"We're failing too many boys in the enjoyment of reading." The findings of the National Literacy Trust's report into boys' reading are announced today. It reveals again that boys are falling behind in reading and that attitudes to reading between boys and girls are widening even further. Incredibly three out of four schools in the UK are concerned about boys' reading, and 60,000 boys aren't reaching the required levels of reading at 11. But what can be done about it?
Having just presented Radio 4's Reading Between the Lines which looked at how children have learnt to read over the last 70 years, I don't think it's all about how we teach children to read or the phonics versus whole language debate which educators and governments tend to get so bogged down with.