Parents urged to get boys reading

Disengaged families and parents not making time to read to their children are leading to Maori and boys lagging behind in the classroom, says a Wairarapa educator.

The national standard achievement information for primary schools for 2013, released last month, showed improvements across the country in reading, writing and mathematics.

While Wairarapa has reaped some strong results, boys and Maori are still scoring lower than their girl and caucasian counterparts - with the region yielding lower scores for both groups than other areas such as Wellington City, Kapiti and Porirua.

Lakeview School principal Ed Hodgkinson said Wairarapa schools are actively looking at ways to bridge the gap - but they will need the support of families and the wider community.

"The issue with boys and Maori struggling in education is not new - we've been grappling with it for a while," said Mr Hodgkinson, also president of the Wellington Regional Primary Principals' Association.

"It's something we really want to solve. But teachers can't do it alone - we need to encourage parents, grandparents and whanau to come onboard and get engaged with their children's learning."

In all three Wairarapa districts, boys are falling behind.

In writing, about 57 per cent male students in Masterton, and 61 per cent in Carterton and South Wairarapa are at or above standard, compared with 75, 78 and 81 per cent of girls.

About 20 per cent of Masterton boys were "below" standard in reading, with 25 per cent in Carterton, and 15 per cent in South Wairarapa.

Masterton had the poorest results in the numbers of boys "well below" standard across the board: 7.5 in reading, 9 per cent in writing and 6.5 per cent in mathematics.

To improve boys' reading skills, Mr Hodgkinson actively encourages Lakeview parents to read to their sons - and to start early.

"It's where all their basic oral and written language skills stem from.

"It's a lot harder to get boys interested in reading by the time they get to Year 5 and 6 - by that stage, the horse has bolted.

"So, parents need to be reading to their children from the year dot."

Mr Hodgkinson said, in his experience, modern families are making less time for reading to their children - largely due to pressure on working or single parents and the various temptations of the digital age.

To assist families, Lakeview employs the Duffy Books in Homes programme, where children are given five books each to take home and share with their parents.

"I've noticed that, even in some of our lower-socio economic families, a home might have the latest TV, but hardly any books," said Mr Hodgkinson.

"The reality these days is that books just aren't being bought for birthdays and Christmas.

"With Duffy, kids can at least take some books home and build their own collection."

Where Maori are concerned, students were trailing behind in all three disciplines in Wairarapa.

Carterton had the lowest achievement rates for Maori students, with about 60 per cent at or above standard for reading and mathematics, and 55 per cent for reading.

The lowest results for Maori were again in writing, with around 34 per cent of Masterton students being below standard, 37 per cent in Carterton and 35 in South Wairarapa.

Mr Hodgkinson said schools needed to make a greater effort to collaborate with Maori families - and many parents have become disillusioned and have disengaged from their child's learning.

"Maori parents may be put off by their own school experience, so they feel disenfranchised," he said.