Publish our plans for how we will continue to support and develop the Whatever it Takes Initiative to promote reading and literacy, including the development of Knowledge Centres to promote excellent teaching of reading.
Context
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The ‘Whatever it Takes’ initiative was launched in November 2009 in partnership with the Schools Forum, Local Authority, CPH (City Primary Heads), Secondary Education Improvement Partnership (EIP), Trade Unions and others.
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The ‘Whatever it Takes’ initiative is intended to raise the profile of reading across the city and in local communities. Our ambition is that every child in Leicester achieves a good standard of reading by the end of primary school.
- Through ‘Whatever it Takes’, we want to
- Support excellent teaching of reading in all our schools;
- Make reading an exciting and enjoyable experience for children so that they read more;
- Encourage parents, carers and other adults to get involved in reading and to read with children.
Funding
A total of £1.2million has been allocated to ‘Whatever it Takes’ and the development of Knowledge Centres for the 2011/2012 academic year. As well as supporting city-wide activities such as Storytelling Week and Everybody’s Reading Festival, the funding is allocated through schools for individual or collaborative projects.
A wide range of school-led activities have been supported through this funding. A good example of collaborative and community focused activity is work done by schools in the south of the city.
Eyres Monsell, Marriott, Holy Cross, Knighton Fields and Rolleston Primary schools have used their grant funding to set up training in their neighbourhoods to support parents, carers and siblings reading regularly with their children aged from 0 – 7 years old. Parents and siblings were provided with materials and support through workshops to give them ideas that would help their children with reading at an early age. This work finished with a celebration event at the Southfields Library in the neighbourhood where parents and pupils were presented with certificates.
The work had a good impact on children’s reading.
Please view the full Reading Pledge below:
