The support available to young people aged 11-16 has a number of elements. These include:

• boosting the levels of English and Maths for pupils about to start secondary school, to a level where the pupils will have a better understanding of the full secondary curriculum.
• improving the focused teaching of literacy and numeracy.
• supporting the overall planning in schools ñ especially where these plans focus on pupils with low basic skills levels.
• introducing clearly targeted activities to make a real difference in the attainment levels of pupils.
• extending the literacy and numeracy content of out-of-school activities.

• encouraging young people to take up reading and writing opportunities in their own time.
• boosting the number of volunteers and mentors, and refocusing substantial amounts of activity onto literacy and numeracy support.
• English and Maths Co-ordinators given opportunities to meet together and look at maths content; mental calculations; topics for low attainers; informed and deliberate teaching of concepts; school based developments etc.
• support work directly with schools to enhance revision techniques and ways of enhancing exam performance.
• a subsidy to enable schools to extend the use of computer-based integrated learning systems to boost levels of literacy and numeracy.
• homework clubs in libraries.
• "Book floods" into selected schools.
• support to schools ranging from relatively intense investment by the Partnership, LEA and school, to more modest interventions and developments. This attempts to build on a menu of support available to get the best match with the specific needs of each school.
• boosting the literacy and numeracy components in the University of the First Age.
• working with a number of schools that seem to have established really effective practice. This will seek to identify the elements that make the school so successful, and to promote these elements in a way that can be repackaged by all schools.