Hundred junior schools across Kent could improve its literacy rates if they took a leaf out of one school’s book.

Herne Bay Juniors has pioneered a specialist reading programme called Catch Up designed to bring struggling pupils up to speed fast.

KCC Cllr John Law, one of the school’s governors, believes the £20,000 he has pledged towards the scheme will increase the number of year six pupils achieving the national reading standards.

Cllr Law said: “We’re aiming to achieve a minimum of 90 per cent at Herne Bay Junior School for an additional investment of £20,000.

“Mathematically, if 100 primary schools in Kent could copy that we could improve Kent’s average score by 2.5 per cent across the county.”

Catch Up works through one-to-one tuition sessions which last 15 minutes per pupil and are led by specialist teaching assistants.

They are 29 Herne Bay Junior pupils, all from Years 4 and 5, presently using the system.

For more information on the Catch Up literacy system visit www.catchup.org.uk.