A student about to go to Oxford to study English returned to her school to encourage children to read books outside of the national curriculum.

Felistas Ndebele, of Acacia Road, Walthamstow, moved to the country from South Africa when she was just five-years-old and unable to understand the English language.

Her parents encouraged her to read to help her grasp the language.

A year later she had the reading age of an 11-year-old and now having finished a degree in English at Nottingham Trent University is heading to Oxford to continue to follow her passion.

The project, funded by vInspired, a youth volunteering charity, saw Ms Ndebele return to Holy Family Catholic School in Shernhall Street to introduce 70 children to concepts, such as post-colonialism, feminism and marxism in the hope that they find the authors more relatable.

The 20-year-old said: “It was amazing to witness the children grow in that short space of time, learning about these theories and placing them in the context of their own lives, and thus assessing what role they play in society.

“A highlight was seeing the children realising the power of literature and that most literary texts often have a social message, even a book such as Animal Farm by George Orwell, a children’s book with a political message.

“I hope the children continue to explore other theories and texts outside of the curriculum and that they continue to realise the power one individual holds simply in their beliefs.

“We hope this program is the first of many and one which can be extended across Waltham Forest and other boroughs of London.”