Children’s reading habits and comprehension lags behind in Wales compared to the other UK nations, according to a major study of more than 1m children. The annual “What Kids Are Reading” report from Renaissance Learning looked at analysis of regional variation in reading habits and includes 20,000 children from Wales.
It found that although children in year one of primary in Wales read books one year above their chronological age on average their peers in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland read books two years ahead of their chronological age.
That pattern continues through primary and then children’s reading “slumps” when they reach secondary school in all four nations. Wimpy Kid books are among the top three favourites for both primary and secondary age children UK-wide.
“Wales does badly in comparison to the other regions, and indeed has become worse during the last year, especially in primary,” the report warns.
“Beginning to read graphic novels of low readability may be a part of this problem. Its level of difficulty stays lower for longer. Primary teachers in Wales are in need of in-service training to encourage them to encourage their children to be more proactive.”
On the reading “slump” as children go to secondary school the document adds: “Typically, across the UK pupils in primary school read harder books as they get older and there is then a decline when pupils reach secondary school. This is particularly marked in Wales where reading level and comprehension were both lower than in the other nations. Older pupils in secondary school were still reading the same difficulty of books as upper primary pupils.
“Pupils in primary schools in Wales also consistently showed a much higher quality of comprehension when reading (91% to 96%) than pupils in secondary schools (87% to 89%). In primary, the difficulty of books was much lower than in England, while the quality of comprehension was much the same.
“In secondary, the difficulty of books was again much lower than in England, but the quality of comprehension was slightly higher. It is striking how, from Year 7, the difficulty of books declines sharply, with the transfer to secondary school having a significant effect even on highly motivated readers.”
The top three favourite authors among primary age children across the UK are Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, Roald Dahl and David Walliams. For secondaries the top three are Jeff Kinney, J.K. Rowling and David Walliams.
This popularity for what are essentially primary school age books among high school children could be holding readers back, the report suggested: “Books by Kinney and Walliams continue to be read up until very advanced ages when the difficulty is no longer appropriate.”
And while the amount children read and enjoyed reading across the UK rose during the first lockdown in 2020 that has now tailed off. Children and teenagers have less time to read now schools are open again.
Data from the National Literacy Trust’s annual Literacy Survey, used in the report, showed children and young people’s enjoyment of reading was at an all-time low at the beginning of 2020, with less than half (47.8%) of those aged 8-18
saying that they enjoyed reading. While levels of daily reading and enjoyment “slowly recovered in 2020”, those gains were not sustained over 2021 and “returning to school left pupils with less time to read”.
The principal author of the report Keith Topping, Professor of educational and social research at Dundee University, said: “We see clearly from the evidence that time spent reading books is crucial to improved reading skill, an essential transferable skill for the future.”
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