Published: 22/11/2009 00:00 - Updated: 27/11/2009 18:31

Follow ECaR if your child’s reading needs to be on road to recovery

A new reading centre opens this week to mark the launch of the ‘Every Child a Reader Project’.

The Conference Development Centre, Stephenson Court, Priory Park, Bedford, will open its doors at 2pm on Tuesday offering ‘Reading Recovery’ to youngsters.

Jane Smithson, ‘Every Child A Reader’ (ECaR) teacher leader said: “Schools funded through the programme, receiving Reading Recovery lessons, made an average gain of 21 months in reading age in four-five months of teaching – well over four times the normal rate of progress.

“ECaR continues to positively influence the life chances of Key Stage 1 children, getting 83 per cent of our lowest attaining pupils to Level 2 by the age of seven.”

Reading Recovery is a shortterm intervention for children who have the lowest achievement in literacy learning in their first years at school.

Children are taught individually by a specially trained teacher for 30 minutes each day for an average of 12-20 weeks.

The goal is for children to develop effective reading and writing strategies in order to work within an average range of class performance nationally for their age.