Let Teachers SHINE winner 2025: Phil Latham – The Endeavour Convening Partnership
A new initiative aims to bring schools and local businesses together to build better work and life chances for young people in Middlesbrough.
The Endeavour Convening Partnership has secured £22,200 from Let Teachers SHINE to establish a sustainable network of schools and local industry to improve opportunities for school leavers in the area.
“The purpose of the project is to address the complex social problems associated with the high number of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) and improve their future prospects,” explained Phil Latham, project lead and CEO of Endeavour Academies Trust.
“Our goal with the partnership is to raise the social mobility of young people in Middlesbrough, inspire greater aspiration, and provide them with more opportunities to succeed,” he added.
The Endeavour Convening Partnership, a cross-sector initiative created by Endeavour Academies Trust, seeks to tackle social problems in the area via three partnership groups: Futures, Families, Health.
“I’m leading the Futures Partnership,” said Phil, explaining: “Its goal is to develop relationships between local schools and businesses into partnerships that last over time.”
Businesses in the Futures Partnership include emerging industries in the region such as manufacturing, renewable energies, digital technology, pharmaceuticals, chemical engineering, maritime, logistics, leisure and retail.
To ensure the vocational curriculum being taught is relevant and locally contextualised, companies are selected for their links with five subject areas: maths, science, ICT, engineering and business studies.
“Each of the five subjects will have a link with a local firm and they will co-design elements of the 14-19 curriculum to reflect up-to-date developments with the relevant company and industry,” explained Phil.
There will also be training for teachers on current employment opportunities in the area, led by local businesses, so that staff and students understand the local job market and can improve their career readiness.
“While teachers have expertise in designing and developing lessons, they lack an understanding of the labour market,” said Phil.
“One teacher from each of the five vocational subjects will spend a day per term in a local business, and learn first-hand what skills students need.”
Companies in the partnership will work directly with pupils to develop their confidence, communication skills and experience such as practicing interview techniques, or business skills training to help prepare them for future careers.
Phil’s vision for the partnership is to grow participation, include more schools and businesses in the region, and continue to improve outcomes for school leavers. He is in discussion with the University of Teesside on research to measure the impact of the project as it progresses.
“It’s a really valuable initiative,” remarked Phil. “And we’re very indebted to SHINE for the support because it’s going to be really instrumental in making this happen.”