Dictionaries 4 Life

Literacy in young people is a major objective for the Rotary Organisation. One way that we at Watton Rotary Club seek to achieve this objective is through participation in the Dictionaries 4 Life initiative, which we have been involved in for some 15 years. Through this initiative we distribute beautiful Usborne illustrated dictionaries to Year 6 pupils at our local primary schools. We believe that in this digital age the written word is still important and  that in many cases these dictionaries will  be treasured for life.

By using dictionaries efficiently, children explore spellings, meanings and derivations of words. Use of a dictionary helps to develop autonomy and confidence in the learner - one of the core goals of education. It will enable both first and second language users to extend and improve the accuracy of their vocabulary. It should help children with their homework in secondary education, and in some homes it may also form a reference work for all the family.

The Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) defines functional literacy not as the ability to read and write but 'whether a person is able to understand and employ printed information in daily life'. According to the OECD over 5 million adults in the UK are functionally illiterate and are unlikely to be able to help their chilfdren with their homework. We hope that our participation in the Dictionaries 4 Life initiative over the last 15 years, along with other Rotary clubs across the UK and Ireland, will help to improve levels of literacy in our country.

The schools in our area which benefit from the Dictionaries 4 Life project are: Watton Junior School, Watton Westfield Infant and Nursery School, Parkers C of E Primary School,