The building blocks for success in literacy are laid long before pre-school begins, and long before explicit instruction.

The impacts of poor literacy are:

• Low self esteem;
• Poor school performance and reduced adult life chances;
• Generally lower employment and social outcomes;
• Higher rates of welfare dependence;
• High risk behaviours and teenage parenting.

Communities for Children 'Talking Up Literacy' strategy includes:

• Building a strong early literacy network across the western region;
• Implementation of the 'Let's Read' program;
• Collaboration with other early literacy initiatives eg. The Little Big Book Club;
• Holding a Community Literacy Event on Semaphore Road.

The Let's Read Program will see the distribution of thousands of Let's Read packs which includes information on the importance of reading to babies and young children, an instruction sheet with hints and tips for reading with children, a picture book and a DVD that shows ways to read aloud and have fun with books. The packs are being distributed by trained personnel through participating kindergartens, childcare centres and family services. The Let's Read program stresses that reading with young children is the single most important activity that parents can do to develop their children's future literacy skills.