Havant MP Alan Mak has launched a School Reading Club with the aim of getting more children reading books.
The local MP hopes to sign-up schools from across his constituency with pupils encouraged to read as many books as possible.
Launching the Club at Barncroft Primary School in Leigh Park, Alan spent time reading with children and discussing some of his favourite books.
He said: “I’m delighted to launch my new School Reading Club to get more children to read books. I’ve been an avid reader of books since I was young, and I believe they can make a big difference in improving children’s knowledge and enjoyment of learning.”
“My Reading Club encourages children to spend some time every day away from computers, phones and tablets and read a book instead.”
To inspire children to be part of the Club, Alan plans to invite several children’s authors to the constituency in the next academic year.
He added: “By bringing authors directly to meet with children I hope they can share some of the magic of their work and provide insight into what it takes to write well. It’s all about inspiring children and schools to kick-start more creative writing not just reading.”
England is ranked joint eighth in the world for primary reading according to global rankings, following the introduction of a new phonics system for learning to read.
Alan continued: “I’m proud of our work to improve reading in schools with pupils in England outperforming peers across the world in reading and literacy. Yet there is still more that we can do, and we need to boost our reading table performance at secondary level, something I believe can be improved with more reading at home. I really encourage all parents to get their children reading more.”
The Reading Club will be launching in more schools from September. However, parents who wish to sign-up their children can do so by emailing [email protected]
Every child who joins the Reading Club receives a free bookmark and those who read 5 books by Christmas 2019 will receive a certificate from Alan.
