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<p>The Department welcomes the National Literacy Trust’s research on reading in both
print and digital forms.</p><p> </p><p>The Department encourages children to develop
the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, whatever
the format. Research suggests that reading for pleasure is more important for children’s
educational development than their parents’ level of education.</p><p> </p><p>There
is sound evidence that systematic synthetic phonics is a highly effective method of
teaching reading to children. Phonics performance is improving: in 2018, there were
163,000 more 6 year olds on track to become fluent readers compared to 2012. This
represented 82% of pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check,
compared to just 58% when the check was introduced in 2012.</p><p> </p><p>Building
on the success of our phonics partnerships and phonics roadshows programmes, in 2018
we launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme. Hub schools are taking a leading
role in improving the teaching of early reading through systematic synthetic phonics,
early language development, and reading for pleasure. We have appointed 34 primary
schools across England as English Hubs.</p>
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