Bucking The Literacy Trend

Fife is outperforming the rest of Scotland when it comes to high literacy levels.

According to research, even pupils in the most deprived areas of the region are performing at a higher level those in other parts of the country when it comes to reading and writing.

Craig Munro, Executive Director of Education and Children Services said: “I am delighted that we’re continuing to improve the literacy levels of children in Fife. “And, importantly, the gap in literacy levels between children living in areas of social disadvantage and those in the most affluent areas is significantly reducing. Not only are we raising the bar for attainment, we’re also levelling the playing field for all of our children in Fife. This is creating national interest.

“I’d like to thank the children and parents for their hard work which supports our drive on reading and writing. I’m also writing to staff to thank them for their efforts – teachers are leading the work to develop programmes that improve the quality of learning and teaching for reading and writing and it is paying dividends for our children.”

Cllr. Bryan Poole, Spokesperson for Education, Children, Young People and Families said: “Fife Council is committed to breaking the cycle of disadvantage and we know that improving literacy standards is critical to this.

“Reading and writing skills are vital for unlocking a child’s full potential and their confidence. Better literacy levels open up opportunities in secondary and further education and make people more employable – it really is the key to a child’s future. Too many children are living in poverty and they must have the same opportunities as others to build a successful future for themselves and the next generation.

“We’ve targeted and invested in this over a number of years and we’re seeing great results.

“I want to put on record my thanks to all the staff, from the pupil support assistants and classroom teachers right through to those working in the Education and Children's Service Directorate for the efforts they have been making for several years in this area of work. The rise in literacy achievement in Fife is due primarily to them.”

Fife Council’s Workshop for Literacy approach has improved leadership and teaching approaches in primary schools and is now being piloted in secondary schools.

A team was set up to develop professional learning with headteachers, teachers and support staff. Work in schools has particularly focussed on children and young people who: are looked after; are not attending school regularly; have high levels of exclusions; live in areas with the highest 20% free school meals entitlement or are in the most deprived 10% of the population (according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation).

The approach is based on building nurturing relationships and supporting effective learning and teaching in literacy and numeracy.

A study carried out by a team of Fife Educational Psychologists found that the Workshop for Literacy approach significantly improved reading accuracy and reading comprehension for all pupils. Pupils from 20% most disadvantaged backgrounds continued to perform above the national average but did not show significant improvement in reading accuracy from the end of P1 – mid P2, however, their reading comprehension showed a highly significant improvement.