But we believe that all children, with very few exceptions where there are particular special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), should be proficient readers when they leave primary school.
We need to equip children with reading skills not just to succeed academically, but to help them navigate adulthood. Children who still read poorly when they leave school are more likely to have difficulty with everyday tasks, such as understanding a product tag, reading a medicine label or even filling in a job application.
That’s why reading is a high priority when we inspect infant, primary and junior schools – and it’s something we are looking at in secondary schools too.
Overall, we see primary school staff doing a good job when it comes to teaching children reading skills, including phonics.
However, a significant proportion of pupils are still falling through the cracks. There are Year 7 and Year 8 pupils whose disrupted education means that they are still catching up on skills they should have learned at primary school.
Many of these children still have gaps in the phonic knowledge that is the foundation of fluent reading. Phonics teaching is well established in primary schools. However, it is not necessarily expected of secondary school teachers. These children need extra support from their school to carry on learning to read accurately and fluently. This may mean missing other lessons for a short period to have additional teaching in reading. We recognise that schools will have to make difficult timetabling decisions to achieve this. But, as reading is an essential part of almost every subject, sometimes this is necessary.
Parents can play their part too. Most parents understand the importance of reading to their child when they are young. However, reading to and hearing your child read out loud throughout their time in primary school is so important. That way, you can pick up on whether your child is pronouncing words correctly and if they understand what they are reading. You can ask questions and talk about the book with them too. Children need to have the skills to read accurately and speedily before they will enjoy reading a book by themselves.
We want every child to be reading for pleasure, but they will only read independently when it stops being a long slog for them too.
To hear more about how Ofsted inspects schools and to ask questions about what we do, join our joint webinar with Parentkind on 10 October 2022.
