A Tale of Two Cities

I was very proud last week when my two worlds came together at the end of the first year of the WCA Literacy Project. The Worshipful Company of Arbitrators, of which I was Mistress in 2016-17, kindly sponsored a number of visits to disadvantaged London schools by authors or poets during 2017. The aim of the project was to support literacy development and the encouragement of children's reading for pleasure in London schools. Many people are unaware that the City of London is the biggest fundraiser in the UK, seeing only the pomp and ceremony and fancy clothes. Yes, there are glittering occasions (I have been to many and felt very privileged) but the City Livery Companies take their responsibilities very seriously. Successive Lord Mayors have supported children from disadvantaged backgrounds who have fewer opportunities than others. The WCA is very committed to this aim and supports many projects working with young people.

The AGM of the WCA Trust took place at the magnificent Cutlers' Hall. My colleague Annie from Authors Aloud, who have been managing the project, gave a presentation to the assembled members who were not only incredibly impressed with what we have been doing, but amazed that schools need help to fund such events. In my (school library) world we know that "reading for pleasure is a better indicator of academic success than wealth or social class" (OECD 2002) but sadly most people seem to think this happens without any real input from anyone except the occasional passionate English teacher. I could get on a soapbox here but I will just point you to a new Campaign for Great School Libraries which launches on 6th June - http://www.cilip.org.uk/?page=GreatSchoolLibraries - please support us by spreading the need for statutory school libraries. Again, not widely known, is that libraries are statutory in prisons but not in schools!

Eight schools received sponsored author visits in 2017 and the feedback from all was amazing. I was fortunate to visit Loxford School last year whose sixth form students made a video about the day - http://www.loxford.net/the-author-alex-wheatle-visits-loxford/. The excitement of the students and the impact on them was huge and the effect has continued to be felt in the whole school.

"The impact of Alex's visit has been huge – all his books are constantly borrowed; the gifted and talented group are enjoying their reading and continuing with their creative writing; teachers are still talking about the visit and recommending his books to students; the video is on the school website – this reinforces our message on the importance of reading for pleasure. The impact has been ongoing – the students who initially took part in the visit have continued the work begun in their workshops. Many of the underachieving boys are now reading much more regularly and have attended a reading group where they have read a much wider range of novels than they had before. The Gifted and Talented group competed their writing started in the workshop and now attend a reading group to extend their reading. The visit generated a huge amount of excitement."

We are so excited that the Trust has agreed to continue this project for a further three years, enabling thousands more London children to have access to an author. For the students this can be life-changing and I feel proud to have enabled it. If you know of any school in a London Borough who would like to apply for 2018 please let me know as soon as possible.