City youngsters gain help reading

A new initiative has been launched in Stoke-on-Trent in a bid to get more children reading. 

The Roots to Reading scheme has been launched by the Bookmark Reading Charity and will work across across 29 primary schools where levels of literacy are below the national average. 

Only 70% of Stoke-on-Trent children meet the expected level of reading by the end of Year 6, compared with 75% nationally, making the city the lowest ranked across the whole of the West Midlands.