Quentin Blake is muse for teachers of reading
24 April 2008
Specially trained teachers who work with young struggling readers are set to receive a little extra inspiration this weekend from world-famous author and illustrator Quentin Blake.
Blake, who trained as a teacher in 1957, will be speaking at a conference for Reading Recovery teachers, The Possible Dream: ALL children readers, at the Institute of Education on Saturday – the same place where Blake himself learned to teach.
Reading Recovery provides one-to-one tuition for children who, at the end of their first year of school, can barely read or write their own names. Introduced to the UK in 1990 by its founder, the late Dame Marie Clay, the scheme has enabled 61,000 non-literate six-year-olds in Britain to learn to read and write. Research published in November 2006 showed that children who had had Reading Recovery tuition made an average gain of 21 months in reading age in four to five months of teaching – well over four times the normal rate of progress.
The conference, held by the Reading Recovery National Network, will launch an appeal – the Marie Clay Professional Learning Fund – to raise £40,000 for the teachers' professional development.
Reading Recovery coordinator Julia Douëtil, said: "We hope to bring together people from across Europe who want to ensure that all young children have the best possible chance to learn to read."
The Possible Dream, the eighth biennial conference of the Reading Recovery National Network, takes place from 10am to 4.30pm at the Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL on 26 April 2008.
Notes for editors
Further information from Helen Green, press officer, +44 (0)20 7612 6459, h.green@ioe.ac.uk
Reading Recovery is an early literacy intervention programme designed for children who have literacy difficulties at the end of their first year at primary school. It involves reading and writing in a daily one-to-one lesson with a highly trained teacher for a period of between 15 and 20 weeks. At the end of that time, most children have caught up with their classmates and can read and write at a level appropriate for their age.
The purpose of the Marie Clay Professional Learning Fund is to secure funding for the provision of annual, individual bursaries so that access to national/ international professional development opportunities for Reading Recovery professionals living and working in Europe may be increased.
Visit www.readingrecovery.org.uk.
The Institute of Education is a college of the University of London, specialising in teaching, research and consultancy in education and related areas of social science and professional practice.