Priti Patel MP visiting schools as part of Get Witham Reading 2022 to meet the students who were taking part.
MP’s 2023 Get Witham Reading campaign gets underway with Ministerial support
The MP for Witham, Priti Patel has launched her annual school literacy campaign ‘Get Witham Reading 2023’. The campaign, which was first held in 2012, began at a time when children’s literacy levels in Witham were below the national average. 1 in 6 pupils were leaving school without achieving the literacy level of an 11 year old and this prompted Priti to start her literacy campaign.
Get Witham Reading Day this year takes place on Friday 7th July 2023 and the Minister of State for Schools, The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, has accepted Priti’s invitation to the launch event which will take place at Templars Academy.
Commenting on Get Witham Reading 2023, Priti said: “It is wonderful to welcome the Minister to our launch event, where he will have the opportunity to see the great work schools in Witham are doing to help pupils to develop their reading skills and an appreciation of the written word. Reading is such an important activity to encourage, both as a past time as well as in education where it is the key to real learning and expanding the knowledge of children.
“It has been a real pleasure to work with schools across my constituency through Get Witham Reading over the last 12 years and to see for myself the wonderful work they do to promote and enrich reading and literacy skills in children and young people.”
The Chief Executive Officer at Templars Academy, Ceri Jones said: “I am delighted that Templars Academy will be hosting the Rt Hon Priti Patel MP for the launch event of her annual Get Witham Reading initiative on the 7th July 2023 and I look forward to welcoming the Minister, The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, to the event to meet our brilliant students and staff.
“Get Witham Reading is a fantastic initiative and it highlights the importance of raising literacy skills for students along with instilling a love of reading in them, at this early age. We are excited to take part in this special day and look forward to the students joining in these activities.”
This year, Get Witham Reading’s main theme will be a celebration of His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation. The schools taking part will base their reading activities around it. In previous years, the schools involved in the campaign have decorated their classrooms and corridors in themes related to Get Witham Reading and have even built major scale models linked to their chosen reading.
Every school and library in the Witham Constituency has been sent a personal letter from Priti, inviting them to take part in Get Witham Reading 2023.