Improve your schools literacy rates

A recent OFSTED report ranked Medway in Kent as 150th out of 150 local authorities in England for the percentage of pupils attending good or outstanding primary schools. In response, some local schools are going all-out to improve their literacy rates. Here’s how...

This Spring term schools across Rochester, Medway in Kent will see a major literacy programme being delivered to 3,900 children and young people. The week of 14th - 18th March 2016 will see 32 high-profile authors descend upon the region to carry out a total of 129 author workshops as part of Pop Up Projects CIC’s Pop Up in Medway 2016 initiative. Seven schools are taking part - two secondary grammar, four primaries and one SEN.

Pop Up requires partner schools to ‘give up’ one sixth of their literacy and English teaching annually, placing children’s authors at the heart of the learning experience and allowing teachers access to uniquely relevant resources and content.

Among the 36 authors taking part are 2015's Carnegie Medal winner Tanya Landman, Nikki Singer author of Feather Boy (adapted by the BBC) and The Island (based on a National Theatre production), as well as acclaimed illustrators Salvatore Rubbino (A Walk in London) and Chloe Inkpen (Zoe & Beans). Alexis Deacon ,winner of the 2014 Observer Graphic Short Story Prize, and Kate Greenaway nominees David Lucas (This is My Rock) and Emmanuelle Walker (Beautiful Birds ) are also on the programme alongside YA novelists Catherine Johnson (The Curious Tale of The Lady Caraboo) and Egypt-based Na’ima B Robert (Far From Home).

A Hackney school that worked alongside Pop Up in Spring 2015, focusing on Philip Ardagh and Axel Scheffler’s book The Grunts In Trouble, reported a 50% increase in pupils ‘very confident in reading’, a 40% increase in pupils ‘very confident in writing’ and 50% decrease (to 0%) in pupils who ‘don’t enjoy writing’.

Following a successful pilot in the school cluster in April 2015, funded by Royal Opera House Bridge, this 2016 full programme - 75% of which is funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, 25% by the schools themselves - is the first of three annual programmes in Medway cultivating reading for pleasure across this learning community, boosting confidence in reading and writing, and equipping teachers with new ideas and techniques for engaging pupils through quality, contemporary literature.

By Spring 2018, Pop Up will have delivered over 5,000 books to these school libraries alongside over 500 hours of author workshops in classes. Medway’s programme is part of a far larger national roll-out of Pop Up’s unique whole-school reading-for-pleasure model, with over 60 schools in London, Kent, Essex, Shropshire, Cambridgeshire and Wrexham in Wales currently participating in the 2015-2016 academic year, impacting on over 21,000 pupils in communities where there are significant literacy challenges and/or barriers to accessing artistic opportunities. From the  2016-2017 academic year, a total 27,000 children’ and young people in 1,000 classrooms nationally will take part in Pop Up’s programmes.

This programme will have the following impact on pupils in participating Medway schools:

• increase enjoyment of and confidence in reading and writing
• increase frequency of independent reading and writing
• improve creative writing skills

ENGINE ROOM
An ever-expanding library of quality books featuring in Pop Up schools programmes across the UK. Reviews, art-work and writing by pupils will feature on the pages for the books their classes are reading.

FACTORY      
A growing bank of child-centred resources, provided by authors and publishers, to inspire children to Write, Draw and Make stories. In 2016-2017 we will develop a suite of ‘story-making tools’ with which users can create and publish their own stories into the Showroom.

SHOWROOM
A showcase of stories created by pupils inspired by the book they read. Currently, pupil content is uploaded by teachers; in future we aim to enable pupils to contribute independently, and facilitate featured authors to also self-publish original content to this part of the site. 

All Pop Up schools are connected digitally via a new web platform for pupils, teachers and authors: www.pop-up-hub.com. Pop Up Hub sits at the heart of the charity’s commitment to cultivating reading and writing communities, and is a key pillar in its education programming. Recently embedded in its offer to schools, Pop Up Hub enhances engagement with the texts, inspires students to become writers and storymakers, networks teachers and partners, drives content by authors and publishers, and offers connectivity between the classroom and the home, so that fun and meaningful interactions with books continues beyond the school gates. The current iteration of Pop Up Hub was developed with funding from Royal Opera House Bridge, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Bloomberg. Pop Up Hub is divided into four sections:Pop Up Director, Dylan Calder, says ‘Pop Up’s vision is of a more literate, creative society where reading and writing is valued, enjoyed and celebrated. We are passionate about ensuring children from all walks of life access the magic of children’s books and their authors, and dedicated to nurturing the storytellers of tomorrow by fostering a lifelong love of literature, stories and story-making - especially in disadvantaged, deprived or isolated communities. Much of our work involves author-led participatory processes which have the power to transform lives. At the heart of everything we do is the conviction that by facilitating pleasurable encounters with literature we can ignite imaginations, inspire future readers and writers, and build more literate communities.’

Sally Manser, CEO of Royal Opera House Bridge ‘Pop Up as an organisation brings vision, integrity and energy to all their work. They really understand how schools work and how children learn. Built on five years of successful, intimate partnerships with schools, teachers and children's authors nationally- their impact is tangible.’