Butterfly School

The Right Answer!

Real Action Literacy School

MFCE supports the educational charity Real Action which runs the very successful Butterfly Literacy Schools for children who live in deprived areas of London and the UK.

Improving reading & writing skills

At the Butterfly School

Butterfly Saturday Reading School for Children

On Saturday mornings in term-time up to 200 children from in and around the Mozart Estate in West London, aged 5-12 come to school. In classes of up to 15 children they are taught to read, write and spell by the Butterfly Reading and Writing Course. This unique method enables them to improve their reading age by an average 13 months in an average 20 hours' teaching. This is an outstanding result.

Improving reading & writing skills at Real Action

Photo by: Lisa Howard

The Butterfly School

Learning to read, write and spell properly at the Butterfly School provides children with a foundation for academic success, setting them on course for fulfilling lives. Many children come to the Butterfly School several years behind in their reading, and heading for failure and possible disaffection in their teens. Once on the Butterfly course - their reading swiftly rises to levels appropriate to, and often beyond, their age. Behaviour and confidence improve too.

Coming to the Butterfly School can transform a child's opportunities.

It's as easy as c + a + t = cat

Volunteer teaching at the Butterfly School

Photo by: Lisa Howard

Butterfly children learn to read the easy way:

With the brilliant Butterfly Reading and Writing course by literacy expert Irina Tyk it couldn't be easier to learn - or to teach - reading and writing. In classes that match their reading level the children are taught to blend letter sounds into words right from Lesson One. This concise course of structured (synthetic) phonics takes children from reading age zero to 8 in 60 short lessons. The Butterfly course de-mystifies the teaching of reading.

Children get spelling tests, homework, dictation and, beyond reading age 8, comprehension, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, essay-writing etc. as well. They are also encouraged to consider their future careers.

Butterfly children tend to be highly intelligent, dynamIc and capable of high educational achievement - although they often come to the school several months, or years, behind in reading. A number have 'special needs'. The further behind they are the faster they tend to rise up through the classes. They find it gratifying, and so do their teachers. Their families normally can't afford to provide them with tutors to help them.

Many Butterfly teachers are volunteers: it's a gratifying way to spend a Saturday morning.

All Butterfly teachers are dedicated and committed to improving children's literacy as a foundation for fulfilling lives. Teachers are lawyers, doctors, film and TV producers, music promoters, actors, PhD students, local parents, psychologists, investment bankers, dancers, teacher training students .... They come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds - like the children. They can help exemplify the rewards of education to the children, helping to raise their aspirations.

A volunteer helps a child read & write

At the Butterfly reading school for children

FACTS:

One in four children leaves primary school unable to read and write adequately.
As many leave secondary school with poor qualifications - and poor prospects.
One in six school leavers never enter employment, further education or training; each costs the taxpayer on average almost £100,000.

Children learning at the Butterfly School

Photo: by Lisa Howard

WORD-OF-MOUTH The Butterfly School has grown by word-of-mouth for over twelve years - with an ever-growing waiting list. Funds are needed to keep it going and help it grow.

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