A STRUGGLING local child will be able to take extra English classes during the summer holidays thanks to the Bolton Evening News.

The BEN is the first local company to pay for an 11-year-old boy or girl from Bolton to attend a summer literacy programme at one of eight local schools.

Education chiefs have asked 1,000 local businesses to sign up for the scheme designed cut the number of children joining secondary schools who cannot read and write for their age from one in three to one in five.

The sponsorship money will pay for pupils like Annmarie Nicholson and Andrew Potter, who were the stars of a smaller programme run by Hayward School last year.

Young Andrew managed to improve his reading skills by a massive TWO YEARS just by spending a few weeks on an intensive course over the summer holidays.

Both pupils have come on leaps and bounds since taking the extra classes and education chiefs want many more to follow in their footsteps before starting secondary school in September.

Government money is available for 240 children. And 1,000 local bosses have been asked to support the National Year of Reading by paying £250 each to sponsor a child on the programme.

Deputy director of education Terry Piggott praised the BEN's support and said: "I applaud companies who take the initiative to support local education.

"We need to do everything we can so children get the full benefit of secondary education.

"Children fall back unless they get regular reading practice over the holidays but those who attend summer schemes get off to a flying start.

"Government funding will cover 30 children in each of the eight schemes but we want to extend this by using sponsorship from local businesses."

Editor of the BEN, Mark Rossiter, said the newspaper was delighted to add its support to a "commendable" and "worthwhile" scheme.

"We've seen the tangible benefits these children receive from the summer classes," he said. "Reading skills are so important to a child's development and success at school.

"It's a small price to pay for investing in Bolton's future generation. We hope other businesses will feel the same way." ANNMARIE Nicholson and Andrew Potter started the summer school with very different difficulties . . . but both turned over a new leaf after extra English classes last summer.

Andrew was two years behind with his reading and spelling when he joined the course and teachers at Lever Edge Primary feared he could fall back further when faced with life in a very large, busy, secondary school.

Staff felt shyness was holding him back.

They nominated him for the summer school believing the classes would help boost his confidence by familiarising him with the layout and staff at the new school.

But none of them could have dreamed of the gigantic strides he would make in just two and a half weeks.

Andrew improved his reading and spelling skills by one year for every week.

In that short time the 12-year-old ploughed his way through an amazing 25 books and caught up with classmates by reaching national literacy targets for his age.

Gail Morris who organised the classes for 30 children said: "I could not believe the progress children like Andrew made.

"Before we started I read claims about how much children achieved in the pilot schemes and I thought they were talking rubbish.

"But we tested the children afterwards and it was wonderfull to see how well they had done."

Over the course Andrew improved his reading and spelling by two years.

"There are other benefits too," added Gail Morris. "Andrew was very shy and this can often lead to a drop off in attainment when children go to large secondary school - but Andrew has settled in really well and he has made lots of friends."

Annmarie's literacy skills were actually years ahead and at just 11-years of age the primary pupil was reading as good as the average 14-year-old.

But teachers at Brandwood County Primary noticed that although she was zooming ahead, her confident reading ability masked difficulties in other subjects.

Annmarie could easily read all the difficult terminology in Maths and Science books but struggled to understand the meaning of what she was reading.

Two weeks concentrating on comprehension at the literacy school ironed this out and helped the bright youngster forge ahead in other subjects and make the difficult transition from primary to secondary school.

Gail Morris believes the keys to success are choosing the right children for the scheme and making learning fun.

Teachers choose children who they know will knuckle down and continue with the course.

It is hard for youngsters when their friends are playing out during the long summer holidays - and parental support is vital.

In return teachers try to make the courses fun for the pupils and last year Hayward kicked off their course with a visit to Chester Zoo where the children studied how English is used in everyday situations.

Both Annmarie and Andrew agreed that English courses during the summer holidays can be more fun than they sound.

"I don't know why, there was just something about it," said Annmarie.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.