SITTING around a large table, five young mums chatter excitedly as they settle down to tackle their times tables.

Studying the three Rs should be a distant memory of primary school life but not for these women, all in their 20s, who were failed by Reading’s schools and are only now getting to grips with the key skills they will need in a fiercely competitive jobs market.

All five are now turning their lives - and prospects - around after arriving at the Sure Start Centre, in Whitley, lacking even basic English and maths.

And they are only able to do so because the centre offers a free childcare service - while their tiny tots play safely downstairs, the mums head upstairs to take part in vital classes run by Reading Borough Council.

Sharleen Lee, 28, has been coming to the centre, in Northumberland Avenue, since she had her first child 11 years ago.

Her youngest son Rien, three, is playing in the creche downstairs.

She said: “It’s more about my son because now I can help him and do his homework with him. Most of us struggled with school hence why we couldn’t go to college, and this is a completely different atmosphere. We’ve all got kids, we’ve all got something in common and we can all help each other out."

Sharleen, who now plans to start training to become a nursery nurse, added: “The staff in the creche are absolutely brilliant. If it weren’t for the whole Sure Start project none of us would have any qualifications or anything - we’d still be sitting at home doing nothing.”

Their maths tutor is Shehla Minhas, who added: “I can see the improving confidence in all of them, especially when they are doing maths. They all hated maths at school, but now they all enjoy coming to the classes and they even love doing maths homework!”

Most of the women are studying for level 2 and 3 NVQs - equivalent to GCSEs and A-levels. Creche manager, Amanda Mcdonald said: “If it wasn’t for the free creche they wouldn’t be able to do their courses because they wouldn’t have the child care, so what we’re doing helps them get back to work.”

Her colleague Sonia Darlow now works at the same creche she used to drop her young child off as she took her qualifications.

She added: “I didn’t do very well at school but I got all the qualifications I needed here. I’d never have been able to do it without this place and I don’t like to think where I’d have been now without it.”