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MNHQ

New children's literacy campaign: should Mumsnet sign up?

4 replies

RowanMumsnet · 19/08/2014 15:43

Hello everyone

The charity Save the Children, with whom we've done a bit of work in the past, is asking if Mumsnet can give its collective support to a campaign to improve children’s literacy here in the UK.

Save the Children say: “Reading is the key to a child’s future: it unlocks their potential and opens up a world filled with possibilities. For our poorest children, reading well is their best route out of poverty, but thousands of children from poorer backgrounds leave primary school not reading as well as they should.”

As ever, we'd like to know what you think about adding Mumsnet's voice to this. The aim of the campaign is to ensure that every child is a confident reader by age 11, but Save the Children's position is that to achieve this we all need to play our part. The campaign hasn't launched yet, but Save the Children will be working with a coalition of organisations, communities, parents, teachers and schools, businesspeople and politicians. They are working with a range of media, including The Sun. They don’t want to give away all their campaign tactics before the launch (understandably) but if you have any specific questions about the methods and aims of the campaign, let us know and we'll see if we can get answers for you.

Please do also use this thread to let us know what you think about Mumsnet officially getting behind this one.

Thanks,
MNHQ

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MNHQ

RowanMumsnet · 20/08/2014 10:44

Morning all

Thanks very much for all your thoughts and input.

If we're reading this right, along with some outright support, there are two main concerns:

a) The Sun; and
b) the exact strategy of the campaign and make-up of the coalition.

We'll ask Save the Children to take a look and see if they can give us a response to each of these.

From MNHQ's POV, we just wanted to say that, having seen the full range of coalition members - sorry, realise that's irritating Blush - this does seem to have the makings of a powerful campaign, on an issue we know almost all MN users will feel positively about.

It's fairly standard for campaigning organisations not to divulge details of campaign strategies before launch, although we understand why some of you would like to know more before making a decision.

As to the The Sun: you're right, we did anticipate this might raise questions, which is why we mentioned it! We're fully committed to NMP3, but that hadn't translated, in our collective mind to not working with organisations that might also work with the Sun. And as one of the UK's biggest-circulation newspapers, it can be a powerful agent in campaigns. But as ever, we're here to hear what you have to say about it.

MNHQ

RowanMumsnet · 22/08/2014 16:31

Hello all

Sorry for the slight delay - Save the Children are having a good read of the thread and we hope to have a response from them early next week if not before.

MNHQ

RowanMumsnet · 26/08/2014 16:56

Hello all

We've had a response now from Save the Children: here it is.

"Hi everyone

Thanks very much for all the thoughts and feedback. It’s new for us to talk about a campaign to a community and get soundings before we launch, and we really appreciate all the expertise you've brought to the table."

"I thought it would be useful first of all to revisit why we're looking at reading. We come to education and reading from child poverty. We've been campaigning on child poverty in the UK for 80 years, and this push will be the most ambitious thing attempted since free school meals in the '40s. As you know, child poverty is relentlessly on the rise, despite the recovery. As our report A Fair Start for Every Child showed in May, this means potentially ruined childhoods, children growing up in cold, damp homes."

"We all know that poverty can cut short life chances. Our analysis in last year’s report on educational inequality Too Young to Fail showed that by the time a child is seven, nearly 80% of the difference in GCSE results between rich and poor is already set. We see too often that poverty can become a life sentence. And reading well early is the single thing that makes the most difference."

"That's why we are launching this reading campaign, along with a large number of other charities, including those addressing special needs, early years and language development as well as literacy, in September."

"This isn't just an education policy-led campaign, like others before. Our campaign is about mobilising the public to raise the importance of reading and the enjoyment of reading at the same time. We all want to solve the problem of children falling behind because they are from poorer families once and for all."

"I wish we could share all the details ahead of launch but we have to keep the powder dry. We are looking at activities around the whole country, and we're especially focused on trying to reach poorer parents and children. We aim to get reading and the joy of reading out there as widely as possible, to reach children wherever they are and whatever media their parents read. That does include work with The Sun, and a vast range of other media."

"The Mumsnet community could be a huge and powerful part of that – helping to shape the future of the campaign. I'd be more than happy to come back to this thread after launch and take your soundings again at that point."

All best,

Mora McLagan
Coalition Lead - National Mission on Reading
Save the Children

MNHQ

KateHMumsnet · 02/09/2014 14:13

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your thoughts. On balance, we've decided not to be formal partners on this campaign but as most seem to support its aims, which are hard to disagree with, we'll give it airtime where we can.

Thanks Thanks

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