Intervention
Letterbox Club
Years/Age range
Y3-13
Type of children
Looked-after
Length of intervention
26 weeks
Brief description
The Letterbox Club provides direct support to children in foster care aged 5–13 to improve their educational outcomes, with a focus on reading and number. The intervention comprises monthly personalised parcels posted to children in their foster home or other residence between May and October of each year, to cover the summer holidays when there is often a dip in the attainment, attitude and engagement of children in this age group. The parcels contain reading materials, story CDs, stationery and mathematics games at the child’s own level of attainment. The aim is to improve looked-after children’s engagement with reading for pleasure and learning, and support their attainment in reading and number. While it is hoped that many foster carers will join in by reading or playing games with the children, this is not required.
Effectiveness
For reading in Y3-8: modest gains