Early intervention improves literacy

The early intervention programme introduced in 1997 was intended to raise children's standards in literacy and numeracy in the first two years of primary school. It received 7m government funding in the first year, which was then doubled to 14m annually.

In 1998 the then Scottish Office commissioned a three-year evaluation of the programme and the findings, published last week by the Scottish Executive in summary form, show that it has significantly improved standards of reading, though it has had less impact on attainment in mathematics.

The report, Early Intervention in Literacy and Numeracy: Key Issues from the National Evaluation of the Programme, says, 'Numeracy intervention took much longer to become established over the three-year period than literacy. The evaluation could therefore capture only the early effects of change.' Early intervention appears to have boosted morale both for teachers and pupils. Three-quarters of teachers in primary 1 and 2 said they felt more confident about their work, with most identifying pupils' enthusiasm and progress as the most satisfactory aspect of the programme. The impact on children's attitudes was also found to be beneficial. Children in primary 3 were more likely to feel positive about school if they had had contact with a nursery nurse or classroom assistant in primary 1.