A primary school in Walthamstow has won £95,600 in government funding to improve children’s literacy. St Mary’s Teaching School in Brooke Road is one of 72 […]By Waltham Forest Echo

The Read Right Project at St Mary’s Teaching School in Walthamstow sees teachers help pupils develop a passion for reading

A primary school in Walthamstow has won £95,600 in government funding to improve children’s literacy.

St Mary’s Teaching School in Brooke Road is one of 72 in England to successfully bid for the money from the Department for Education’s ‘Strategic School Improvement Fund’ (SSIF).

The school’s ‘Read Right Project’ aims to increase children’s attainment in reading across London and the south-east. It will be driven by educational research, involve teacher training, and will see children taught in smaller groups. Other schools in Waltham Forest can now contact St Mary’s if they require support.

Headteacher Beverley Hall, who developed the project with deputy headteacher Leann Valiquette, said: “We’re delighted to have been successful in this important bid. It’s fantastic that the funding will help us to further develop the success we have had in teaching the higher skills of reading comprehension at St Mary’s and to roll this out to other schools and children in Waltham Forest and beyond.”

The news comes shortly after St Mary’s, rated ‘outstanding’ by education watchdog Ofsted, was named as an official teaching school. It means the Church of England school is now using its expertise to assist other schools around London.

Last year St Mary’s topped the government’s school performance tables for Waltham Forest in reading, writing and maths.

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