Secretary of State for Children Ed Balls MP and local MP Emily Thornberry visited Laycock Primary School today as part of the Government-supported plan to give a free book to every reception class child in England.
The Government-backed ‘Booktime' plan aims to promote reading for pleasure. The programme will this year give every 4-year-old a free copy of Funnybones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.
During his visit to the school, the Secretary of State read the book to a group of 4 and 5-year-olds, and the two MPs discussed it with them. Afterwards they met a group of parents and governors, including Head Teacher Christina Miles, to discuss ways of encouraging children and their parents to read together.
The Secretary of State spoke about the importance of getting fathers to read with their children, and he described his own experience as a volunteer helping young people to read at his children's school when they lived in Vauxhall before he was an MP.
Speaking after the event, Emily said:
"Ed Balls is a fantastic MP to have as Secretary of State for Children - as the father of young children himself he understands the difficulties and he is brimming with ideas of how to tackle them.
"Everyone who met Ed today will have been struck by how sincere and dedicated he is to getting all our kids reading. Too many kids never get read to at home; these free books give children an easy way to get started in reading, and can encourage parents and carers to read aloud with their children."
Background Information:
Booktime was launched by education and publishing company Pearson in association with independent charity Booktrust.
It was piloted in Warwickshire and the London Borough of Southwark in January 2006, and is now being rolled out to other primary schools across the UK.
This year (2007-08) the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is supporting the delivery of Booktime to make sure free books get to every school in England. Rt Hon Ed Balls MP is the Secretary of State at DCSF.
