Norfolk celebrities back BBC Page Turners to get children reading
Celebrity authors and TV personalities have backed a local BBC radio campaign to boost childhood literacy.According to the Office for National Statistics, one in four children in Norfolk do not meet the expected standard in reading by the time they leave primary school.Page Turners launched on BBC Radio Norfolk on Monday, coinciding with the official opening of a new library in Great Yarmouth.Author and TV presenter Ben Garrod said reading "should be inspiring" and actor Stephen Fry said "reading is just the most exciting thing in the world".
University of East Anglia lecturer Prof Garrod, a presenter of several BBC wildlife programmes, has also written books aimed at children."We, in so many ways, see reading as a chore; it's something you have to do for homework and all these things," he explained."It should be fun, it should be engaging, it should be inspiring."As part of the Page Turners project, he helped children write an ending to their own stories."We've all got stories within us; our species is a storytelling species so giving these kids that chance to tell their own stories is really important."
Norfolk broadcaster and writer Sir Stephen said his favourite book to read as a child was Greek Gods and Heroes: For Young Readers, by Robert Graves."What I love about books generally is how they take you into another world in a way that's somehow far more collaborative than you can ever get with television and computers."It's you and the author and this world that you've entered."
Anne Thorley is the co-founder and chairwoman of the Norfolk Reading Project which provides free training to reading volunteers.She said the Page Turners project was "really fantastic"."The pandemic certainly played a part because that was two years disrupted education and missed early years opportunities, but there are lots of obstacles including hunger, lack of sleep, which can affect concentration."Smart phones, tablets; have now replaced traditional reading material for some generations and many households don't have books at home."
Katrin Oldridge, a literary specialist at the Wensum Trust English Hub, said literacy abilities were linked to deprivation levels in Norfolk - which she said were higher than the national average.She said: "Too many of our residents are unable to access good jobs, healthcare and the chance to learn new skills and like many other rural and coastal areas, Norfolk has faced historical imbalances of underfunding."It can, and must, do better."
'Busy lives'
BookTrust is the UK's largest children's reading charity and tries to get children reading as young as possible.Chief executive Diane Gerald said Page Turners was a "great initiative"."We can see from the data that parents are struggling to find the time to read with their children," he said."If I can put it more positively, all the benefits of reading mean if we can just support parents, it makes such a difference to their children."I think the reality is people have very busy lives. We all know it's tough out there; people juggling lots and lots of things going on, and maybe we are all spending too much time on our screen."Maybe it's the grown ups spending time on their screen and not showing their children that they're reading too."The new library in Great Yarmouth has been built as a partnership between East Coast College and the University of Suffolk.
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