25/05/2021
Impetus launches £3m 'Engage Fund' to tackle school exclusions
New partnership with The Henry Smith Charity to back charities tackling school exclusions
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Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are five times as likely to get a permanent exclusion as their better-off peers. Only 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, excluded pupils are more likely to become unemployed and are over-represented in the criminal justice system.
Over the course of five years, The Henry Smith Charity and Impetus will provide £4.3 million of funding and support to selected innovative organisations pioneering high-quality interventions to tackle school exclusions and create more inclusive schools. 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 to succeed in work and life.
We have formed a coalition called ‘Who’s Losing Learning? which aims to reveal the extent of post-pandemic lost learning and its disproportionate impact on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the run up to a General Election. The Coalition is made up of organisations like Impetus, think tank IPPR and our charity partner The Difference. Together we will conduct new analysis and policy development to tackle this urgent social justice problem.
Learn more about the charity partners we’re working with:
The Difference
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.
Olive Academies
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
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.
If you’d like to know more or partner with us on the Engage Fund please contact philanthropy@impetus.org.uk.
