What success would look like

To help plan the Family Reading Campaign the Strategic Forum initially tried to identify what success would look like. The key indicators are listed below:

• All families see reading as an important part of their daily lives and part of the culture of their home. Children, young people and adults enjoy reading for its own sake. They view reading as an essential source of information and pleasure, drawing on a wide range of materials including books, newspapers, comics and multi-media sources.
  
• Parents and carers find time to read regularly with their younger children, and share favourite books and story tapes which they enjoy time and time again. Parents and carers talk and sing familiar rhymes to young children in their care and encourage their children's chatter.
  " Parents and carers who struggle with their own literacy, have the confidence to provide reading experiences for their children. They know they can access informal learning opportunities in local venues where they feel comfortable.
• Reading for pleasure is recognised as an important part of the process of learning to read. Owning books and visiting the library are valued because parents and carers know that an enjoyment of books and reading provides the foundations of later learning and school achievement, as well as personal development. All children and young people talk enthusiastically about their favourite reads.
• Young people feel comfortable about being seen to enjoy reading. Families and schools support a culture in which young people see reading as acceptable and accessible by recognising a wide range of reading materials as valid and by encouraging young people to have access to a broad range of texts.
• Reading in the home is encouraged and supported by schools, the local community, the business community, the media and wider society. Reading is promoted as the activity which provides the key to educational achievement, and because it offers relaxation and enjoyment alongside other lifestyle choices such as television, creativity and sport.