What is the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign?

2. What is the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign? • An exciting reading programme for Oxfordshire primary schools which will improve children’s confidence in reading and encourage them to develop a love of books. • It is aimed at Year 2 pupils (7 year olds) and seeks to significantly improve pupils’ reading levels in Key Stage 1 to Level 2B or higher. • Alongside the school-based programme, volunteers from the local community work with pupils on a one-to-one basis to boost reading confidence and enjoyment.

3. Why was the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign needed? • Good literacy skills underpin success in future life, including in relationships, education and employment. • However, reading results in some Oxfordshire primary schools, particularly at Key Stage 1, were lower than desired. • To address this, Oxfordshire County Council commissioned the National Literacy Trust to design a specialist literacy programme to help local children raise their reading standards and give them a better chance of future success in life. • The programme runs from September 2012 to July 2014, with Edge Hill University providing specialist training to teaching assistants, teachers, and senior leadership staff in participating schools.

4. How does it work? The Oxfordshire Reading Campaign has three strands: • School Improvement: involving a specialist intervention, run by trained TAs, using the Project X Code books. • Volunteering: One-to-one sessions between a child and a trained adult volunteer to help instil a love of reading for pleasure and explore reading preferences. • Media campaign: including a dedicated microsite –www.oxfordshirereading.co.uk– with events, information, features, interviews with local authors and case studies and support from our media partner, the Oxford Mail.

5. Key figures As of September 2013: • 61schools signed up • 400+children participated • c.200 teachers and TAs have been trained • 13.2 months isthe average pupil’s reading age gain after only 4 months