Children need to be able to communicate and to read. Without those basic skills their life opportunities are reduced and they face a bleak future. The inability to read will impact on not only their outcomes but those of their children. Children who are unable to read properly by the age of 7 never catch up. 1 in 5 children leave primary school unable to read properly. These children do less well at school, have dramatically reduced employment choices and earning opportunities, and a greater chance of going to prison.

Excellent reading programmes and support exist in most schools in the UK but in almost every case resources are stretched, classes are huge and it is not possible to hear every child read every day. Many children will never be heard to read at home.

The solution to fix this problem which has a huge knock-on effect, not only in terms of the quality of life of the individual - but the cost to the community - is actually very simple.

In addition to attending school every day, each child needs 15 minutes of one to one time when they can be heard to read and have verbal and social interaction.

Teachers and head teachers agree that the ability to read is the key to all learning. Head Teacher Simon Mills of Westfield School in Radstock says, ‘I will always give priority to reading time over everything else. Once a child can read then learning and the whole world opens up to them.’

‘Read with me’ has been set up to bridge that gap.

We have developed a unique programme where local employers give employees half an hour twice a week to hear two children read. The programme targets reception and year one children to minimise the delay in children learning to read well and to ensure they benefit as much as possible from all other lessons and forms of learning.