£24 million to boost children’s phonics and literacy skills

New funding of over £24 million is set to be invested in building children’s literacy skills as the government work towards the target of 90% of primary children reaching the expected standard in literacy and numeracy.

The announcement marks the conclusion of Dyslexia Awareness Week, with targeted literacy support playing a pivotal role in helping pupils with dyslexia develop all-important reading and writing skills.

The funding will support the continuation and growth of the English Hubs Programme, enabling even more schools to embed high quality phonics teaching and benefit from the intensive support and access to literacy specialists.

The programmes will help build children’s confidence and ability to read and write, including for those with dyslexia, and provide a solid foundation for children to build upon so they can develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both information and for fun.

The fund builds on the Accelerator Fund - which helps schools access specialist programmes of support for pupils and has so far seen £4 million distributed to over 450 schools. It will boost existing programmes in schools to support pupils’ learning to read.