The LEAF Academy Trust (Manston St James, Rothwell CE Primary and David Young Community Academies) has received £12,000 from the National Society's 'Unlocking Gifts Project' to provide additional resources to enhance the life chances of the most disadvantaged children.
The National Society described it as "one of the strongest bids in the country." Mark Edwards, Pr
incipal of Manston St James CE Primary Academy, says, "Our bid was ‘Raising achievement through parental, academic and self-esteem support’. We identify pupils classed as vulnerable and falling behind their peers and implement a programme of support to accelerate progress, which includes:
* Improving self-esteem with the input of a skilled learning mentor.
* Personalised academic support by a qualified teacher.
* Helping the parent(s) to support their child's self-esteem and academic progress.
"We now have the money to do some things a bit differently such as ensuring families have paid-for child care so they can engage fully with the project. And we'll be able to organise first hand experiences through visits and engaging inspiring role models. We will be working with Year 5, 6 and 7 pupils across the three schools".
Awarding the grant, Mrs Nicola Sylvester, Deputy General Secretary of the National Society’s Schools’ Strategy Team, said: “The panel felt that the evidence base for the project was very convincing along with the very thorough investigation into the causes and symptoms of economic disadvantage on attainment."
Mark adds, "Our fundamental principle for engaging with any project is our emphasis upon Love, Enterprise, Aspiration and Faith (LEAF) - we have a real emphasis upon developing Christian values so that they become internalised and acted out daily by our pupils.
"We're grateful to the Diocesan Education Team for their support with this bid".