‘We’re not lowering the bar for boys. We’re holding it high—and scaffolding them to reach it.’
In this episode, I speak with Deneen Kenchington, deputy head at Ferndown Upper School and advocate for boys’ literacy and education.
Deneen reached out to me after discovering my TikTok content to join an ongoing school project focussed on boys’ wellbeing. It’s a great example of how sharing your interests online can result in special connections with people you’d otherwise never have met.
Here we discuss the why, the how and the future of our work together. Deneen and I discuss the cultural, emotional, and educational factors shaping boys’ literacy—and how story-based interventions can change lives.
This work isn’t just about helping boys pass exams. It’s about creating reading, thinking young men who believe in their own voices and have possibility in their lives.
🔑 Key Themes:
How it started: From a chance TikTok scroll to real-world collaboration
The "word gap": Why many boys enter school already at a disadvantage
Taking Boys Seriously: A research-based framework reshaping engagement
Challenge vs. Comfort: Why high expectations matter—and why boys rise to them
Literacy as liberation: The power of books to unlock agency, resilience, and perspective
The Hemingway effect: Short stories as powerful entry points (and “gateway drugs” to deeper reading)
📌 Highlights:
‘You don’t need a tome to start reading. You just need a hook—and the right story.’
“‘Boys aren’t a homogenous group, but they often respond to challenge—when it’s delivered with belief.’
‘You talked to them in a way that we couldn’t, and educators don’t.’
‘It’s not about patronising them. It’s about seeing them clearly and taking them seriously.’
📉 there is a literacy gap and it starts early
Boys arrive at school already behind girls in vocabulary and the gap widens over time, compounded by lower engagement in literary culture and is reflected in national outcomes.
‘We know that boys have a word deficit when they arrive at primary school… and the GCSE results show that is the case.’
📚 reading is the rising tide that lifts all boats
But improved literacy isn’t just about passing English. It’s about boys having the vocabulary to express themselves, the confidence to speak up, and the tools to learn on their own terms.
Literacy is foundational – a rising tide that lifts all boats.
‘It links to every aspect of their life. Boys that are literate… their mental health is better. Their life opportunities are better.’
It’s not just about grades. The work has improved school life in general, with better behaviour and pupil-staff relationships but more broadly, limited literacy impacts confidence, mental health, and life opportunity. The Boys Literacy Project is built on the belief that giving boys words gives them agency.
🎯 the power of high expectations
There’s a cultural narrative that boys aren’t into reading and don’t have the concentration to be able to sit and learn. Deneen rejects that premise saying that if you challenge them, hold the bar high while giving them the scaffolding to reach it, and they’ll rise to it. Boys love challenge but only if they know you believe they can meet it.
‘It isn’t to go easy on boys… it’s actually to double down on your high expectation because they’ll rise to it […] We don’t want a comfort-based approach. We challenge in structured and expert ways—and the boys rise to it.’
Comfort-based approaches aren’t enough. Boys need space to explore, but also structure to rise. Deneen and her team combine literacy, pedagogy, and cultural understanding to challenge boys well—and hold them in that process.
‘To have somebody like you sit in front of them and call them out for not backing themselves or for saying that they don’t know or they don’t have an opinion was absolute gold.’
🔥the value of outside voices
Sometimes boys need to hear it from someone else.
I’ve come at this from outside the classroom and with my sporting background, there’s always that commonality to fall back on the boys for whom Premier League football is the great unifier. Then there’s the bluntness and honesty that stems from my sporting education that creates a different vibe in the classroom, particularly during one session where the boys hadn’t read the assigned story. I asked why and expected real answers.
‘You held each boy to account, which was incredible… they could hear that their words weren’t sufficient.’
You didn’t let the boys off the hook. Instead, you demanded they show up—with ideas, opinions, and a willingness to engage. That directness had real impact.
Teachers do so much great work but an outsider can be direct and cut through in a way school often doesn’t let them.
💪 giving them the best
We talk about how the boys want to know the best of things. They don’t want patronising, they want the good stuff, they want the truth.
They deserve our best effort and if they get it, and the space to work in, they’ll give it back to you.
‘They deserve to see the best of everything… and have someone say, this is how you fail well as a man. This is how you succeed well.’
📚 Mentioned:
connect with Deneen Kenchington on LinkedIn
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan
Marcus Aurelius, self-help and stoicism popular on podcasts
The Hero’s Journey and storytelling frameworks
You can also check out my other pieces on Boys’ Literacy, starting here:
If you believe in raising the bar for boys, consider sharing this piece or subscribing for future updates on the Boys Literacy Project alongside my other work.
Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.
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