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The Evening Standard today embarks on a project never before attempted by a newspaper.
We will set out to transform a struggling London school by sending in volunteers to help pupils learn to read.
The Standard is "adopting" St Mary's in Battersea, where half the pupils are failing to achieve the required level in English, and we will try to change their futures.
Our project will see dozens of special reading mentors sent into the primary school. It will cost £100,000 and we are determined to raise the money for the latest and most exciting stage so far in our award-winning Get London Reading campaign.
One in four children leaves primary school unable to read and write properly and we have already raised £250,000 to fund reading volunteers to help 1,500 children in schools across London.
Now we are going one incredible step further - with your help. The Standard's editor Geordie Greig said: "We have shown that the scandal of illiteracy is still blighting the lives of more than a million Londoners.
"We intend to show that this crisis could and should be tackled, with a unique project to transform one deprived London school. It is a huge, huge challenge. But with your help we can show how children's futures can be transformed."
A total of 85 reading mentors over three years will be sent into St Mary's which sits in the shadow of Battersea power station. Last year 48 per cent of 11-year-olds left St Mary's having failed to achieve the level required in English and maths.
These pupils have been let down by a lack of leadership and stability. In the last six years, five headteachers have come and gone, and dozens of teachers too - often half-way through the academic year - leaving morale low and pupils high and dry. In September a new head with a bold vision took over.
Jared Brading wants to use volunteers recruited from Evening Standard readers and trained by our partner, the charity Volunteer Reading Help.
Mr Brading has set the bar for our project high. He says that within a year he wants 80 per cent of 11-year-olds to be reading to the required level.
The Standard not only applauds him, but we are going to help. We believe that the current state of illiteracy shames our great city, and that every child can learn to read properly, given proper support.
Of the £100,000 needed, £15,000 will go towards improving the school library.
To donate or volunteer visit www.standard.co.uk/getlondonreading
You can also donate by text. Just text DONATE to 70300 to give £10 to Volunteer Reading Help. The full amount goes to the fund and you can make as many £10 donations as you want.
Terms & Conditions: 100% of your donation will go to Volunteer Reading Help (Registered Charity No. 296454). When you text, you will receive two messages. Each message is charged at £5 costing a total of £10 plus your standard network rate. There will be a 15-minute delay between the two messages. Service Provider: Vir2 Ltd: support@vir2.co.uk or 08450 947 958
Reader views (6)
Having gone to this school several years ago i do not see how the school has turned so bad.
your articles for the last few days have not only made the school sound bad but have made previous pupils wonder if your reports are accurate.
I know a few past pupils who have just graduated university and i am in a very good job.
how can the Evening standard claim that students of this school have a high probability of ending up in prison and not finishing secondary school.
It comes down to parents if they can be bothered or not to read with there children after school.
I feel that the articles in the Evening Standard are both innacurate and inconsistant and I feel that the people who have been interviewed are not telling there full acounts.
This school won an award for most improved school and i do not see how in such a short time the school has plumeted down so far.
- Daniel, Battersea - London, 23/11/2011 13:46
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Having been a past student (17 years ago) of this school myself I cannot see how it could find itself in this situation.
I am a bit confused really, I remember this school having a fairly big open library, the online article states 15k to improve the library yet the ES paper version states there is no library?
The time I was there (94) there was always a very strong Catholic ethos linked with the Church (across the road) and the Community. The Head Teacher as well as most of the teaching staff had been there for years (a few including the Head were nuns).
If there has indeed been five Head Teachers as of late (you cannot include 'interim' Heads), this issue sits firmly at the door of the Governing Body for not selecting the right people in the first place or not supporting them.
In many schools today, Governors tend to do it for their CV, it ticks a box for them, most do not even show up to meetings (especially the local Councillors and Politians)
- Rudy, Wandsworth, London, 21/11/2011 20:21
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There are implications for the management of such a school. What is the responsibility of governors and staff for the state of affairs? Has the school be found to be failing and, if so, are there measures to be taken by the authority and/or the secretary of state? If the school hasn't been found to be failing, how does one describe and deal with the alleged problem?
- Paul Danon, Kennington, London, UK, 21/11/2011 17:11
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Good luck and I hope it works.
- Louis Statham, Salisbury Wiltshire, 21/11/2011 16:47
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Question: what should you do with the teachers who can't even teach to read and write Don't be vexed, we have the same problem here in France. The problem is that OUR teachers are all in their Trade Union which is Socialist and they are only concerned about politics. Don't give a damn about teaching !
- Eduardo, Biarritz, France, 21/11/2011 15:13
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The very best of wishes to the Evening Standard. It is ventures like this that wiil release this country from the mess it is in. Britain at its very best from the Evening Standard and its helpers.
- albert hall, hove england, 21/11/2011 12:57
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