We work exclusively with children referred by their school, who identify children who are both falling behind in their educational attainment and they know have fewer opportunities outside of school. By working with teachers, we access children we could not otherwise reach and we are assured they are the right ones who really need our help.
In the UK your socio-economic background is still the greatest determinant of your educational success. We are not yet a meritocracy. In fact, two in three children living in low-income households in the UK fall below the expected levels in reading and writing by the age of 11. This attainment gap widens further as children transition from primary to secondary school. This results in low self-confidence, even slower progress, and a bleak long-term outlook.
We have embraced being a venue based, out of school and intense programme by setting the learning programme in a fantastical environment with murals, decking, a Pirate’s cat and secret passageways. The children are given adult volunteer support while a qualified and experience teacher leads the session. And importantly, we know children learn best when working towards tangible, published projects, so each term the young people create high quality published books, films and apps.
We were founded by Catriona Maclay, a former teacher and exceptional social entrepreneur. She moved on in 2017.
