The Literacy Pirates (formerly known as The Hackney Pirates) is an innovative charity working to develop the literacy, confidence and perseverance of children aged 9-12 years old, so that they achieve both in school and in the world beyond. While socio-economic background continues to be a major determinant of educational attainment, we know that some children will need extra help to achieve their full potential. We provide a year-long, after-school learning programme for children referred by their school because they are falling behind and have fewer opportunities in their personal lives. We support outside of school, so children can do better in the classroom. We believe that learning should be a great adventure! So working together with local schools, families and volunteers to deliver a weekly learning programme and unique real-world learning projects in our own unconventional learning environments, Ships in Haringey and Hackney. The children, Young Pirates, come to our Ships once a week after-school – it is a weird and wonderful out-of-school learning environment complete with secret passageways, an underwater cave and a ship’s cat. Young people receive adult support on their reading. We also work on unique creative publishing projects, where young people work with professionals to write their own books, audio and website projects. All our creative products give young people the chance to practise their writing skills and feel a sense of achievement at seeing a whole project through to publication. You can see some of their work on our website.