That Reading Thing
Teenagers who leave school with severe literacy difficulties clearly face enormous problems in later life. 'That Reading Thing' addresses this urgent (but unglamorous) issue by working with teenagers who have seriously poor reading skills. Regular and structured one-to-one sessions invariably help them achieve marked improvements in their literacy skills, giving them a better chance of a real future.
The grant recipient
The Annie Macpherson Home of Industry charity has been running community outreach programmes in Bethnal Green since the nineteenth century. Its GAP project provides mentoring, courses and academic support to local 13-19 year olds who experience personal, social or educational exclusion and are NEET (not in education, employment or training).
That Reading Thing
What it aims to do
- provide intensive one-to-one literacy support to local teenagers with very poor reading and spelling skills
How it works
After being referred to the project by their school (or another agency), teenagers spend between four and 12 months attending weekly one-to-one sessions. With help from GAP staff and trained volunteers, they work through a series of structured lessons from the 'That Reading Thing' scheme.
Over the past few years, increasing numbers of young people have been referred to this programme. Results from recent years show that it has a good track record in achieving measurable improvements in the reading age of teenagers who are severely behind in their reading and writing and live in a very deprived area of London.
The programme been recommended by the National Literacy Trust and was the only literacy intervention programme to be backed by the Social Exclusion Unit.
The funding
SHINE has made a grant to enable That Reading Thing to continue its work.
Funding: £55,580 to The Annie Macpherson Home of Industry, over three years (2010-13)
Visit the GAP Project's website
