Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are four times as likely to get a permanent exclusion than their better-off peers. Only 6.5% of young people who sit their GCSEs in alternative provision (AP) get English and maths GCSEs, compared to 65% in state schools.
Long-term, this means pupils in AP are more likely to experience long-term unemployment and are over-represented in the criminal justice system.
Over the course of five years, The Henry Smith Charity and Impetus will provide £3 million of funding and support to five innovative organisations pioneering high-quality interventions tackling school exclusions. These interventions are supporting young people who are struggling to engage in mainstream education, by helping them develop essential life skills, reintegrate into school when appropriate and achieve the qualifications they need.
Learn more about the charity partners we’re working with:
The Difference tackles school exclusions by raising the status and expertise of teachers who educate vulnerable learners. They find and train school leaders, share best practise across the sector and raise awareness of the challenges of exclusion among policy makers. We will provide The Difference with £360,000 to support their ambitions to get stronger, better and bigger. We’ll help them to complete their four-year pilot, testing a radical approach that will change the way we educate students at-risk of exclusion. We’ll help them to build a strategy for growth beyond the pilot backed by a strong business plan and the systems and structures they’ll need in place as they scale their impact.
Think for the Future (TFTF) partners with schools to provide a structured Behaviour and Resilience Mentoring Provision which is proven to have a measurable impact on engagement with learning. Their mission is to equip young people with the skills they need to overcome social and emotional barriers in their lives that are holding them back from engaging in education and reaching their full potential. We are excited to support TFTF to scale their work, helping them to reach 18,000 students at risk of exclusion per year across deprived areas of the Midlands and North of England by 2023. Their growth will include the development of Management Provision for their ‘Inclusion Centre Management Provision’ which enable schools to keep their most at-risk students on-site at their mainstream school accessing a high quality learning environment rather than excluding them.
Olive Academies Trust runs alternative provision academies and early intervention exclusion-prevention programmes across London and East England. They tackle school exclusions by providing pupils with creative, nurturing and inspiring learning opportunities which re-engage them in learning and transform their lives. We will provide Olive Academies Trust with £200,000 to support their ambitions to further develop their outreach and preventative programmes within mainstream schools. This will enable the trust to grow its provision of targeted support to help even more at-risk students and prevent exclusions.
MCR Pathways is a national, award-winning mentoring programme dedicated to address the deep-rooted inequality in education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances for young people in care and those experiencing disadvantage. We will provide peer support, 121 capacity building and funding to assist MCR Pathways to expand their well-evidenced Young Talent programme throughout the country, focusing on the triple outcomes of keeping students in school, improving attainment and increasing EET rates.
From school exclusion, to poverty and an ongoing emotional wellbeing crisis, children across the UK are facing some of the toughest starts in life. Transforming Lives for Good (TLG) believes change is possible. TLG’s variety of programmes work to bring hope and a future for struggling children, young people and their families, through practical, educational and emotional support. TLG is a UK-wide children’s charity which was voted best non-profit to work for by the Sunday Times in 2019. We will support TLG to expand its overall reach, with the primary focus being on growing their capacity to support students at risk of exclusion and those who are attending Alternative Provision. Through a combination of peer support and 121 capacity building our team will help theirs to strengthen the organisation and build on their impressive performance to date, so that more young lives can be transformed for good.
If you’d like to know more or partner with us on the Engage Fund please contact firstname.lastname@example.org.