The Problem:

* A report by Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold (UCL Information studies) finds only 1.96% of children's authors and illustrators between 2007 and 2017 were British People of colour.

* Shockingly, In 2019 still only 2.86% of children’s book creators were British people of colour and they created only 2.53% of unique titles (The Book Trust, 2020). 

* In 2018 and 2019, 57.25% (the majority) of children’s books were created by white women and 31.16% by white men. 

SOLUTION:

We would like to build on the success of the last  project to design and deliver a new teaching programme. During the ProgressBoost sessions a number of children started wiring their own children's books. We would like to propose a new project in which we will work with these children and others to help them to complete writing their first books and actually have them published! This new project will be called "THE WRITER'S CLUB"!".  

We also continue to run ProgressBoost simultaneously offering Maths and English. 

MISSION:

Our moon-shot mission is to work with 100 children overall RBKC and help 20 children from St. Helen's ward to write and publish their first children's books! 

Research:

* Evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment (Clark 2011; Clark and Douglas 2011).

* Only 42% of disadvantaged students are getting five good GCSEs including English and maths, compared to 67% of other children (2015, National Pupil Database data) 

* The lifetime productivity gain of attaining 5 GCSEs compared to those that do not is worth £100,000 for men and around £85,000 for women.

* People with five good GCSEs are more likely to be in employment than individuals who hold a lower level/no qualifications

* Achieving five good GCSEs is associated with a lower risk of depression, smoking and obesity in later life.

* A third (32 per cent) of young women who do not achieve at least five GCSEs at grade G or above have a child by the age of 19, meaning that they are ten times more likely to do so than those who achieve five GCSEs at grade C or above.