Accompaniment
The ‘Accompaniment’ project, led by St Aidan’s Catholic Academy and St Anthony’s Girls Catholic Academy, aims to support disadvantaged students moving to secondary school. Vulnerable students will be paired with an “invested person”. Together, they’ll engage in monthly activities to build confidence, a sense of belonging and provide a smoother transition to secondary school.
ASPIRE
The ASPIRE project, a five-year initiative aimed at addressing challenges faced by disadvantaged students in one of the city’s most deprived areas, is led by Sandhill View Academy. The project focuses on character development, offering students opportunities for personal growth beyond the traditional curriculum through activities that nurture ambition, sincerity, pride, inclusion, resilience, and ethical thinking. With the goal of improving attendance, reducing behavioural issues, and raising academic attainment, ASPIRE will provide enriching experiences such as educational trips, leadership programmes, and mental health support. The project also aims to enhance social mobility by breaking down barriers to higher education and university participation.
Bridging the Gap Performing Arts Journey
Collaborating with feeder primary schools, Monkwearmouth Academy will develop a performing arts transition programme aimed at raising engagement, aspirations and attendance leading to improved attainment over time. Through offering a new approach through the transition, with links to local future opportunities, they hope to give students space to find their voice, further their communication skills and social and emotional development leading to a more settled start in secondary education.
Celebrating Diverse Sunderland
Thornhill Academy’s ‘Celebrating Diverse Sunderland’ project aims to build stronger community ties and create a more inclusive environment for children to thrive academically and socially. Over three years, the project will focus on improving pupil literacy, supporting mental health, and easing transitions between primary and secondary school by building understanding between schools and their diverse communities. Research will explore topics such as early language teaching, parental engagement, and the impact of community dynamics on children’s mental health. The initiative will also involve parent and staff input through steering groups and aims to encourage greater school-community connections, boost parental involvement, and provide resources to strengthen these bonds.
Crafting a Curriculum with Poverty in Mind
Sean Harris, an Improvement Lead at Tees Valley Education Trust, is developing a curriculum that addresses the challenges faced by students from low-income backgrounds. Sean believes in incorporating students’ perspectives to create a more meaningful and engaging learning experience.
Cradle to Career North Birkenhead
SHINE, the Steve Morgan Foundation and Right to Succeed are working in partnership to better understand the drivers of poor outcomes in this particularly challenged part of the Wirral, which is one of the lowest achieving areas nationally. We are working closely with schools, the local authority and community leaders to devise a programme which encompasses every stage of a child’s life, from Cradle to Career.
Endeavour Convening Partnership
The partnership aims to bring schools and local businesses together to build better work and life chances for young people in Middlesbrough. It involves the establishment of a sustainable network of schools and local industry to improve opportunities for school leavers in the area. The partnership’s goal is to raise the social mobility of young people in the town, inspire greater aspiration, and provide them with more opportunities to succeed.
Fast Feedback
A pioneering new online resource seeks to speed up the marking and feedback process for teachers and students using AI-driven technology. Tom Rye, a London-based secondary school Vice Principal is the creator of Fast Feedback – an AI-powered platform that automates assessment, reducing teacher workload and bringing feedback to students more quickly. The platform will be open source, making it an affordable solution for schools.
FutureReady Sunderland
FutureReady Sunderland is a city-wide careers education programme for pupils aged 11–18, led by St Aidan’s Catholic Academy in partnership with St Anthony’s Girl’s Catholic Academy, Castle View Enterprise Academy and Southmoor Academy, designed to prepare young people for the world of work through meaningful, employer-led experiences aligned with Sunderland’s regeneration priorities and high-growth sectors. By creating a sustainable bridge between education and business through a simple employer pledge system, targeted support for disadvantaged learners, and a scalable digital and in-person model, the programme embeds real workplace experiences into learning, builds future-ready skills, and empowers young people across the city to connect with local opportunity, raise aspirations and take confident steps towards fulfilling futures.
In-School Mentoring, Social Skills and Resilience Training
This character education programme supports learners in Years 6 to 9 to build confidence, resilience and self-awareness through a blend of one-to-one mentoring, group work and whole-school activities delivered by impartial, ex-forces mentors trained in the Commando Joes RESPECT framework. Using fun, inclusive and age-appropriate “missions” inspired by values such as teamwork, discipline and leadership, the programme develops key life skills including empathy, communication and emotional regulation, while offering targeted support for pupils facing the greatest challenges. Embedded across the curriculum and supported by staff training, parental engagement and a structured transition model from primary to secondary school, the approach creates trusted relationships, strengthens behaviour and wellbeing, and helps pupils apply character skills to real-life situations inside and beyond school.
Kepier Transition Project
The Kepier Transition Project will engage around 900 learners across seven primary schools, placing oracy – the ability to express oneself clearly and effectively through spoken language – and performing arts at the heart of its approach. By combining drama, music, and storytelling, alongside strong personal support, the initiative aims to build learners’ confidence, communication skills, and resilience – essential ingredients for a successful start in secondary education. The project will be delivered in collaboration with partner primary schools. These schools serve communities where deprivation and limited access to specialist resources, can make the transition to secondary school difficult.
Pennywell Fellowship
The Pennywell Fellowship is a partnership designed to build trust with families and strengthen parental engagement so that children can access the local opportunities that build character, confidence and aspiration. Led by Academy 360 alongside Christ’s College and local primary schools and supported by a family and community team, the programme focuses on enrichment, employment and engagement, ensuring all pupils benefit while providing tailored support for disadvantaged learners. By coordinating schools, civic partners and families through shared planning, data-informed approaches and a developing digital platform, the Fellowship aims to remove practical barriers, widen access to opportunities, and create stronger, more connected support networks that help every child attend, engage and succeed.
ProVision
Jordan Scott, from Benton Dene Primary School, in Newcastle, is developing ProVision, an online intervention and pupil data management system. He hopes his AI-powered system will revolutionise targeted support for disadvantaged students and reduce the workload of teachers and teaching assistants. ProVision uses AI to streamline the planning, implementation, and monitoring of interventions, ensuring they are tailored to individual student needs. The user-friendly system allows staff to select children for specific interventions and give information about any gaps in learning and how often the support is needed. The AI then generates bespoke intervention programmes for individual children or groups of children.
Supporting Transition and Developing Emotional Intelligence
This project, led by Whitefield Primary School, in Liverpool. promotes self-regulation from early years to Y6 using the Zones of Regulation and emotional literacy, addressing the challenge many children face when transitioning to secondary school by developing a common language between primary and secondary staff to enhance emotional literacy and improve learning access.
Transition to Success
Castle View Enterprise Academy will be delivering a transition project focusing on why children struggle to engage and attend during the transition to secondary school. Learnings will inform targeted support to children and families to increase awareness, engagement, and attendance, and ensure a smooth transition to secondary school.
United Learning x Boys’ Impact
This project, led by Richard McNicholas, Vice Principal at Barnsley Academy, Barnsley Academy, aims to support boys at the school in developing positive self-identity and successfully forging a pathway to their future career of choice. The initiative centres on how boys can take a more active role in their own development to effectively reach their goals.