There’s a cost of literacy crisis gripping our nation. That’s why we’ve joined forces with more than 100 UK businesses to address falling literacy levels and improve the life chances of young people today by signing the National Literacy Trust’s Vision for Literacy Business Pledge 2024, with support from KPMGUK.
Low literacy stifles children’s potential and hampers economic growth, especially impacting those in disadvantaged communities.
Children’s enjoyment of reading has hit crisis point. Reading for pleasure leads to better academic and wellbeing outcomes for children but, last year, the National Literacy Trust reported that less than half of children and young people read for pleasure in their spare time – the lowest since their records began in 2005. We must act now to help children discover a love of reading than can transform their life chances.
At Vanquis Banking Group we believe that where you’re born and how wealthy your parents are shouldn’t determine where you end up. Empowering young people with strong literacy skills means they’re able to go after the life they want.
Over the next year, we will collaborate with our employees and customers, work with our local communities and leverage our networks to empower more children and young people with the vital literacy skills they need to succeed, ensuring a brighter future for all. We’re currently working with the National Literacy Trust, funding the Bradford Story Bus and Early Words Together with Tiny people.
The iconic Bradford Bus was used to go into schools and community areas to raise engagement levels around reading. Storytelling, author visits, and other activities add excitement and interest for the children, and this has been shown to encourage a love of reading. Over the last year, we welcomed a total of 8,768 children and 6,112 adults onto the bus for a range of magical literacy experiences.
The Early Words programme supports the speech, language and communication of 3-4 year olds facing disadvantage in Bradford. The programme has proven to have a positive impact on children paying attention to stories, wanting to read or share stories, and improved confidence in parents to support their child’s literacy journey. We also saw a positive improvement in the time parents and children are spending together on these activities.
We also work with Chapter One - who believe that the ability to read is the fundamental skill that underpins every child’s future educational attainment and helps them to fulfil their potential, to contribute to their community and ultimately to gain employment. Last year, 20 Vanquis Banking Group volunteers supported 21 children through the Chapter One programme and these children have benefited from 97 hours of one-to-one reading time and progressed by 3.7 levels in their reading.
In June of this year, Vanquis Banking Group have invited Leading children to host an event at our offices. Leading children Early Years Teachers and Senior Leaders to step onboard and set sail with us on our inaugural National Literacy Conference. This one-day conference is open to any Practitioners working in Early Years, Headteachers, SLT or LA Consultants. The focus is on increasing creativity and nurturing the imagination. We are linking this via the Literacy Curriculum into making learning richer and more efficient. You can book tickets here.
https://leadingchildren.com/pages/conference
Together, we can change the nation’s story.