One of Justine Greening’s final acts as education secretary was the announcement of a series of measures to improve primary literacy (external link)
The Department for Education (DfE) presented these changes as the continuation of its social mobility action plan. The programmes announced included:
- A new Centre of Excellence for Literacy Training which will use £26 million to create a national network of 35 “English hubs”. These hubs will reflect the approach taken for maths hubs by working with schools in disadvantaged areas to raise standards, while also sharing best practice, especially concerning language and literacy training in reception.
- New phonics and readings partnerships will be set up from April 2018. These build on existing programmes and aim to encourage pupils to enjoy reading, while also promoting improvements in teaching, especially in reception.
- The Strategic School Improvement Fund will provide £5.7 million to initiatives boosting early years and primary literacy and numeracy across 469 schools.
- A trial across the North of England exploring approaches that enhance parental support to early language development at home, costing £5 million.
- A £7.7 million curriculum fund to support the creation of high quality teaching resources by various organisations, including scientific and cultural institutions.
The DfE has claimed that the measures will reduce teacher workload, while Greening stated that it was part of the overall strategy of ensuring that “no community will be left behind”.