{"id":34717,"date":"2019-03-08T15:46:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T15:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=34717"},"modified":"2019-03-08T15:46:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T15:46:31","slug":"welsh-pupils-read-more-difficult-books-than-rest-of-uk-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/08\/welsh-pupils-read-more-difficult-books-than-rest-of-uk-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Welsh pupils 'read more difficult books than rest of UK'"},"content":{"rendered":"

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‘Plenty of room for improvement’<\/h3>\n

Professor Keith Topping, who authored the report, said: \u201cDespite the good news that Welsh pupils are reading more difficult books, there is plenty of room for improvement, particularly in comprehension.
\n\u201cAlthough important, instilling reading culture in school isn\u2019t just about dedicated reading time.
\n\u201cTeachers and librarians should also encourage lively classroom discussion about fiction and be hands on to advise on books with appropriate challenges bespoke to the child\u2019s interest.\u201d
\nMrs Wales, of BookTrust Wales, added: \u201cIt\u2019s so important that children read books that challenge and interest them.
\n\u201cAt BookTrust Wales, it\u2019s our mission to get Welsh children reading and increasing oracy skills.
\n\u201cOur programmes, such as Pori Dwry Stori, Big Welsh Rhyme Time and additional book gifting is supported by the Welsh Government to help improve speaking and listening skills at those crucial developmental stages, which all work towards improving reading comprehension and to help ignite a love of reading across the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘I am very concerned’<\/h3>\n

Reflecting on Welsh pupils\u2019 low reading comprehension, South Wales East Conservative AM Mohammad Ashgar said: \u201cI am very concerned at the results revealed about the state of pupils\u2019 literacy in Wales.
\n\u201cThe Welsh Government and Qualifications Wales must work closely with schools to address this situation.
\n\u201cTeachers need to be able to use other facilities to help them cope with what will be a new and, as of yet, unclear curriculum.\u201d
\nA first draft of a new school curriculum will be published in April, with changes set to start in 2022.
\nThe curriculum focuses on Six Areas of Learning and Experience: Expressive Arts, Health and Well-Being, Humanities, Language, Literacy and Communications, Mathematics and Numeracy, Science and Technology.
\nIt will be introduced gradually from 2022 and will start with pupils aged seven and younger. Teachers will teach the old and new systems at the same time to students of different ages as it is phased in.
\nThe report also said that students who read for 30 minutes a day will encounter 13.7 million words by the end of secondary school. However, peers who average less than 15 minutes of reading will only encounter 1.5 million words: a difference of 12 million words.
\nPrimary teachers in Wales are in need of more information and in-service training to help them encourage children to be more proactive in terms of difficulty of books read and quality of comprehension, the report said.
\nWatch the video to find out what the most-read children’s books in Wales are:
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