PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AND READING

That this House is appalled that one in four children in England cannot read well at age 11 and that the damning statistic rises sharply to two in five among low-income families; commends the report by the campaigning group Read On, Get On in highlighting this failure; notes that some areas and constituencies in the country, like London, come out well, whereas Bradford West is in the lowest 25 per cent of achievers; believes that the likelihood of being able to read well should not be determined by income or postcode; points to the example of the London Challenge, which dramatically increased educational outcomes in secondary pupils in the capital; and calls on the Government to form a similar challenge to ensure that all primary children, whatever their background, circumstances or location, are able to read well as they leave primary school.