đź“° Adult Literacy News Summary
How to solve the literacy crisis in schools
08-Jul-2026 - UK
The critical issue of secondary school reading fluency is not a new problem. A fundamental inability to access the curriculum due to poor reading and comprehension has always been the case for a significant cohort of students entering secondary education, although this has increased over time. As a secondary school teacher, I am frequently left wondering about the exact nature of the literacy instruction occurring in some primary schools. Year after year, pupils entering year 7 lack the basic decoding and automaticity required to engage with secondary-level texts.
Read moreMore than 800 young people engage with Chichester charity's new Bookfest YA programme
07-Jul-2026 - UK
More than 800 young people from secondary schools across Chichester have taken part in BookFest YA, a new initiative from local charity Children's BookFest (CBF) designed to inspire a lifelong love of reading among teenagers. Throughout June, students from Chichester High School, Chichester Free School, Bishop Luffa School and Fordwater School took part in a series of author visits, creative writing workshops and literary events created specifically for young people aged 11 to 18. Together, the programme reached 802 students, demonstrating the appetite among young people for opportunities to meet authors, develop their own writing and explore the world of books beyond the classroom.
Read more"I presumed kids’ books were written by people who were white and dead": new children’s laureate Patrice Lawrence
07-Jul-2026 - UK
When Patrice Lawrence got the call asking her to become the UK’s next children’s laureate, her first response was disbelief. “I was in absolute shock,” she says, laughing. She is only just beginning to process what it means to join a lineage that includes Jacqueline Wilson, Quentin Blake, Michael Rosen, Julia Donaldson, Malorie Blackman and, most recently, Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Lawrence spent years working in organisations focused on children’s rights and social justice before becoming a children’s author, publishing her breakthrough YA novel Orangeboy in 2016, aged 49. She has a practical vision for her laureateship. “To change policy you need evidence”, she says. “We say stories work, let’s show how they work.” She hopes to gather research from children in care, refugee families and the children of prisoners to demonstrate how books change lives.
Read moreThe Role of Semantics in Reading Fluency and Comprehension
05-Jul-2026 - Global
Reading is more than just decoding letters and words; it’s about making sense of the information those words convey. At the heart of this process lies semantics, the study of meaning in language. This article delves into the role of semantics in reading comprehension and explores how it shapes not only reading fluency but also the overall understanding of texts. In the realm of reading, semantics encompasses various aspects, including vocabulary knowledge, context clues, and the ability to infer meaning from text. It’s not just about knowing words; it’s about grasping their meanings within different contexts. Reading fluency involves the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with appropriate expression. A reader who can decode fluently is better positioned to understand what they read. However, fluency is heavily influenced by semantic knowledge. A reader who comprehends word meanings will perform better in fluency tasks because they won’t get stuck on unfamiliar terms.
Read moreThird of disadvantaged white pupils in England leave primary school without being able to read properly
04-Jul-2026 - UK
A third of disadvantaged white pupils in England leave their primary school unable to read well enough to access the secondary curriculum, leading to disengagement and school absence, according to new research. The findings were published days after an independent inquiry into white working-class educational outcomes concluded the current education system was “not set up to serve white working-class children and families”. The landmark inquiry, which was commissioned by a schools academy trust and backed by the Department for Education, was launched to investigate why white working-class educational performance persistently lags behind other large demographic groups.
Read moreSummer reading challenge returns to Surrey
04-Jul-2026 - UK
Surrey's Summer Reading Challenge 2026 has launched, offering free, family-friendly events across the county's libraries. Primary school-aged children can sign up at their local library and take part either by reading up to six books or completing six goals of their choice to collect rewards, said the council. "Reading regularly can make a real difference to a child's confidence, wellbeing and future opportunities," said Surrey County councillor Mark Nuti. Surrey County Council said that all reading counts - "from fiction and non-fiction to audiobooks and eBooks" - counts towards the challenge.
Read moreDolly Parton, 80, Shares a Special Wedding Message for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
03-Jul-2026 - USA
Dolly Parton, 80, issued a special video message for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce ahead of their wedding. On July 3, the country legend shared a video thanking the soon-to-be newlyweds for their generous $2 million donation to her literacy charity Imagination Library, which provides free books to children.
Read moreThe 8 Least Educated Countries in the World – and the 3 Most
03-Jul-2026 - Global
Education is one of those things that shapes almost everything else: life expectancy, economic mobility, political stability, even how a country responds to climate change. Yet despite decades of global progress, the gap between the world’s best and worst education systems remains vast. Global literacy stands at roughly 87.74% as of 2026, which sounds encouraging until you realize what that number is hiding. There are more than a dozen countries that have less than a 50% literacy rate, and most of them face a tightly clustered set of causes: armed conflict, chronic poverty, gender inequality, and geography. The countries at the very top, meanwhile, have spent generations building systems that treat education as infrastructure – as essential as roads or hospitals.
Read moreSwindon families could benefit from new grants on offer
02-Jul-2026 - UK
Organisations in Swindon delivering community projects could receive up to £1,000 through a new grant scheme. The Family Learning Fund, launched by housing association SNG, is aimed at supporting initiatives that bring families together to learn new skills and strengthen relationships. Available to not-for-profit organisations in Swindon, the scheme offers grants of between £300 and £1,000 for programmes focusing on family learning. Eligible activities could include cooking classes, creative workshops, or literacy and numeracy sessions—anything that encourages families to learn together and build confidence.
Read moreRoyal Literary Fund opens groups in prison during National Year of Reading
30-Jun-2026 - UK
The Royal Literary Fund (RLF), the world’s oldest literary charity, has announced a programme of events in prisons as part of a range of initiatives to mark 2026 as the National Year of Reading. The charity is to bring its Reading Round programme, a reading group in which participants read, listen to and discuss stories and poetry in a relaxed and supportive environment, into new settings including prisons, hospices and recovery colleges. Reading Round has operated since 2013 in a variety of settings in the community including theatres, churches, arts venues and community centres. The charity has partnered with the National Literacy Trust to deliver the sessions. Jo Smart, Head of Education, Skills, and Work at HMP Leeds, said: “The most rewarding thing is seeing prisoners’ literacy improve to a point where they’re reading for pleasure as well as to learn – author visits are an enabler for igniting a passion to develop creative writing and reading skills.”
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