What action is the Welsh Government taking to encourage secondary school children to read following a decline in reading in secondary schools in the UK?
We know that one of the levers for improving reading skills is to generate a love of reading and over recent years we have gifted over 165,000 book tokens to secondary schools for their learners to exchange for a book of their own choice. We have also gifted every school in Wales with a box of 50 books to supplement their libraries towards encouraging a culture of reading.
Last year we published our oracy and reading toolkit providing a package of support for schools to encourage and reinforce a culture where oracy and reading are part of all aspects of school life, involving parents, carers and the wider community. Since publication we have continued to enhance and update the toolkit. Regional consortia and partnerships are funded to provide ongoing engagement and support for our whole-school approach to oracy and reading.