Springboard for Children is a literacy charity providing one-to-one support to improve reading and writing for children who are in danger of being left behind in the education system. They only work one-to-one with children and they always work in partnership with schools. They believe every child has the right to a fair chance of future success.
Springboard exists because every year 1 in 5 children leave primary school without reaching the expected levels of literacy. This means that approximately 1.62 million children in English schools can’t access the school curriculum because they aren’t reading well enough.
In 2013/14 Springboard narrowed the literacy gap for 709 children in 26 partner schools.
- In their Expert centres they narrowed the reading age gap from an average of 22 months to just 8 months. This means that the average child who graduated from Springboard improved their reading age from 5 years, 11 months to 8 years, 3 months.
- Through their Essential programme they narrowed the reading age gap from an average of 9 months to 4 months and the comprehension age gap from an average of 9 months to just 1 month.
Literacy problems not only affect the individual, they also have wider socio-economic implications. Springboard do their part to tackle these systemic issues by working one-to-one, intervening as young as possible, building self-confidence and addressing each child’s complex educational and personal needs.