01 Feb Education Secretary impressed by “literacy and sporting activities” during Arsenal in the Community visit
Education Secretary Justine Greening this week visited Arsenal football club to mark the launch of a joint reading initiative between Arsenal in the Community and the University College London’s Institute of Education.
The partnership aims to raise educational achievement with access to reading programmes for more children in north London through Arsenal’s Double Club initiative and the IOE’s Reading Recovery literacy intervention.
Ms Greening was given a tour of the Emirates Stadium before listening to a group of 5- to 7-year-old children read.
Education Secretary Justine Greening said:
It is brilliant to see literacy and sporting activities working together today with the Reading Recovery Read Aloud initiative. I loved reading as a child, and it is really important that every child can read well. That’s why the curriculum now has more focus on reading and writing, while our phonics work is helping 147,000 more children to become great readers.
Playing sport is about more than just ensuring young people are healthy and happy. Sport is also great for helping children develop team-working skills, communication skills and the ability to problem-solve, which in turn make a big difference to young people being able to reach their goals.
Arsenal’s Double Club is an award winning education programme for children in the local community. It uses football as the hook to make learning fun and engaging.
Read Aloud, now in its third year, celebrates the success of thousands of children who have been helped to overcome literacy difficulties through the IOE’s Reading Recovery programme. Throughout February, schools across the UK and Ireland will give children the opportunity to read books that are special to them.
