Last Chance Kids
A staggering one in five UK children leave primary school unable to read properly.
Last Chance Kids is a three-part documentary series, showing in the Lost for Words season, following one primary school and its dynamic head teacher as they make the decision to eradicate illiteracy.
Lynna Thompson is on a mission to transform the lives of her pupils at Monteagle Primary School in Dagenham and sets a one-year target to ensure that every single one of them learns to read. It's January, and many of the pupils at Monteagle are thriving under Ruth Miskin's synthetic phonics scheme, but there is still a small group - mainly of boys - who are struggling.
But Lynna knows how to inspire the children, bringing in poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Together with ten of the school's most reluctant readers, including Peter, Mason and Jordan, Benjamin decides to throw a poetry party. And it's not just the children who are inspired: "For the first time in my life, I liked going to school" says Benjamin. With just three months to go, can Lynna and her team ensure they meet their target?
Press:
"Well done then to Channel 4 for Last Chance Kids, a docusoap that is both instructive and entertaining."Andrew Billen, The Times
"...a quiet revolution..heart-warming...this was not only a moving, but an urgent piece of television"Serena Davies, Telegraph
"It seems to work, and that's good enough for me. There's something very moving about watching someone learning to read"Sam Wollaston, Guardian
Awards:
Royal Television Society: Educational Television Awards
Winner: Education
2008
Links:
A Diverse Production Ltd Production
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