Bournemouth pupils reading political writing on the wall.

Bournemouth pupils are reading are writing on the wall when it comes to political literacy plans.

The three main political parties have literacy at the core of their election manifestos, detailing how they will increase support in schools for children….and rightly so.

One in six people in the UK struggle to read and write. Poor skills compromise health, confidence, happiness and employability.

At Oakmead College of Technology a new purpose-built Literacy Centre has not only boosted tenfold the number of children getting extra help but it also has a proven track record.

The large Bournemouth secondary introduced literacy intervention some years ago and this year they celebrated record exam results.

Its new Literacy Centre now supports some 100 children across all year groups and abilities.

“Our intervention programme initially targeted pupils starting in year 7 with literacy skills below the national benchmark,” said Sam Probert, literacy co-ordinator at Oakmead.

“But the new centre allows us to reach a wider range of needs and we don’t have to stick at Level 3. We can also now help gifted and talented at the other end of the scale.

“We had our best exam results ever this year and the current year 11 started in year 7 with this intervention programme so we know it works.”

Oakmead is also a pilot school in the national Reading Challenge and features in the scheme’s DVD.

Babylonian Epics and TV 'Buzzards' at the Ringwood Waldorf School

An ancient Babylonian epic was brought to life by pupils at the Ringwood Waldorf School, as an alternative to the more traditional Easter story.

Class 5 at the school took on the task of recreating the classic poem 'Gilgamesh and Enkidu' in their spring play, complete with Roman centurions and sword battles.

The theme of the play is death and man’s quest for eternal life - the reason why it was chosen as the school’s celebration of Easter.

It’s a busy few weeks at the Steiner school as they get ready for their traditional May Day complete with maypole dancing, as well as a visit by TV’s wildlife presenter Chris Packham on May 29.

He is due to be giving his popular talk ‘Never Mind the Buzzards’ at 7.30pm and proceeds from the public event will go towards the school’s development fund.

Tickets cost £15 and are available from Wimborne Tourist Information Centre on 01202 886116.

Visa Plans are Lost in Translation...

It’s like telling you to pass your driving test BEFORE you take lessons.

The British government’s new visa proposals will require foreign language students to have a good standard of English before they come to the UK to study.

The proposals are a Whitehall knee-jerk to unfounded fears about illegal immigration and radicalisation of students at UK institutions following the bombing attempt on a US-bound aircraft on Christmas Day by a British-educated Nigerian.

In Bournemouth - which until now had a longstanding and healthy EFL industry - school bosses predict the town’s economy will take an annual £90m battering with countless jobs lost.

They say applications are already down and are haemorrhaging tens of thousands of pounds a week as students, aware of the proposals, choose other countries instead.

They also claim there is absolutely no evidence students with poor English transform into terrorists or abscond.

Students like Sachi Hanaki (pictured) say the new rules would have stopped her coming to the UK.

She arrived in Bournemouth from Japan with poor English skills a decade ago, but is now fluent, has an MA from Bournemouth University, and is a full-time marketing assistant at The Beet Language Centre where she first studied.

“Studying English in England still has that world-class reputation but if I had been applying to come here under the new rules I wouldn’t have bothered,” said Sachi.

“If you can already speak a language then why come over and spend a lot of money to re-learn it?”