Nursery World - 'Reading for pleasure' key to turning boys into readers

Male reading volunteers in schools and parenting programmes that focus on fathers are among the recommendations of a major report into how to tackle the gap between boys and girls in reading.

It also says that schools need to promote ‘reading for pleasure’ and seek out books and texts that boys will enjoy based on their interests.

There should also be less emphasis on the ‘mechanics’ of reading and more on reading for enjoyment.

The Boys Reading Commission report compiled by the National Literacy Trust for the All-Party Parliamentary Literacy Group found that while the gap is widening between boys and girls in reading, there is no national strategy to address the problem.

Last year, there was a gap of 11 percentage points between boys and girls in reading at the end of Reception.

Between the age of five and seven the gap narrows, but then increases again. At 14, girls are outstripping boys in English by 12 percentage points. Last year, 59 per cent of boys gained an A* to C in English GCSE, compared to 73 per cent of girls.

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