Tackling educational disadvantage has never been more important.

Did you know that one in five children can't read well by the time they leave primary school?

For more than 20 years, education charity Quest for Learning has worked in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Oxfordshire to help children who are struggling to keep up in class. Last Autumn, we were made official partners in the National Tutoring Programme and this year, we will have worked with over 500 children. 

Our work is needed now more than ever. In February 2019,  Oxfordshire County Council highlighted the fact that the attainment gap between children eligible for free school meals and their peers is widening in Oxfordshire despite decreasing nationally. The missed schooling due to repeated lockdowns has undoubtedly made this worse.  Simply put, children from the poorest families in Oxfordshire are being left further behind their school friends than elsewhere in the country. We don't think that's OK. 

 

Can you support this summer's #KeepOxonReading Crowdfunder?
Could you give £8 to buy a child a book? This summer, we want to buy a book for each of the 500 children we have worked with during the year - because we know that reading for pleasure brings huge benefits...
locking in literacy learning
improving wellbeing
increasing academic attainment
Donate to our #KeepOxonReading Crowdfunder
With our ReadingQuest and BookQuest literacy programmes...
...we can help these children catch up with their peers, making on average:
14 months progress in reading accuracy
8 months progress in spelling
18 months progress in reading comprehension
Learn more about our literacy teaching

Freya has really grown in confidence when reading since taking part in BookQuest. She now enjoys reading rather than finding it a chore. 

 

-Parent

Using our NumSkills numeracy games and resources...
...we can change the way children feel about maths whilst boosting confidence with numbers:
90% of children felt NumSkills helped them with maths back in the classroom
Teachers felt that 76% of children would achieve higher assessment results after taking part in NumSkills
100% of parents felt NumSkills had made their child more confident about maths
Learn more about our numeracy teaching

My son was able to improve maths learning with NS sessions. Doing maths in this way allows him to learn while having fun…it is a very good learning model.

- Parent

By offering affordable, relevant CPD training for primary teachers...
...we can help all schools access the best and latest thinking and approaches in primary education:
Regular online courses covering key topics in English and Maths for teachers, TAs and subject leads
>95% of delegates believe courses represent good or excellent value for money
A dedicated programme of workshops focusing on Moderation and Assessment at the end of KS1 and KS2
Learn more about our training courses

The course gave me lots of ideas that I can realistically take back into the classroom straightaway.

- Delegate