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| The importance of Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy. |
| Thursday, 08 May 2008 |
QEII, Westminster - 8 May 2008
As always please check against delivery.
Introduction
Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here to celebrate the continued success of Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy (FLLN).
I am a huge supporter of what FLLN stands for and would like to begin by thanking you all for your commitment and hard work to support a wide range of successful and innovative FLLN activities. You are the people who are making a difference on a day to day basis.
We know that good literacy, language and numeracy skills can transform people's lives. And FLLN is often especially important for the adults, perhaps as their first contact with education for some years, even decades.
By teaching parents who struggle with literacy how to read we can transform the lives of millions of children. And by making them maths confident we can help parents take control of their lives and often improve their finances.
I was really pleased when Scott Quinnell - the famous Welsh rugby player - recently came forward to speak about his difficulties in reading and writing and how he sought help for the sake of his three children - who also suffer with dyslexia.
On World Book Day, Scott talked about how his wife had to write cheques for him and how some fans had thrown autographs back in his face because he couldn't spell their name. Eleven months after seeking help, Scott had finished reading his first full book (Harry Potter) and even written and delivered an after-dinner speech.
Those of you who work with families to improve their skills will recognise the familiar elements in this story: the initial shame and fear followed by a glorious sense of accomplishment when people manage to overcome these barriers.
It's certainly something that I recognise as an MP in Tottenham - every Friday I speak to fathers and mothers who say that they had struggled in silence for years but after working to improve their maths and English have a better quality of life for them and their children.
At the moment, around 70,000 parents/carers per year are participating in family literacy, language and numeracy programmes - a number of whom are expected to achieve a Skills for Life qualification.
They are transforming their lives, taking vital steps towards better employability and social inclusion.
This in turn is bringing us closer towards the goals set by Lord Leitch in his report highlighting the necessity of a strong skills-base for long-term prosperity and for social justice. For 95 % of people to be able to read, write and use numbers. For 9 out of 10 people to have achieve a Level 2 qualification, the equivalent of 5 good GCSEs.
Lord Leitch recognised the contribution of Skills for Life and sets ambitious challenges for employers, learners and those who work with them.
By learning new skills or developing existing ones, and by supporting literacy activities with their children, parents and grandparents can end cycles of underachievement that can last generations.
We talk a lot about investing in our future. Family learning is the embodiment of that ethos: It is inter-generational gold-dust.
The inter-generational element is crucial because barriers to learning are often passed from adult to child, from generation to generation. A study carried out in the 1990s found that 60% of children aged 10 in the lowest reading group had parents who also had problems with literacy.
The good news is that new research by NDRC shows that it's never too late to turn things around.
NRDC Report
The study, available today, by the National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy (NRDC), finds strong evidence that parents with higher basic skills have children who perform better in tests scores. That's no surprise to most people.
What is surprising and very welcome news is that the report found that the children of parents who can read at the level of an average 11-year-old showed test results which were double those of children of parents with very poor literacy.
The research also found that the relationship between fathers' basic skills and the skills of their sons is particularly strong for school-aged children.
These are important findings which highlight why we must continue to push forward to improve the nation's skills. The LSC and my department recently launched the 'Get On and Get Confident' campaign which you might have seen the adverts for - the ones with the hands. The campaign has already been successful in generating demand for numeracy skills.
Achievements
At last years conference we announced the two year research into analysing literacy outcomes for parents and their children. This analysis is underway and already producing some interesting findings in the first year.
I am please to announce that the Early Years FLLN programme has been developed and piloted based on the Early Years Foundation Stage. So far, 23 local authorities, working with 350 parents and 330 children have been involved in the pilots.
We also announced that Parent Information packs would be developed for parents and carers of 5 and 11 year old children to complement the Booktime and Booked Up free book offer. Using a targeted distribution strategy 100,000 packs for parents of 5 year olds and 50,000 packs for parents of 11 year olds have been distributed to schools across England. Of these, 10,000 have been distributed to libraries around the country. The pack contents have been positively received by local authorities, schools, FLLN practitioners and FLLN co-ordinators.
Children's Plan - £30m
The DCSF Children's Plan commits £30m additional funding for family learning programmes in the next three years.
This is a really positive development and provides an opportunity to build on and expand existing provision as well as develop and strengthen family learning programmes to meet national and local priorities. We are working closely with DCSF on how this money will be spent.
I have talked before about overlapping deprivation and it is my strong belief that improving numeracy and literacy has an impact that reverberates through society. By giving people pride in their skills and hope of improving their lives, we can move prevent them from being sucked into crime and anti-social behaviour.
In terms of how these programmes are delivered, what matters is that children and families receive a service that is - from their point of view - seamless and responsive to their needs.
Conclusion
Overall, I believe that our drive to improve literacy, language and numeracy skills stands out as one of the most important programmes of social change in this country.
Looking back in history at periods of major social change - the kind that changes a country from one generation to the next - you will see that it comes in waves. Whether that's free schooling, raising the leaving age or making university education more widely available. All of these programmes fed into - and were driven by - huge cultural shifts.
They created opportunities for people as never before - but also changed the way the people thought about education and its role in changing society.
Your work to break the generational cycle of poor skills and deprivation is as big as those changes I have just mentioned.
You have a driving moral purpose - helping those who face the daily struggle of living without being able to count, read and write properly.
By eradicating the scourge of poor skills we can bring happiness to so many families and improve the nation as a whole. That's certainly a worthwhile pursuit. Thanks for listening.
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