TWENTY school leaders and cultural organisations have signed a pledge to make literacy a priority in Swindon.

To mark the one year anniversary of Swindon Stories, part of the National Literacy Trust charity, teachers from secondary and primary schools met at the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery yesterday to commit to turning around low levels of literacy affecting some of the most deprived wards in the town.

Among those to sign the pledge was Nicole Price, assistant head at Holy Family Catholic Primary and Nursery, who explained the importance of literacy.

"Literacy forms the basis of everything that we do in our curriculum," she said.

"A lot of our pupils might not have general life experience so we try and get that through reading and discussion in the world of literature to try and instil that in our children."

There were also a number of cultural organisations there to support the pledge, including Create Studios, Prime Theatre, and Swindon Central Library.

Emma Barr, the associate director at Prime Theatre, added: "Literacy is important for any kind of creative learning.

"And it's important for us to engage with as many schools as possible. All the opportunities are there, children want to be creative, it's about us reminding them that they have the capability to read or even write a book if they want to."

Alistair Flint, programme manager for the literacy hubs across the UK, said: "Having a quarter of schools sign the pledge is a massive achievement and the biggest take up we have had out of any of our literacy hubs which is fantastic."

The hubs are placed in areas identified as having high deprivation and low levels of literacy. There are seven wards across north and south Swindon which are among the highest in the country.

"It's about access and opportunities for pupils," added Alistair, "you need to have the literacy as the foundation to build those skills, breaking that cycle where the parents might have had low literacy, and ultimately improve their life chances."