Summer update report by bookmarkreading

End of 2023-24 academic year report

Prepared for you by Bookmark Reading Charity

Thank you

This year’s SAT’s results saw more than 1 in 4 children leave primary school without meeting the expected government standard in reading, a trend that has continued from the 2022/23 academic year. This disproportionately impacts children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are leaving primary school on average a year behind their peers The Education Endowment Foundation reports that only 10% of these children go on to pass their GCSE in English and Maths.

At Bookmark Reading Charity, we want every child to read We are delighted to report that, with your support, over the last 12 months Bookmark has continued to improve children’s literacy in primary schools in disadvantaged communities by promoting a reading for pleasure culture through a variety of evidencebased programmes.

Bookmark’s delivery in 2023-2024:

2,056 children reached through one-to-one reading sessions

Across our one-to-one reading programme, resource provision and new interventions, Bookmark has supported over 360 schools this year to embed whole school reading cultures, benefitting tens of thousands of children. By focusing our delivery on the most disadvantaged communities, we have been able to support the children who need us most

We are so grateful for our network of supporters who enable us to develop our initiatives and ensure we are providing the most effective literacy solutions for our partner schools and their pupils.

This report provides an overview of the last academic year, highlighting what we have been able to achieve thanks to our supporters.

43,779 reading sessions delivered

58,000+ reached with

447 600

1,455 Early Years packs sent out

This year, our main goal was to foster a love for reading. We distributed books throughout the classroom, and the children were thrilled to receive them They couldn't wait to dive into their new books! The selection was diverse, catering to all types of readers, particularly those who may be hesitant to pick up a book”

– Teacher at a Bookmark partner school in Barking and Dagenham

Making a difference

This academic year, the growth of our core one-to-one and volunteer-led reading programme has seen an increased level of support received by the children we reach. Feedback from teachers at Bookmark partner schools shows that the programme has continued to help children falling behind become more confident, skilled and joyful readers

We know that these attitudes and behaviours are crucial for a child to develop reading for pleasure, and children who enjoy reading are four times more likely to read above the expected standard for their age Reading for pleasure is also linked to greater confidence and teachers heavily emphasise the impact this has on a pupil’s attainment, not just in literacy but across the curriculum

Across our programmes, we use a school eligibility model that evaluates three sets of school data to ensure we reach the schools and pupils most in need of support. We look to support pupils in schools that have higher than average scores on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), have an above average percentage of pupils who are eligible for Pupil Premium, and have below average Key Stage 2 reading levels. This ensures we’re reaching the children who need us most

Last academic year your support made the following difference for children on the Bookmark reading programme:

of teachers noticed an increase in reading confidence of teachers noticed an increase in reading enjoyment of teachers noticed an increase in reading skills of teachers said Bookmark made a positive difference to pupils

22,000 hours

This academic year, Bookmark volunteers have spent nearly helping children become better readers. That is the equivalent to 18 years in the classroom!

The children who have been involved in the Bookmark reading sessions have been making fantastic progress in their reading comprehension assessments and their fluency has improved brilliantly!"– Teacher in Spring Term 2023/24 School Survey

Bookmark is changing the story for children like Mia

AtKearsleyWestPrimarySchool,oneof Bookmark’spartnerschoolssince2022ina deprivedareaofBolton,childrenreceivingour one-to-onereadingsupporthavemade acceleratedprogress Thismeanstheyare makingprogressmorequicklythanthose alreadyattheage-relatedstandardofreading, narrowingthegapbetweentheirperformance andtheexpectedstandard

MiaarrivedatKearsleyWestinYear3,unableto speakEnglish.Learningthelanguagewas difficultforMiaasbothherparentsspokevery littleEnglish Miaworkedhardindailyreading andphonicslessonsandstartedBookmark’s programmetoboostherconfidence

WiththehelpofBookmark,Mia’sspokenEnglish hasimprovedandinturnherreadingand writingtoo WhenMiastartedtheprogramme, shewasawholeyearbehindherpeersin reading.Sincethen,shehasmadefourterms worthofprogressinonlythreeterms.Her teachersays:“Miahashugelygrownin confidenceandwastodayawardedclassstarfor herhugeacademicandpersonalprogress”

Anotherchild,Jack,wasalsostrugglingwithhis readingbeforehebeganBookmark’s programme Accordingtohisteacher,Jackwas “initiallyaveryreluctantlearnerand[his]mum couldnotgethimtoengagewithanylearning outsidetheimmediateclassroomcontext.”He startedtheyearsignificantlybehindthe expectedstandard Hecontinuedtofalleven furtherbehind,makingonlyhalftheprogress expectedofhimintheAutumnterm

AfterhebeganBookmark’sreading programmeintheSpringterm,hemade twotermsworthofprogressinoneterm, whichisdoubletheprogressexpectedof him Histeachersays:“Jack’sattitudeto hislearninghasimprovedgreatly He thrivesfromthepersonalonetoone supportandhisconfidencemeansthat heistacklingindependentactivities suchashomeworkmuchmore effectively”

ThankyouforhelpingchildrenlikeMia andJacktomakeprogressthroughour readingprogramme Theimpactthishas onthemis‘almostimmeasurable’,says Rebecca

*Children’s names have been changed for anonymity

YourStoryCorner

Expanding into areas of high literacy need

ThisyearthroughYourStoryCorner, Bookmarkhasexpandedintothreenew areasofhighliteracyneedandlowsocial mobilitytocreateengagingreading spacesaimedatimprovingpupils’ readingmotivation

Eachschoolthattakespartinthe programmereceivesalibrarypackfullof £2,000worthofresources,including200 brandnewbooks,ContinuedProfessional Development(CPD)resourcesfor teachersandengagingmaterialstohelp fosteranenvironmentforchildrento becomeconfidentandengagedyoung readersandinspirealifelongloveof reading

SchoolNetworkProgramme:

To build on our Your Story Corner programme, Bookmark are thrilled to have launched our School Network Programme, designed to provide further resource support to teachers and schools and help them build a sustainable reading environment Available to previous Your Story Corner schools that meet our eligibility criteria, schools selected will benefit from up to £1,000 worth of books over the year, plus access to teacher resources and training and networking

Across 228 schools in Sheffield, Barking and Dagenham, and Wolverhampton, Bookmark gifted over 45,600 books! On average across all three regions:

of schools reported that Your Story Corner made a positive difference to reading enjoyment

of schools reported that Your Story Corner made a positive difference to in reading motivation

the increased percentage of children reporting that they used the school reading space in the last 7 days

TheStoryCornermagazine

Almostamillionchildrenaged to18donothaveasinglebook theirownathome,withbook ownershipdramaticallylower amongstyoungerchildrenand childrenfromdisadvantaged backgrounds Inresponse, Bookmarkdelivered447,600co ofTheStoryCornermagazinet yeartoourpartnerschoolsand communitysettingssuchas foodbanks,warmbanksand shelters TheStoryCornermag getsreadingresourcesdirectly thehandsofchildrenandhelp combatlearninglossoverthe schoolholidays

"The books are fantastic quality, up-to-date and diverse our kids are going to love them! It’s made my day!"

- Teacher on YSC

Spotlight on our new programmes

As part of our Grants Pilot in early 2023, Bookmark was able to award over £30,000 in grants to 19 primary schools across England to support various reading for pleasure initiatives and teacher development. In total we received 700 applications for this scheme, significantly more than expected and a sign of the difficulties schools are facing with budget pressures and the cost-of-living crisis.

Bookmark’s new Literacy Partner Programme (LPP) has been designed to build on, and expand, the Grants Pilot in response to such high levels of demand. Schools are offered an in-depth literacybased consultancy and work with Bookmark to devise a detailed action plan to deliver improvements that will transform their reading culture, together with targeted funding of up to £10,000 per school to implement that plan, over two years.

We now have our first cohort of 40 schools in England and will look to expand this to an additional 50 schools in 2024/25.

Children who struggle with language at 5 are five times more likely to be behind in reading and writing at age 11 Bookmark launched its first Story Starter programme this summer to deliver an early year’s intervention to the literacy challenge 1,455 packs were delivered to incoming Reception pupils Each pack contained a book of their own, stationery, family resources and literacy engagement tools including story telling cards Delivery focused on pupils in some of the most disadvantaged areas, aiming to foster reading enjoyment and engagement ahead of their first big day, to set them up for success.

The packs were greatly received by the children. They were all pleased to receive something and loved looking inside the bag to see lots of different activities/stories, opening the pencil case, using the crayons. The finger puppets were also a big hit and the children loved trying them on. The adults were all amazed by the quality of the bags and the contents within. It made starting school that little bit more special

- A Bookmark partner school that received a YSC pack

Looking ahead and thank you

Bookmark began in 2018/19 in just three schools in Camden with our one-to-one reading programme This year we have supported over 400 schools to embed impactful whole-school reading cultures, so that their pupils can develop the reading skills and confidence they need to succeed in school and beyond.

Over the course of 2024-25 we plan to:

Deliver 50,000 one-to-one reading sessions to children most in need of support

Distribute 3,000 more Story Starter packs

Expand our Your Story Corner initiative into 150 schools in three new areas with high literacy need and child deprivation - Derby, Rochdale and Hull, whilst continuing to support our previous areas through our School Network Programme