Citation:
Dell, K., Harman-Smith, Y. & Brinkman, S. (2016). A review of Let’s Read in the context of the South Australian Service Setting. Government Report for the Department for Education and Child Development. Adelaide
Abstract:
The Fraser Mustard Centre was contracted to undertake an independent review of the Let’s Read literacy support program in South Australia and how it fits within the mix of services in South Australia that support the development of children’s emergent literacy. Let’s Read is a national early literacy initiative to promote reading with children from birth to five years, with a long term vision that all that all Australian children enter school with strong emergent literacy foundations.
Let’s Read was developed by the Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The Royal Children’s Hospital. The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and The Smith Family (TSF) have partnered to implement Let’s Read with communities across Australia. The program targets children and families in low-socioeconomic households and communities due to the extra literacy and learning challenges these communities face. The core components of Let’s Read are to:
- train professionals about the importance of early literacy and how to engage with families and caregivers to help them to support their children’s emergent literacy
- support the Let’s Read universal multi-point intervention which is provided by a trusted community professional multiple times between the birth and five years of age
- make high quality children’s books available at low cost for use in the home and community
- provide messages, information and resources that support provision of literacy rich home environments
- provide messages and resources to support community approaches to early literacy development and encourage literacy rich experiences in the community encourage and supports partnerships and initiatives for literacy activities and promotion.
This report will examine the early literacy environment in South Australia, and specifically report on the following areas:
- the types of early literacy interventions and the evidence for these
- early literacy programs available in South Australia (outside the formal early childhood education environment)
- Review the current evidence on programs operating in South Australia
- Identify the gaps in current programming and recommendations for future interventions based on current evidence