I have to respond to the latest article announcing the results of the Reading Campaign.

I have just looked at the OCC website and counted the number of primary schools in Oxfordshire (I need to get a life). There are 231. So to suggest that the greatly improved results in the reading ability of students in these schools, since 2010, results is down to this initiative is not true. Very pleasing it is, but to assume that this improvement is down to the Reading Campaign is unfair to all of the schools which are not part of this campaign. The 56 schools (or 24 per cent of the primary schools in Oxfordshire) which are part of this campaign, to have dragged the average up by the 9 per cent points the co-operating schools would have to have had more than 100 per cent of their students reaching the required levels. So it is clear that all primary schools should be congratulated on this massive improvement – not just those which are part of the campaign.

The Reading Campaign, and the politicians promoting the progress as being down to themselves, are clearly wrong. They should publish the relative improvements in the schools working with this initiative, showing the number of students worked with and their improvement. This would give a clear indication on how their work compares with the 76 per cent of schools not currently working with this campaign.

As I have indicated in several letters published in this paper before, the improvement in reading across the county is due to many different things: schools themselves from the head teacher, teachers, teachers’ assistants, parents (both in school and at home) and, in my case, working as a volunteer through Assisted Reading for Children (ARCh – we are always looking for more volunteers, please see our website) have been addressing this problem since 2010. The Reading Campaign is a worthy additional initiative, but (welcome as it is) I submit most schools had this problem well in hand before it came to the table.

JIM YOUNG

Blythe Place

Bicester