CELEBRATIONS were held after an East Oxford charity revealed its educational programmes are to be rolled out across the UK.

Cowley Road-based Quest for Learning is preparing to take its BookQuest and Numskills programmes nationwide after successful trials in Oxfordshire primary schools.

The charity, which supports youngsters living in “disadvantaged” areas of the country, announced its “staggering” results at East Oxford Primary School on Thursday.

Quest for Learning director Jayne Lacny said she was proud East Oxford was championing children’s education across the city.

She added: “This seemed to be the obvious place to celebrate. This school and East Oxford are the heart of our work.

“We are not just the dreaming spires, we have got massive areas of deprivation. We have got a very changeable intake in schools and I think there will always be challenges.

“Children will need that extra support from folk like us.

“The results have surpassed all expectations and we are extremely proud of the work we are doing to inspire young minds.”

The charity, formerly known as Reading Quest, took its literacy and numeracy programmes into seven primary schools over the past year, including East Oxford, Windmill, Bayards Hill and Botley.

Ms Lacny said it came after concerns children were leaving primary school with low levels of literacy, and the charity was seeing youngsters feeling “demoralised” when struggling in the classroom.

Specialist tutors delivered nine hours of teaching over six weeks to pupils in groups and on a one-to-one basis.

Its Numskills programme saw tutors work with pupils from Year 2 to Year 6, inspiring them to improve mental maths through playing games.

The charity said 92 per cent of children felt they knew more about maths after the programme, and 82 per cent of teachers said children were more confident about maths, while 100 per cent of parents said their child’s calculation skills had improved.

Ms Lacny added: “We can see the impact we have had in Oxfordshire but we have not always shouted about it. We want to improve life chances.”

The BookQuest programme was designed to help Key Stage 2 youngsters with their reading comprehension, writing and vocabulary.

Ms Lacny said despite just six weeks with pupils, tutors found average gains in reading comprehension of 19 months.

Quest for Learning ambassador and author Tom Moorhouse, who lives in East Oxford, joined the celebrations and read his books to youngsters.

He said: “I think the most important thing is the approach – literacy and maths should be fun.”

The charity will now share the courses with teachers and assistants across the country.