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Books at Home

NATIONAL LITERACY SURVEY 2024 (76,000 children surveyed aged 8-18)

1:10 children do not own a single book

1:5 children live in homes where there is not a book

1:3 children (age 8-18) enjoy reading a book in their own time

17.5 % of teenage boys read through choice

Children are entering school and nursery never having held a book

Last year marked the steepest decline in young people choosing to engage with books.

The good news is:

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  • More children said they enjoyed reading at school, if not at home

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  • Schools that focus on reading for pleasure score higher on standardised reading tests.

Fairy Lights

What the Schools Outreach Programme is doing:

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  • helping schools and teachers to make reading fun. All our authors are highly skilled and experienced at engaging children in fun, thoughtful, book-based talks and workshops

  • arranging specially chosen authors to visit 5 nurseries in deprived areas - as a pilot scheme

  • targeting teenage boys by choosing authors with a proven track record at engaging reluctant boys

  • sending thousands of books home for children to keep.

Quotes from Schools ...

‘It worked wonderfully.  The children were so delighted to actually have a book of their own that they could keep forever – for a lot of them this was a new experience.’ Eden Park Academy​

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Photography by Dave Green

Photography by Terry Mathews

The opinions expressed by the authors are their own and do not reflect those of the Appledore Book Festival.

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