Teach Us Too – Tockington Manor School Supports Literacy Charity

Tockington Manor School has selected literacy champion Teach Us Too as its charity for the next academic year. Founded by young author, Jonathan Bryan in 2018, Teach Us Too promotes the right for all children, regardless of their label or diagnosis, to be taught to read and write in school.

‘I can’t think of a more fitting cause for us to get behind,’ says Headmaster Stephen Symonds. ‘Having met Jonathan, I am just astounded by exactly how much he has been able to achieve. He’s a shining example of the determination we want to see in our children.’

Jonathan was born with cerebral palsy – this left him unable to speak and he was labelled as having Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD). At the age of 7, his mother took him out of his special school for a few hours a day to concentrate on teaching him to read and write by looking at letters and words stuck on a perspex board held in front of him. Smash cut to when he was 9 –  by this time, Jonathan was looking at letters and spelling out what he wanted to communicate with astounding results. ‘He has so much to say!’ says his mother, Chantal Bryan. ‘When I started teaching him I never dreamed he would write a book.’

But that’s exactly what he did. Eye Can Write was published in 2018 and is Jonathan’s memoir of his ‘unlocking’. His remarkable story has also been told in an episode of the 2018 CBBC documentary series My Life. ‘I am so grateful to Tockington for choosing Teach Us Too as their charity this year,’ says Jonathan. ‘Literacy is life-changing for children like me who are non-speaking, and it opens up the adventure of reading and writing for all children. I look forward to sharing my passion for books with the children at Tockington.’

Jonathan will visit the Independent Prep School in Bristol later this term and there are other activities lined up for the charity to share its message. Tockington will specifically be fundraising for the charity’s research project, ‘Transformational Tales’, which will collect stories about the impact of literacy on the lives of children with complex needs. Fundraising involves various activities including a triathlon and other sports events, bake sales, mufti days and further initiatives. Last year, Tockington Manor School and Nursery raised almost £5,000 for its chosen charity, the Catalyst Foundation’s S.H.E Programme. The money went towards the purchase of bicycles for the young Zambian girls it supports, who previously had to walk long distances to get to school every day.

Tockington Manor supported Catalyst Foundation’s S.H.E Programme as its chosen charity last year.