Today Tracey welcomes the launch of Save the Children’s Read On. Get On.  – a new campaign being driven by a coalition of charities, language and literacy experts, teachers, and businesses to get every child reading well  at age 11, by 2025.

Reading is the key to a child’s future: it unlocks their potential and opens up a world filled with possibilities. And yet, almost a quarter of children in the UK today are leaving primary school without reaching the expected level in reading and it is the poorest who are doing the worst. Over the next decade almost 1.5 million children will start secondary school already behind.

Every child deserves a good education. Being able to read well is the foundation upon which that depends. 

Save the Children hopes that Read On. Get On. will galvanise the nation, from children, to grandparents and authors, to give what they can – time, expertise, funds, or simply a passion for reading – to make the goal of all children reading well by age 11 a national priority.

Sir John Major, UK Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader, 1990 – 1997, said:

“The UK still has worryingly low levels of social mobility.  Ensuring all children are reading well by the age of 11 would represent a huge step towards creating a society where it is the skills and efforts of a child that determine how they succeed in life, not the accident of birth.  That is why I am delighted to support the Read On. Get On. campaign”

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said:

“I wholeheartedly endorse this campaign and its goal to get all children reading well by 2025.

Eradicating illiteracy and innumeracy is central to our plan for education and that plan is working.

“This brilliant campaign will help us all to make a real difference to the lives of millions of children and I hope that the whole country will get behind it.”

Tracey Crouch MP said:

“With 40% of low income 11-year-olds unable to read well, we must act now to change this. I am delighted to support the launch of this campaign and am confident that together we can get every UK child reading well at the age of 11. I encourage everyone to join us to help children across the UK #ReadOnGetOn”

Tracey hopes that you will be able to join in the ambition to give every child a fair start in life.

Please find a copy of the report here and for more information about the campaign please visit: www.readongeton.org.uk.