PARENT READING
QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS
November 2016
TELFORD & WREKIN COUNCIL
Parent reading questionnaire analysis and overview of findings
Below is an overview of the responses received from the parent questionnaire on reading at
home. Following the overview is a report on the findings and an overview of the next steps
for the school to raise the profile of reading.
Question Possible answers Number who Percentage
Number chose this
response
1 Does your child read well?
Always 46 52%
Sometimes 35 40%
Never 5 6%
2 Does your child enjoy reading books to themselves?
Always 40 45%
Sometimes 41 47%
Never 4 5%
3 Does your child enjoy reading books to others (siblings or parents)?
Always 37 40%
Sometimes 42 48%
Never 2 2%
4 Do you feel that your child is a motivated reader?
Always 40 45%
Sometimes 44 50%
Never 2 2%
5 If you read to your child, do you ask them questions about the story?
Always 35 40%
Sometimes 45 55%
Never 5 6%
6 How many days a week does your child read at home?
0-2 days 6 7%
3-4 days 34 39%
5-7 days 47 53%
7 How many minutes per night will your child read to themselves?
0-10 minutes 29 33%
10-20 minutes 42 48%
20-40 minutes 12 14%
About an hour 2 2%
8 If your child does not read regularly at home, can you choose a reason
from below…
Not motivated 3 3%
Other interests 10 11%
Computer games 2 2%
Lack of interest in book 1 1%
Other 7 8%
9 Does your child have their own books at home?
Yes 84 95%
No 0 0
10 Where does your child get the books he/she reads from?
Library 39 44%
School 58 66%
Book shop 59 67%
Other 32 36%
11 Does your child ever talk to you about the books he/she reads?
Always 34 39%
Sometimes 50 57%
Never 2 2%
12 Does your child see you reading at home?
Always 30 34%
Sometimes 51 58%
Never 5 6%
13 Please tick the statements that apply to you…
I stress the importance of reading. 51 58%
At home we have a set time for reading. 38 43%
I limit the amount of time my child watches 53 60%
TV.
I limit the amount of time my children plays 62 70%
e-games.
I read aloud to my child and encourage 59 67%
them to do so to me.
I have a wide variety of reading materials 61 69%
around the house.
My child has a library card for the local 49 56%
library.
I have spent time recently with my child in a 34 39%
book shop.
I visit the library with my child. 44 50%
I read and discuss books my child brings 66 75%
home from school.
I like to read. 64 72%
I encourage my child to read print in the 58 66%
wider world.
My child enjoys reading the books he or she 63 72%
brings home from school.
Only 40% of the parents in the school returned the reading questionnaire. Therefore the
following findings are based on this 40% (not the majority). As well as this, there was an
analysis done on how many children read regularly at home and half of the children in
school are not reading at home. Therefore, there is the possibility that the replies received are
mostly from the parents of children who are regularly reading at home.
Main Findings
- 92% of parents who responded felt that their child reads well at least some of the time.
6% say their child does not read well, some parents did not answer this question but
commented that their child is learning to read so does not yet read well (reception
parents).
- 81% of parents say that children enjoy reading to themselves. This shows that the
majority of children surveyed are actively choosing to read at home. To combine with
this, 88% of the children do enjoy reading to others as well as reading to themselves.
- 95% of the children surveyed enjoyed reading at home and were motivated to do so.
Which reflects in the above statements of the majority of children enjoying reading both
to themselves and to others.
- 95% of the parents who responded to the survey stated that they do question their child
about the books they are reading. Whereas 96% of parents stated that their child does
enjoy talking about the books they have been reading.
- The majority of children surveyed are reading more than 3 times a week (92%) and
81% of them are reading for around 20 minutes a time. This shows that the 40% who
responded are reading regularly and for a good amount of time too.
- Many parents did not answer question 8 as question 6 shows that those who completed the
questionnaire are regularly reading at home. Those who did respond stated other interests
as the main reason for not reading.
- 95% of parents said that their children do have their own books at home. No-one
responded no to this question (the other 5% did not answer the question). Parents who
responded stated that books were sourced from multiple outlets. The majority of parents
stated that their children get their books from school and book shops whilst 44% stated
they were from the local library. Only just over half of those surveyed have a library
card and half have visited the local library with their child. Although the majority of
parents stated their children’s books come from a book shop, only 39% have spent time in
a book shop with their child recently. There are many reasons this could have arose,
including, books from a book shop being a treat, a birthday/Christmas present or a gift
from others.
- 94% of the parents stated that they also read regularly at home and their child would
see them doing so. This corresponds well to the high percentage of children who themselves
are regularly reading at home and enjoying it. This shows that the majority of children
surveyed do have a reading role model at home.
- Only just over half of the parents surveyed stress the importance of reading to their
child and 66% encourage them to read print in the wider world. However, the majority
of parents do limit the amount of time children watch TV or play games online / on
consoles. Under half of the households have a scheduled time for reading but almost
70% say they have a wide variety of reading materials for their child at home. This
shows that children are being exposed to reading at home.
- A large majority of children do enjoy reading the books that they take home from
school.
- There were several parents who did not answer question 13. This may be because it was
on the back and therefore they missed it.
Next Steps
Following an analysis of the data collected and with only 40% of parents responding, the
main focus for the school needs to be on raising the profile of reading at home. This will be
done through a reading at home challenge. Following the reading at home challenge, this
survey should be completed again to find out if there is an increase in the number of
children engaging in reading at home. As well as this, it may be beneficial for a spokesperson
from the local library to come in and talk with the children about the library service and
what they offer.
Other ways that we could promote reading at home include:
- During sharing time, children could be encouraged to share any book that they have read
at home, with their peers and possibly be rewarded for this.
- We could run a design a book mark competition so that the winning design is on one side
and strategies for reading are on the other and these are laminated and sent home.
- When feeding back findings of this questionnaire, emphasise to parents the importance
of reading at home and that any kind of reading is better than none at all. It may be
useful to suggest that it is good to get reading into part of the daily routine, for example
listening whilst they are cooking tea. It will be also useful to emphasise to EAL parents
that even if they do not understand themselves what a child is reading, listening is still
important.
- Another idea would be to have a termly book swap. This could include some of the old
guided reading books. (These books could be shared between book corners and the rest put
into the book swap).
