shine supporters' magazine 2013

8/13/2019 SHINE Supporters' Magazine 2013

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2013Play that funky music

Saturdays in Manchester get more harmonious

The Ministry of BubblesStudents’ stories scribbled and spoken

The Voice Of G.O’DSHINE’s new Patron speaks out

OUR TEACHERS BETCompetition begets innovation



Written by Bruce Robinson

Designed by Theo Hodges DesignTel: 020 7938 1396

SHINE would like to thank ourproject partners, without whomnone of this work would bepossible.

All relevant permissions have beenobtained for the case studies,pictures and quotations used.The photographs may not alwaysrepresent the projects beside which

they appear.Page 9, Ministry of BubblesPhotographs © Steve Hickey.

What we do Education should be life’s great opportunity –the time when every child’s talents and potentialare recognised and realised, regardless of theirbackground. But too many times, for toomany children, this doesn’t happen. Instead,outcomes at school too often match incomesat home. Disadvantaged children are almosttwice as likely to leave primary school withsubstandard English and maths. They’re thenmuch more likely to fall short in their GCSEs,closing off options, cutting dreams short andcosting our economy and society dearly.

In response, SHINE funds and developsprogrammes to help level the playing eld. Atprimary school, we fund Saturday programmesthat use hands-on, creative learning to tackle

core subjects from new angles. Other projects,such as DigiSmart and Speech Bubbles, haveinnovative ways to help struggling studentsmake up lost ground.

At secondary school, our new SHINE inSecondaries programme supports studentsin their rst year, when progress often dips.Projects such as Stepladder help teenagers dothemselves justice in their GCSEs. And schemeslike That Reading Thing provide a valuablesecond chance to those who need it most.

What they all share is the desire to help thesestudents build the skills, gain the condenceand achieve the grades they need to nurturetheir talents and full their potential, both atschool and beyond.

Contents

3 \\ FOREWORD FROM SHINE’S CHAIRMAN

4 \\OUR TEACHERS BET:GETTING GREAT IDEAS BYLETTING TEACHERS SHINE

6 \\OUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH: SHINE GETS MUSICAL IN MANCHESTER

9 \\THE MINISTRY OF BUBBLES: STUDENTS’ STORIES SCRIBBLEDAND SPOKEN

10 \\CLICKS & MORTAR-BOARDS:SPECIALIST HELP AND SERIOUSFUN IS JUST A CLICK AWAY

12 \\THAT’S SO LAST YEAR: WANDERING DOWN MEMORY LANETO SEE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

14 \\OLYMPICS? WHAT OLYMPICS? BRITAIN’S GLORIOUS SUMMER OFSPORT WINDS UP IN WINDSOR

15 \\SHINE SUPPORTERS 2012

Welcome to the seventh edition of ourannual Supporters’ Magazine, featuringour new projects, core programmesand fundraising activities. I hope yound it interesting.

Attracting external funding

The past year has seen our methods and programmes attracting ahuge amount of support and funding from third parties – far morethan ever before. For example, we’re now expanding SHINE onSaturdays into Manchester, with help from its renowned orchestra,the Hallé, in a 50-50 deal with the government’s Education EndowmentFoundation (EEF).

We have also modied this programme to help new arrivals atsecondary school. SHINE in Secondaries has just launched in WalthamForest. From September, it will be in three more London boroughs, plusManchester, thanks to funding from the Greater London Authority and,again, the EEF.

Then there’s DigiSmart, now starting a national roll-out to support20,000 children by the end of next year. On top of our own grant,SHINE helped DigiSmart attract some of the biggest names in thebusiness, including the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Man CharitableTrust, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the JJ Charitable Trust.

Rewarding fresh ideas

Finally, we’ve been thrilled by the great response to Let Teachers SHINE.This is a national competition for innovative teachers, in which SHINEprovides seed funding for the best 10 ideas to raise literacy and/ornumeracy among disadvantaged students.

The contest was helped greatly by the Times Educational Supplement,who worked hard on our behalf. And winning the competition seemsto have been a fantastic catalyst, prompting other organisationsto unlock extra funding. We will evaluate the 10 pilot projects thissummer; the best will receive further grants from SHINE and the EsméeFairbairn Foundation.

Meeting increased demand

Naturally, we are delighted by these developments: they are ringingendorsements of SHINE’s work and methods by organisations respectedfor their rigour, judgement and expertise. And taken together, theirsupport this year equates to around £3 million in new funding towardsthese four programmes alone.

This matters for two reasons. First, it brings us a step closer to meetinga key challenge that we set ourselves when we rst launched SHINE:

to develop models of intervention that are robust and effective enoughto attract the external backing required for widespread expansion.

Much more importantly, this funding helps us meet growing demandfor our programmes. Times remain really tough for the families of thechildren and teenagers we support, making it even harder for them toget good grades. They need all the help we can give them.

Recognising your generosity

We still need your help too. Thank you to everybody who has supportedus in the past year, not least those who have pledged very generousdonations for a two year period. We are all very grateful for such anexplicit, continuing commitment to SHINE’s work.

Of course, support comes in many forms – for example, our brilliantWindsor runners raised £30,000 towards a new SHINE on Saturdayproject. So however you choose to help us, please stick with it. Yourgenerosity underpins not only SHINE’s future, but also that of thousandsof children. It gives them that essential opportunity to make the mostfrom their time at school so that, when they leave, they have theambition, determination and qualications they need to face the future– and shine.

Jim O’Neill

Chairman

Foreword

“These developments areringing endorsementsof SHINE’s work andmethods by organisationsrespected for their rigour, judgement and expertise.”

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We’ve got a soft spot for fresh, bold teaching – particularlywhen it gets great results. And we’re always looking out forinnovative new projects to fund. So we mashed them up.

The result? Let Teachers SHINE, a national competition to nd some of the country’s mostinnovative teachers. Any teacher in England could apply with an idea to improve the literacyor numeracy of disadvantaged students. Teaming up with the Times Educational Supplement,we would choose 10 winners, with each receiving up to £15,000 SHINE funding for ayear-long pilot. The most successful may receive more funding for further development or

future expansion.The competition launched in April and word soon spread, thanks to enthusiastic tweeting bythe TES and Sarah Brown, among others. Given the demanding application form, we werethrilled to receive well over 100 applications. A shortlist of 25 was interviewed before our

judging panel selected the winners, who teach at primary and secondary schools fromSouthampton to Stockport. Some use time-honoured teaching techniques; others leveragetop-end technology, including geocaching and augmented reality. Most importantly, all offergenuinely new ways to achieve tangible results in the classroom.

The 10 pilots began in September, with SHINE’s grants themselves unlocking a further 40% innew money, mainly from the schools involved. So far, the projects are going well and obviously

we’ll give them the usual attention. But wealso have another competition to plan – wewant Let Teachers SHINE to become a regularxture so the next contest will be launchingthis spring to nd more teachers, in newsubjects, and see what they have up their(corduroy) sleeves. Good luck!

Obvious, because Claire had herself originally learned to read with her grandparents; because shewanted to improve community relations; and because the need was pressing. “Every year somekids arrive with reading ages of just six or seven. They need to be employable by the time they’re16. That takes something radical.” And with reading, you can’t cut corners: “To get better, youhave to sit down and read. That takes time – there’s no way around it.”

So each week, students spend 20 minutes reading to their mentor, either in the school library or ata local home. The mentors (all trained volunteers) then award marks for details such as intonation

and punctuation, before recommending either a small, medium or large reward (always stationery– “kids love it”). Afterwards, the student makes them a cup of tea and they chat for 10 minutes.“The kids don’t like this part”, says Claire, “but they have to learn how to maintain a conversationwith someone they don’t know well. It’s an important social skill.”

Good news so far. The mentors have been “hugely positive”, as have the students, who completetheir book at home. “They come running up to me, saying ‘Finished it, Miss, I’ve nished it’.” By thesummer, she hopes that they will have increased their reading age by around two years. This needsmore than these short sessions, so workshops will help parents build on their children’s progress:“It could treble the impact we have at school”, says Claire. And she is optimistic about keeping thementors on side: “They now experience a different side of young people – the better side that I seeevery day. Young people are fantastic to be around. Our mentors walk out younger, I’m sure of it.”

Judging by their YouTube hits, thousandsof teenagers already know all about ColinHegarty and Brian Arnold. Teachers atQueensmead School in Ruislip, they havealready spent hours of their free timemaking maths tuition videos and postingthem online at youtube.com/hegartymaths.

“Private tuition can cost £30 an hour”,Colin says. “We wanted to provide thattuition for free.” The videos are highlyinteractive, mixing teaching with tests: “Wetalk about something and then get the kidsto try it themselves, before checking theirwork against our answers.”

SHINE’s grant means they can completethe entire GCSE and A level curricula muchsooner. They have also bought some iPads,so that disadvantaged students can study

at school after hours. And since winningthe competition, Queensmead has alsocome up trumps. “Winning Let TeachersSHINE – and the external validation it gaveus – really tipped the balance”, Colin says.“The governors bought even more iPads sowe now have enough for two full classes,plus super-fast Wi-Fi.”

Colin has also been surprised by theenthusiasm of his teenage students.“Beforehand, my revision sessions nevergot more than 15 students, even rightbefore the exams, but I should get a full

house now, easy – the kids are buzzing”,he says. “There’s no way any of thiswould have happened without SHINE –they gave me the chance to make this work,and I will.”

Michael Shawhelped judge LetTeachers SHINE.He’s also DeputyEditor of theTimes EducationalSupplement.

“We were interested because hundreds ofthousands of teachers in the UK are registeredon the TES website, so that seemed a goodway to get information out very quickly. Wealso report a lot on closing the attainmentgap between pupils from advantaged anddisadvantaged backgrounds and the idea ofappealing directly to teachers about how theywould do it is very much in line with that.

“Lots of ideas were based on little things thatteachers had successfully tried out in class, and

just needed extra support to scale it up. AndI was stunned by quite how many had greatideas involving technology, like iPads – thekinds of ideas that other teachers might seeand think ‘I can copy that’.

“I think we were all pleasantly surprised byquite how many schools took part – this wasn’tan easy competition to meet a celebrity; it wassetting a real challenge. And then we endedup with all these different, brilliant new ideas.We’re really keen to see how they turn out andto get involved again.”

Winning

the Granprix

iMaths All rise

For a full list of winners, visitwww.shinetrust.org.uk

Our teachers bet

“We were all pleasantlysurprised by howmany schools tookpart – this wasn’t aneasy competition.”

Faced with functionally illiterate11-13 year olds, what do youdo? If you’re Claire Stewartof Bristol’s City Academy, it’sobvious – get them reading tolocal pensioners.

4 5



For 12 years, thousands of children havesurprised everyone (even themselves) byloving weekend lessons. Their grades haveimproved, too. That’s SHINE on Saturday foryou. To date, it’s been conned to London.Not anymore…

…because we’ve gone north, to Manchester, whereeight new projects will benet 800 primary childrenover the next three years. It’s all costing £1 million, splitequally between SHINE and the government-fundedEducational Endowment Foundation (EEF).

As in London, SHINE on Manchester works withunderachieving 8-11 year olds. Practical learning,creative lessons and outside trips reinforce core skillsand enrich their weekday learning. This new version isslightly shorter, however, running for 25 Saturdays

each year (not 30).Against that, it’s much more harmonious, thanks to theHallé, which has a superb record of teaching childrenand young people across Manchester. The orchestra has

devised a central theme for every term – starting withthe planets – and worked with the schools to create theaccompanying lessons.

As you’d expect, students’ progress is being closelymonitored and evaluated – this time, by DurhamUniversity, which will hopefully join Ofsted, NewPhilanthropy Capital and the National Foundationfor Educational Research in its enthusiasm for thisprogramme. For now, though, we’re just very excited.Hallé SHINE on Manchester marks our rst major forayout of London and we’re thrilled to be making thisbig step with such fantastic partners. We’ll keep youinformed – later, after our piano practice.

Back in London, Ashton was a nightmare to teach – negative, moody, with a temper so bad he was often kickedout of class. His homework, when he did it, was often unnished and usually dreadful. That’s exactly why his schoolwanted him to join SHINE on Saturday for some extra help.

Once there, SHINE’s mentoring helped Ashton learn to manage his temper and deal with stress less destructively.Over the course of three years, things improved (slowly). Ashton started putting up his hand in class and becamemore prepared to try new things – even a solo dance routine at the year-end assembly! Academically, he made hugestrides: last summer he reached the national standard in his reading and writing SATs, and only missed out in mathsby two marks.

SHINE’s mentoring also coaxed out Ashton’s caring side. He now helps other children who can’t stand up forthemselves, so has become a bit of a hero to them. However, his greatest moment was becoming Deputy Head Boy– the nal triumph in his remarkable turnaround.

Chris Fielding is Head of Queensbridge School, which shares aSHINE project with other primaries in the Farnworth area of Bolton.“It’s a proud area – rightly so – but it does also face serious drug,alcohol and crime issues”, he says. “Unfortunately, a culturalpoverty has also developed – lots of our children don’t see muchof the world beyond Farnworth.” So he’s very excited about theimpact that Hallé SHINE on Manchester will have on his students.“This is a really big deal; it’s a fantastic opportunity for the kidsof Farnworth.”

The Saturday sessions are deliberately different from everydayclasses. “Our children already get a really good curriculum ve

days a week”, Chris says. “On Saturdays, they need somethingdifferent – they need the learning to be deep, and that happens whenthey’re really enjoying themselves.” But notwithstanding the Hallé’skey role, “this is not a music project”, says Chris. “Academic rigour isreally important to us. This project exists to raise core skills and improvethe life chances of these children – that’s the reason we’re doing this.”

Students’ progress is being tracked by Durham University, but Chris

says that “it’s the intangibles that actually make a difference to thesechildren in the long run”. After all, it’s hard to quantify condenceand aspirations. “Having the Hallé involved is an eye-opener for thechildren; I hope it shows them that there’s life beyond Farnworth.”

Our friendsin the north

From zero to hero

Shiningbrightly PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC

SHINE on Saturday projectshad another great year,including:

@ Clapham & Lark Hall – students made greatprogress, especially in readingand writing – around 80%of them improved more (ormuch more) than expected.

@ St Mary’s – reading,writing and maths improvedmuch faster than expected;by the summer, moststudents had caught upcompletely in all threesubjects.

@ Oliver Goldsmith – twoof the three year groupsoutperformed non-SHINEstudents in reading, writingand maths (so much forbeing underachievers).

@ Wendell Park , where thesame thing happened. Betteryet, all but one student intheir nal year achieved thenational standard in all threesubjects – a superb result.

“The Hallé has a superb

record of teaching childrenand young people acrossManchester.”

“There’s life beyond Farnworth”

Steve Pickett, Education Director of the Hallé, describeswhat’s in store for SHINE students.“You can musicalize just about anything. We’vedone maths, Shakespeare, and children makingmusic from mobile phone numbers. Recentlywe musicalized the science of liquids, solids andgases and the teachers said that music helpedthe kids understand the concepts far better!

“At SHINE, the rst term was based around thePlanets Suite by Gustav Holst. For us, it was ano-brainer – it’s got masses of connections withliteracy and numeracy, plus Jodrell Bank is justup the road. This term it’s ‘Hallé on the OrientExpress’ – a musical journey from Istanbulto London. The children are learning aboutthe science of steam engines, the differentcountries, and lots of associated stories, so youhave literacy, numeracy and science jumpingout of every pore.

“The summer term focuses on Petrushkaby Stravinsky – it’s all about puppets andstorytelling, so the kids will be creating theirown versions of the music and its differentnarratives. We’re also thinking about gettinga puppeteer to help them make their owntheatre and design their own play – thesky’s the limit.

“A pair of Hallé musicians is attached to eachproject, switching around each term so thatthe kids hear as many instruments as possible.We also want to give them opportunities tocome and hear the Hallé, and to produce their

own pieces of music and perform these to theirparents, perhaps alongside our own musicians,in a proper venue.

“Music is a fantastic tool for engaging childrenand helping them improve their literacy andnumeracy – it uses different parts of the brain,and in different ways. But until now we’venot had the opportunity to study thisproperly, like Durham Universityis doing here, so SHINE is amassive step forward.”

6 7



Find out more about

these and otherSHINE-funded projects atwww.shinetrust.org.uk

To help 11-13 year olds who have just startedin ‘big school’, we’ve tweaked our Saturdayprogramme. Thank goodness, says Sean Reedof Rush Croft Sports College in Walthamstow:“Our students arrive with such low scores, it’sessential to get the building blocks in placestraightaway. They’ve only got ve years before

they leave, and a lot of ground to make up.”Funded mostly through grants from theGreater London Authority and the EducationEndowment Foundation, SHINE in Secondariesstarted just this January. Each Saturday, 60 newstudents at Rush Croft will receive “a practicalprogramme”, says Sean. “We’re teachingmaths in a practical way, we’ve got sciencebooster classes, international food weeks anda performing arts programme.” Every half

term, the students develop their team skills atan outdoor centre; they also have a ‘Londonexperience’, choosing visits to places such asthe Science Museum.

Meanwhile, Rush Croft’s feeder schools areselecting underachieving leavers to make upnext year’s group. The same is happeningfor another seven projects that begin thisSeptember across London and Manchester.Initially, week-long courses during the summerholidays will help each group get to knoweach other and start developing the personaland study skills that secondary school requires.Once they start, Saturday classes will combinethe usual creative curriculum with interactivesessions to improve their learning, speakingand social skills.

Over the next three years, SHINE in Secondarieswill help 630 students. “This is an outstandingopportunity for them to receive some additionalsupport and to gain some aspirations of theirown”, says Sean. “Ultimately, I want happystudents who are making progress in school, sothey can have a better start in life.”

Teaching every child to speak, write andread well is a never-ending story in moderneducation. So why not use stories to help?

Two new projects do just that. The Ministryof Stories is based in Hoxton, at the back ofa monster supply shop (obviously). It alreadyruns writing workshops for local children andteenagers but is now expanding into threeprimary schools, where it will use stories toenthuse around 250 children into improvingtheir writing skills.

Group teaching lasting up to six weeks startschildren creating stories together; these arethen published by the Ministry. Workshops are

also run for children who are new to English;who are particularly gifted; or who have SpecialEducational Needs. And the Ministry holdsfurther sessions after school, at weekends

and in the holidays to get children writing intheir own time. Meanwhile, progress is beingmonitored by the Institute of Education sowe can start evaluating how well story-basedlearning can work.

Using similar means, albeit for different ends, isSpeech Bubbles, which helps 5-8 year olds withpoor speaking and listening skills. Languageproblems like these can undermine children’scondence and aptitude – 75% leave primary

school with poor grades and very few achieveve good GCSEs.

Weekly sessions give these children a safe,imaginative space to develop their condenceand communication skills by creating and thendramatizing stories with movement, gesturesand simple dialogue. SHINE’s grant is puttingSpeech Bubbles into 38 primary schools inLondon and Manchester, helping more than1,000 children. We’re also funding newresources to support further expansion, andthe Bubblers are training teachers to allow theprogramme to become self-sustaining in thefuture. Fingers crossed for a happy ending.

Disadvantaged children are atleast 50% more likely to havespecial educational needs (SEN).

And they’re just as unlikely toachieve 5 good GCSEs includingEnglish and maths.

Students with SEN are, at best, only halfas likely to leave primary able to read orwrite properly as those without it.

Hang up your helmets, nobody’s invading. Certainly not fathers,given how infrequently many of them visit their children’s schools.One initiative uses reading out loud to tackle this.Endless research shows a clear link between a father’s involvement in his child’sdevelopment and both higher attainment and better behaviour. And when asked, almosttwo-thirds of children say fathers are their reading role models. Yet only 17% of dads readto their children.

Sounds like a job for FRED. Based on an award-winning programme in Texas, FathersReading Every Day asks fathers to read to their child for a month, initially for 15 minutes aday, then 30. At the end of this reading frenzy, they’re invited to share their experiences ata school event. After this, hopefully fathers carry on reading, encouraged and involved bytheir child’s teachers.

The Fatherhood Institute, which runs FRED, thinks that reading will engender a broaderinterest from fathers in their child’s development. After a similar project in Harrow, “dadsgot together with other parents and started doing things together outside school, like goingon museum trips”, says the Institute’s Kathy Jones. “The signicant thing was that fathersrealised that what they do matters to their children.”

FRED is being piloted in 10 primary schools in Lambeth, Wandsworth and Manchester,helping more than 420 children over the next two years. “We want to see a signicantimprovement in attainment, and children becoming more engaged at school”, says Kathy.But for now, teachers meeting newly-enthused fathers should know: Don’t Panic.”

First year, fresh startThe Ministry of Bubbles(and other stories)

EsSENtial knowledge

A new Dad’s Army

50 %1

/ 2 <5GCSE

The rst year at secondary school is notorious among teachers. Thattransition from primary school can trip up good students and chew upthose who were struggling already. Enter SHINE…

Over the next three years, SHINE inSecondaries will help630 students

630

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2,500

81%

87%

20,000

In 2011-12, DigiSmart helped2,500 children from 200 schools

In one test, 81% of children startingDigiSmart last year had substandardreading skills

of those children had caught up with theirclassmates by the time they nished

children from 1,000 schools will besupported by the end of next year

You’re in Hackney. You’re doing A levels. Andan extended essay. You need help. But fromwhere? Rugby School, obviously. That wouldbe quite some journey – now, it’s just a click.

Our Serious Fun programmes are splendidlyeclectic – many ages and abilities doing different subjects,like languages, science or the visual arts. But they allinvolve frequent visits to the host independent school.

No longer, because Serious Fun @ Rugby School happensmainly on the web. Why? Because Haggerston Schoolin Hackney now offers its sixth formers the ExtendedProject Qualication (EPQ) – a long essay on a topic oftheir choice, such as the ethics of organ transplants. It’sa stretch for Haggerston’s budget but, luckily, help is athand. Rugby School runs the ‘Philosophy Zone’ website,a partnership with local state schools that also acts as anonline debating forum for EPQ-type questions.

Now Haggerston has signed up. Every week, around25 of its sixth formers log in to join discussions andworkshops with teachers and students at Rugby andthe other schools. “The teachers advise on things likethe title, or where to nd useful research”, says AndreaPomphrey of Haggerston School. However,the contact isn’t exclusivelyvirtual: Haggerston’s studentsvisit Rugby every term to meetthe other EPQ students, discussprogress and use its extensivelibrary. “This partnership isinvaluable”, Andrea says. “Itmeans we can give them theabsolute best opportunity to

do well – without that I don’t think we’d get the highstandards that we’re seeing now.”

Happily, all seems well. “Our students are really inspired– lots of them don’t often travel too far from Hackney”,says Andrea, who hopes that the scheme has a broaderimpact: “Maybe now they will look at other opportunitiesthat they hadn’t thought of before.”

If you don’t have teenage children then the EPQ(Extended Project Qualication) may be just anotherslurp of alphabet soup. Fair enough – it’s a fairly new(albeit fast-growing) addition to sixth form studies.

Students can choose to complete a project of 6,000-8,000 words on an academically useful subject of theirchoice. “One student wants to become a midwifeand is looking at the changes in midwifery over theyears”, says Andrea Pomphrey, who oversees the EPQ atHaggerston School in Hackney.

It is also designed to help students develop the ability tothink and work independently, examining not just thecompleted project, but also the process. “Students handin work at every stage, so how they do their research is

very important”, says Andrea. “This is trying to teachthem the key skills they’ll need when starting university.It’s a very good way of closing the gap between universityand sixth form.”

“Serious Fun is not like a usual school day,but a day to discover something new. Itis not about being given a certain work,and next you’ve been instructed to doit. Instead they make you read betweenthe lines, thinking even more about whathas been given to you, asking yourselfquestions and much more. In other words,it’s called thinking outside the box. Thesesessions are here to open our minds. Tovisualise the outcome of an issue andconsider a solution for it.

“Another reason why I think Serious Funis such a success is not only do they teach,but they try to make you have the courageto be independent. I’ve gained morecondence in speaking to other people.Thank you for giving this opportunity ingaining condence and being moreopen minded.”

Munsifa Ashraf Hussain (13),Emerging Scholar of the Year,Serious Fun @ Forest School

Clicks & mortar -boards

EPQ? What’s that?

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Serious Fun @ ForestSchool , where almostevery student made superbprogress in maths.

Serious Fun @ HighgateSchool , whose studentsmade huge leaps inreading ability – onaverage, around a yearduring the six monthproject, more than twicethe usual rate.

Serious Fun @ LadyEleanor Holles , whosestudents made excellentprogress in maths andEnglish.

And nally, Serious Fun@ Merchant TaylorsGrammar School , wherethey made similarly greatimprovements in mathsand science.

“It’s called thinkingoutside the box”

A while back we wrote aboutDigiSmart’s plan to expand into 1,000schools by the end of 2014. Nowthat’s well underway, thanks to a newgang of generous funders…

DigiSmart, whose computer-based courseworkconsistently transforms struggling primarychildren into condent readers, has grownsteadily over the past few years. It doubledup last year to help 2,500 children from

200 schools and has recently broken turf inLiverpool, Rochdale and County Durham.

Even better, there’s been no dilution of impact– recent results show 81% of sampled studentsstarting with substandard reading skills. Whenthey graduated, two terms later, 87% hadcaught up completely and a third had spedahead – results in line with DigiSmart’s longterm performance.

It’s a great record so we awarded a chunkygrant and then started dialling, working closelywith DigiSmart to help them reach their £1.45million target. Fast forward and DigiSmarthas more than doubled SHINE’s grant, thanksto organisations like the Esmée FairbairnFoundation, Man Charitable Trust, PaulHamlyn Foundation and the JJ Charitable Trust.

“We are particularly interested in preventingtruancy and exclusion”, says Abigail Knipe of

Paul Hamlyn Foundation. “Lots of evidenceshows that children leaving primary schoolwith low levels of literacy tend to go on toeither truant or become excluded from school.DigiSmart has strong evidence of its impact onliteracy attainment so we were really pleasedto support its national scale-up.”

Now DigiSmart’s real work begins, because itplans to grow ve-fold in two years. But it has

never missed a target, and has invested heavilyin its digital platform, enabling administration,evaluation and much training to be conductedonline. “DigiSmart have got a very clearstrategy to manage this growth while retainingthe same level of impact”, says Abigail. “If theycan get that right – and we think they can –then that will be a signicant achievement,and will really set them up for the future.”Next step, world domination?

“This partnershipis invaluable. Itmeans we cangive the kids theabsolute bestopportunityto do well.”

“Lots of evidence shows thatchildren leaving primaryschool with low levels ofliteracy tend to go on to eithertruant or become excludedfrom school.”Abigail Knipe, Paul HamlynFoundation

10 11



Find out more about

these and otherSHINE-funded projects atwww.shinetrust.org.uk

Action Tutoring – provides personal tuitionto students unlikely to achieve a C gradein English and/or maths. It keeps costsdown through volunteer tutors, mostlyundergraduates and young professionals. Lastyear, it expanded into 15 schools, helping 200students. There were some teething problems,but on average 63% got a C grade or better inmaths, while 56% did so in English (weigheddown by the marking controversy). Steps arebeing taken to resolve some issues and it hasreceived third-party funding to expand intoManchester.

Catching Words – uses children’s love ofstories to improve their literacy. Regular sessionswith tactile materials, sounds, games andchallenges helps coax plotlines from strugglingchildren – their nal story is published andplaced in the school library. It’s noisy, lively andeffective, with average improvement last yearalmost 50% greater than normal. CatchingWords are still rening their methods and we’vemade another grant to help them continue thisvaluable work for another three years.

The Latin Programme – weekly classes inve London primary schools, combining Latin

conversation, poems, songs and drama withsome hard-core (English) grammar teachingthat complements the schools’ core curriculum.Last year, its students made huge leaps intheir Latin (surprise, surprise) and reasonableprogress in literacy. We’re looking for more,though, and we’re on the case.

That Reading Thing – where volunteersprovide one-to-one reading lessons tofunctionally illiterate teenagers, with a series ofachievements spurring students on. Readinggains improved further in the past year, withstudents on average now making almost fourtimes the normal rate of progress. Two schoolshave introduced TRT themselves; we’re alsofunding its expansion into two east Londonboroughs and piloting TRT Boost, which usessixth form volunteers.

Stepladder – targets teenagers likely tounderperform and combines Saturdayworkshops with tailored support to improve theirattitude, commitment and learning skills. Eachgroup stays with Stepladder for the two yearspreceding their GCSEs – so was it worth it?

Oh yes. All but one of its 29 students achieveda grade C or higher in English, maths andscience; half or more got A or A* grades in atleast one of these subjects; all 29 are now sixthformers. This includes Brandon, who beganStepladder while attending a Pupil Referral Unit,having been excluded from school. Nationally,

just 1% of excluded students achieve ve A*-Cgrades at GCSE: Brandon achieved this andmuch more, with A*s in maths and science.Huge congratulations and yes, we’ve fundedStepladder for another two years.

And remember those three Stepladder studentswho were off to the FA Cup? Tarah, Levi andCornelius had a fantastic day touring thestadium and going backstage. Thanks again toITV Sport and that generous SHINE supporter.

Programme Strand

SHINE on Saturdays

Serious Fun on Saturdays

Secondary Saturday Programmes

Innovation / Other

Let Teachers SHINE

2012 TOTALS

SHOW ME THE MONEY

Last year we told you about Dylan, who arrived at SHINE @ Gipsy Hill freshfrom a Pupil Referral Unit – he’d been excluded for disruptive behaviour.However, he was great with computers and a year at SHINE saw huge

improvements. We’re delighted to report that last year Dylan achievedoutstanding marks in his national Key Stage 2 maths exams – far above thelevel expected for his age. He has now left primary school but is returningas a peer mentor. Well done to Dylan and all the SHINE staff.

• In 2012, SHINE committed £2,705,974 in grants.

• Since August 2000, we have awarded 230 grants, worth £17 million.

• These have directly helped more than 57,000 children from morethan 2,000 schools, mainly in London and Manchester.

• SHINE’s trustees cover all operating costs, so every penny we receivegoes to fund current and future projects.

In 2010, 70% of teenagers on free schoolmeals left school without 5 good GCSEs(including English and maths). Only 56%of them found a job.

Almost 1 million 16-24 year oldsare currently unemployed – betterthan last year, but still more thanone in ve.

Unemployed young people feelthe effects for decades – youthunemployment depresses wagesby up to 21% even 20 years later.

• SHINE on Saturday Programmes – giving underachievers 20%extra tuition every year.

• Serious Fun on Saturday Programmes – opening top privateschools to local children.

• Secondary Saturday Programmes – helping students make thetransition from primary to secondary school, and to prepare fortheir GCSEs.

• Innovation / Other – projects that take a genuinely new approachto old problems, and those taking place after school and in theholidays that address literacy and communication skills.

• Let Teachers SHINE – fresh ideas to improve literacy and numeracyfrom the winners of this year’s competition.

• Just £250 enables Speech Bubbles to help achild with poor language skills

• With £2000 , 15 Hackney students can get thehelp they need to ace their EPQ

• £5,000 offers 40 struggling children thechance to become DigiSmart

• £15,000 will cover 20 places at Hallé SHINE onManchester next year

One nal thing

Counting it up – what we spend

In the dole-drums…

Handing it out – how we spend it

%

59.3%

6.9%

9.0%

20.6%

4.2%

100.0%

£

£1,603,600

£187,748

£244,500

£557,122

£113,004

£2,705,974

70 % 1million +20 yrs

That’s so last year…We revisit the projects featured in last year’s magazine.

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2012 was a glorious summer for British sport. Wiggo’s Tour de Francetriomphe; the Games; Andy Murray’s Grand Slam. All splendid, yetmere teasers for the main event – the Windsor Half Marathon.With 25 runners, our 2012 team was the largest ever elded. Possibly the quickest, too –particularly Stuart Hodgson and Jeroen Rombouts, who both nished in around 90 minutes.And extra kudos for Capital MSL, who not only provide us with pro-bono communicationsadvice, but also coughed up four runners, more than ever before. We hope they enjoyed the

refreshments, support and massages being doled out from our hospitality tent.What about the money? After all, running is good and worthy and all that, but it’s not exactlythe main point. Don’t worry: everybody did their bit, and then some (Anna Stupnytska raisedmore than £2,500), bringing in a very grand total of £30,000. This will help fund a new SHINEon Saturday project, giving even more children the chance to improve their own personalbests at school. Thank you to our runners – you’re gold medallists, one and all.

Until his retirement, Gus O’Donnell wasCabinet Secretary to three Prime Ministers.A rm supporter of SHINE’s work, herecently signed on as a Patron.Here’s why…

“In the past, what mattered most to economieswere things like location or information. Nowtransport costs are very low and everybody hasaccess to lots of information, so the one thingthat differentiates the quality of your people iseducation, the 21st century battleground.But it’s not just about generating GDP, it’salso about making a society successful andbeing good citizens.

“Add to that my interest in charities whichhave a strong emphasis on evaluating whethertheir work is making a real difference. SHINE

understood that this was important right fromthe start and I appreciate that they try to helppeople by looking hard at a problem andasking whether there’s a better solution, andby evaluating whether what they are doingthemselves is working.

“In the modern era, philanthropists are moredemanding, quite rightly so, and we needto be always demonstrating that we aremaking a real difference, and can prove it.Particularly in times when money is tight, wehave to be ruthless about value for moneyand demonstrating genuine impact. SHINEis helping kids to full their potential whentheir circumstances have made it hard forthis to happen; how I can help as Patron is byexplaining to people that SHINE demonstrateshow philanthropy should work.”

Olympics?What Olympics?

The Voice Of G.O’D

Platinum Supporters

Alta AdvisersHenry & Sara BedfordDavid BloodBloombergGoldman Sachs GivesMark Heffernan & Lisa EndlichMan Group Plc Charitable TrustBecky & Jimmy MayerJim & Caroline O’NeillRichard Reeve’s FoundationTDR CapitalThe Education Endowment FoundationThe Esmée Fairbairn FoundationThe Greater London AuthorityThe John Armitage Charitable TrustThe Tudor FoundationThe Walcot FoundationUS Friends of SHINE

Special thanks to:

Sarah BrownCapital MSLFreda DeereTeresa LanePaul Hamlyn FoundationThe JJ Charitable TrustTimes Educational SupplementKevin Wulwik

Gold SupportersGavin & Yaena BoyleMark & Fiona FergusonBarrie & Emmanuel RomanThe Ogden Trust

Silver Supporters

Michael De LathauwerGLG Partners LPSamos Investments LimitedThomson Reuters

Bronze Supporters

Giles AbbottLisa AndersonAnderson ConstructionJeremy ArmitageSally BagwellMaria Berglund RantenJonathan & Kate BerrymanBird & Bird LLPLiam BreslinMarcus BrowningBunbury Cricket ClubDaniel BunyardRichard CampbellJulian ChesserJohn Chocqueel-ManganSam ClacksonPaul CoatesCommunicate Research LtdRebecca CooneyAndrew CrookDavid CurtisGavin Da CunhaRhodri Davies

Amy DempseyM DhawanDiamond IncEditora GloboSam Edwards

Stephan EleftheriouMichael ElliottStephen C FitzgeraldChris FrenchJane FullerKate GilbertMillie GlennonPeter HarrisAlan HindDavid HindDoug HindTheo Hodges

Lucy HodgsonStuart HodgsonPam HolmesDiana HolthamLindsay Howard-JonesRobert InglisKarim JalladShilpa KapurCat KiplingBen KitchenerAmanda KnightPeter KnightChee Lan CheongVivek LuthraJames MadsenMagnitude Capital LLCSupriya MalhotraClaire MaloneyMarathon of Marathons Trust

Stefan MartinInigo MatasKathy MatsuiCatherine MayAlicia McGivern

Aziz McMahonDavid MelvinAndrew MerryHoward MillerMarc & Kelli MontanaroNina MucalovPhilip NewboroughNikkei The Nihon Keizai ShimbunCameron OgdenClaire O’NeillPeter O’SheaMitesh ParikhJohn PowerLila PrestonSheelagh RobinsonRichard RogersJeroen RomboutsDavid RowleyClive ShepherdElizabeth ShepherdMichael & Melanie SherwoodTed SotirAnna StupnytskaMichael StylesWon Suk YangThe Allen & Overy FoundationThe Godolphin & Latymer SchoolThe Tom ap Rhys Pryce Memorial TrustBarnaby Thompson

Leo van der LindenVector Commodities Management LLPDuncan WestonGabriela WilkinsonDebra Wood

Thank you to our supporters in 2012

Who we are Join the club…

Get in touch

TrusteesJim O’NeillDavid BloodHenry BedfordGavin BoyleMark FergusonMark HeffernanCameron OgdenDr Krutika PauNatasha Pope

Richard RothwellStephen ShieldsBridget WalshDr Caroline Whalley

StaffPaul CarburyGordon ChapmanCaroline DaviesRuth DwyerClare GilhoolyMalachy O’KeeffeSara PortwayFiona Spellman

PatronsDavid BeckhamSarah BrownGavyn DaviesSir Alex FergusonBaroness HoggLord O’DonnellSir Peter OgdenHon Angad PaulProfessor Dame Alison Richard

June SarpongDr Sushil Wadhwani

…and follow us onTwitter - @shinetrustuk

For more information about SHINEplease call Paul Carbury, Chief Executive,on 020 8393 1880 or email him [email protected]

“It was a fantastic day and despite a few aches andpains we had a great time taking part, actually finishingit and having a half marathon under our belts! ”

James Madsen

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SHINE, 1 Cheam Road, Ewell Village, Surrey KT17 1SPTelephone 020 8393 1880 Fax 020 8394 2570

Email [email protected] @shinetrustukwww.shinetrust.org.uk

Company registered in England no. 4053509.Registered charity number 1082777.

“SHINE demonstrateshow philanthropyshould work.”

Gus O’Donnell, SHINE Patron

shine supporters' magazine 2013

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