Our impact

Since SHINE was established in 1999, we have invested more than £34.5 million in projects helping over 1.4 million children from 20,000 schools. Almost 200,000 of these children have been reached by SHINE-funded programmes in schools; and in addition, more than 1.2 million disadvantaged children have benefitted from access to SHINE-funded programmes online.

Scroll down to read about our most recent work.

 

Our impact 2022 / 2023

How we make a difference

A child’s future outcomes should not be determined by their background or economic circumstances, yet that is the reality holding back many children in the North of England.

Our long-term aim is to break down the barriers to learning faced by children from low-income backgrounds, so they get the same opportunities as their peers. To do this, we fund and develop innovative projects that are designed to improve educational outcomes for less-advantaged children, unlocking their true potential.

We work hand-in-hand with schools, and individual communities in the most deprived parts of the North. We collaborate with teachers, philanthropists and other key stakeholders who share our aim of levelling the playing field for children.

 

There is clear evidence that SHINE is making an impact on supporting and promoting innovative approaches to education. The number of successful approaches that are running today and owe their origins to SHINE is remarkable.

SHINE teacher
 

Our impact

When Poppy started school, she had a vocabulary of no more than 10 words and could not speak in sentences

Before joining St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, in Billingham, Teesside, Poppy had been living abroad, where limited opportunities for interaction with other children had hindered her social and linguistic development.

Read Poppy’s story

Maximising our impact

Over the past 12 months, thanks to the generosity of our philanthropic partners, we have been able to invest close to £1 million into 45 school-led and place-based projects.

We have funded some exciting new programmes and awarded follow-up grants to several of our most promising projects. In total, these projects have supported more than 24,000 children in the North of England.

Teachers and schools are best placed to identify the barriers facing children in their care, so we are delighted to have supported 711 teachers across the North during 2022-23. Thanks to their passion and dedication, our projects have been running in 306 schools, most situated in the most deprived parts of the North.

This year, we have begun to build on our monitoring and evaluation strategy, to ensure we nurture projects with the most potential for significant impact.

In August, we committed to a large-scale independent evaluation of Cradle to Career North Birkenhead. This groundbreaking work will build the sector’s knowledge and understanding of collective working, and demonstrate its impact on children.

Pinpointing what works

We are passionate about finding fresh solutions to the education challenges facing children in the most deprived parts of the North.

To this end, we are constantly learning from the teachers we work alongside and the programmes we fund.

Over the past year, we have teamed up with schools, leaders, and local stakeholders to help us better understand the barriers facing children and families, particularly those experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.

We commissioned a second Grantee Perception Report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The report found that our grantees felt we were “approachable and responsive”, and that we had “a good understanding of, and impact on, the fields in which they work, and their organisations and their strategies”.

In partnership with our grantees, we are creating effective, bespoke solutions that improve outcomes for these children.

Because of our focus on innovation, each of the projects we fund is different, incorporating a range of approaches and activities. The word cloud shows the most prevalent of these activities.

Project focus: Vocabulous

A research trial into a SHINE-funded online literacy-boosting platform has yielded “very encouraging results”.

The year-long study led by academics at the University of Oxford indicated an “upward trend in pupils’ ability to recognise and use new vocabulary” at schools using Vocabulous.

  • One primary school saw an average 32% increase in vocabulary test scores by the end of the trial.
  • At another primary, spelling scores following the trial are the highest on record.

Read more about the impact of Vocabulous.

 

It [Vocabulous] is absolutely fantastic for disadvantaged pupils and can increase their vocabulary to another level to what’s spoken at home.

Teacher Beckfoot Heaton Primary School, Bradford
 
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region talks about Cradle to Career.

Pride of place

We know that no single charity can solve deep-rooted inequalities on its own.

And there is immense power in bespoke strategies that take into account the individual needs of a geographical area.

For this reason, SHINE is increasingly committing to place-based projects which work alongside the people and organisations who live and work in an area of need, and who know their communities best.

We believe that philanthropy has a vital part to play in projects that aim to create systemic change, which is why we also work alongside donors with a deep connection to and knowledge of an area.

Real change takes time, and we commit to long-term support of the place-based programmes we fund.

We are delighted by the early progress already being shown by the projects we currently fund.

 

Project focus: Cradle to Career

Cradle to Career puts the people of North Birkenhead at the heart of education, services and local decision-making.

SHINE has joined forces with the Steve Morgan Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, Wirral Council and Right to Succeed to bring together more than 40 local partners from across the public, private and charity sectors.

After 3 years, the project is beginning to make a significant impact. Within the education strand of the project:

  • 8 schools worked with have made progress, with four making above-expected progress and the remaining 4 making expected progress.
  • There has been a considerable shift from low to high reading ability, with a 42% increase in the number of high-ability readers and a 5% decrease in those with the highest reading support needs.
  • 467 pupils on the programme in Years 1, 2 and 3 improved their reading ability to a level that predicts more than half a GCSE grade will be gained in every subject they study.

Read more about the impact of Cradle to Career.

Key findings: Early years confidence

 

SHINE’s work in building early years foundations has seen schools, nurseries, parents, teachers and practitioners come together to create the building blocks for lifelong success.

Development of early language and communication skills presents a particular barrier to children from more disadvantaged backgrounds, and the challenge has become more acute post-Covid.

Through our innovative projects, we have learned that creating language-rich environments and building collaborative strategies can have a substantial positive impact on early language and communication skills. There are significant opportunities.

  • Communication and language skills are a key foundation for success, and these are built in the early years.
  • Children from disadvantaged backgrounds often lag behind in language and communication, and this has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
  • Collaborative projects that build strategies for language and communication across the school and home learning environment and build skills in both staff and parents have shown effectiveness.
  • Parents can be engaged by creating clear activities and opportunities for involvement, and making them feel a key part of the school community and their child’s success.

 

Project focus: Passport to Confidence

Almost all early years children taking part in this pilot project at four Bradford primary schools had achieved the expected standard for communication and language skills by the end of the initiative.

At one school, Beckfoot Allerton, none of the participating children were at the expected level in communication and language development or personal, social and emotional development when they first joined Passport to Confidence.

By the end of the project, 100% had reached the expected standard, and are on track to succeed at school.

It was a similar story at other schools involved in the project.

Read more about the impact of Passport to Confidence.

 

Project focus: Ad Astra

After learning that two-thirds of pupils at the Ad Astra Trust on Teesside enter reception with below-typical language and communication skills, SHINE funded a project in the trust’s 7 schools that aimed to tackle this problem.

The pilot project has proved a success. For instance, at West View Primary in Hartlepool, this year, the percentage of children who are “ready for reception” when it comes to listening and attention, has improved by 10 percentage points compared to last year.

By the end of the project, 100% had reached the expected standard, and are on track to succeed at school.

“Staff knowledge and understanding of how to support communication and language has grown, pupils are generally making better progress… and parental engagement has improved.” Pete Wiley, Ad Astra Academy Trust

Read more about the impact of the Ad Astra programme.

Key findings: Foundations in literacy

 

Literacy provides the foundations for attainment across all subjects and is a core skill for disadvantaged children.

Literacy is built early but must be developed throughout a child’s education journey. SHINE’s innovative projects work to build literacy across phases and subjects, and set children on a path to success in the future.

  • There are many strands to literacy, including vocabulary, decoding and meaning.
  • As well as being a core skill for attainment, improving literacy can build confidence, increase the enjoyment of reading and instil a love of learning.
  • Literacy approaches are particularly effective when they upskill teachers in literacy strategies across phases and subjects.
  • Consistent, recognisable strategies that are shared with teachers, parents and children are effective.
  • The most effective approaches build rich, multi-stranded activities into the school day, and bring parents into the learning so that children experience a reinforced, consistent approach.

 

Project focus: Ready, Let’s Read

Teachers say reception-age children are being given “an opportunity to meet their potential early” and are making “leaps in progress” thanks to a reading project in the North West.

Two years ago, teacher Rachel Ward won funding from Let Teachers SHINE to fund her idea to improve early years literacy. After a successful pilot in her school, Moston Fields Primary School, Manchester, Ready, Let’s Read (RLR) was last year expanded into a further four schools in the North West.

“They are excited to read, are building the confidence to believe that they can do it, and we are seeing leaps in progress already.” – Naomi Hill, Phase Leader at Holy Trinity Primary School, Manchester

Read more about the impact of Ready, Let’s Read.

 

Project focus: Are You Really Reading?

Teachers using the new “Are You Really Reading?” approach in their classrooms have reported that children are making record-breaking progress in their reading.

For instance, at St Ann’s CofE Primary School in St Helen’s, 50% of Year 6 children last year achieved “greater depth” in reading – the highest on record at the school.

SHINE’s funding has enabled Are You Really Reading? to be rolled out across 50 North West schools, reaching thousands of children.

“The [project] has supported our pupils in catching up following the pandemic… We have not seen rates of accelerated progress like this before.” – Laura Rynn, Headteacher, St Ann’s CofE Primary School, St Helens.

Read more about the impact of Are You Really Reading?

Lizzie and Lydia’s story

Chair’s message: Moving forward

It is so important that all children have the same chances to do well in life regardless of the socio-economic background of their parents, or other circumstances beyond their control.

Therefore, in my first year as SHINE Chair, I take pride in the strides we’ve made, empowering more than 700 exceptional teachers and making a difference to the education of 24,000 children.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank every single person who helped make it happen. Strong collaboration is key to all SHINE’s work.

Yet, we remain acutely aware that there is much still to do. Moving forward, SHINE will continue to work tirelessly alongside teachers, parents, communities, philanthropists and decision-makers to do all that we can to ensure that every child, regardless of background, is given the chance to succeed.

With your amazing support, I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.

Raksha Pattni, Chair, SHINE

Project focus: 123, Read With Me