Welcome to
INSIGHTS
Issue one | October 2022
Our first in a series of regular updates about the work of our team.
Existing investments of over £3.5m have seen us launch a STEM and Digital engagement programme helping 30,000 pupils; an Apprenticeships Hub to connect 4,700 of our young people to apprenticeships; and allocate funding towards a Newcastle United Futures programme to better prepare 10,000 disengaged young people for employment every year.
In addition, we have allocated £1,855,000 to pilot two innovative programmes focusing on education and child poverty prevention, to contribute to breaking down persistent inequalities.
Both programmes have been designed collaboratively with over 250 stakeholders from across the region, expanding on existing, evidence-based priorities and responding to new and urgent needs resulting from the covid-19 and cost of living crises.
It’s great to see these investments and commitments coming to life. We now have a total of 173 different schools (across all phases) engaged in our programmes in North of Tyne, and we aim to increase that number as our work progresses. We will deliver support to these schools throughout the 2022-23 academic year, completing all work by August 2023.
There’s more information below about some of these programmes – please do get in touch if you are interested in any element of our work.
Adrian Dougherty
Head of Education Improvement
E: Adrian.dougherty@northoftyne-ca.uk
Tel: 0191 277 4726 | Mob: 07866173395
The North of Tyne Combined Authority Team
Left to right: Jade Coulson, Programme Officer; Andrew Garrad FRSA, Senior Programme Manager, Education Improvement; Joanna (Jo) Unthank, Senior Programme Manager (Child Poverty Prevention) and Adrian Dougherty, Head of Education Improvement
The team in profile
Jade’s role: Programme Officer
Responsible for: Supporting the Child Poverty Prevention Programme and Education Improvement Programme.
Past experience: Jade worked at Northumberland County Council for five years supporting senior leaders working with schools, stakeholders and the voluntary sector.
Andrew’s role: Senior Programme Manager, Education Improvement
Responsible for: Supporting his passion for creating innovative projects and programmes that can improve outcomes for children and young people across NTCA.
Past experience: Over 15 years of developing and managing regional and national programmes in schools, with interests in teacher and school leader development, mental health, cultural and creative teaching and learning, and youth voice.
Jo’s role: Senior Programme Manager (Child Poverty Prevention Programme)
Responsible for: Focusing on how NTCA can play its part to improve opportunities and outcomes for the most disadvantaged children and young people in our region.
Past experience: She has worked in schools, the voluntary-sector and the private sector with children, families, residents and staff, managing delivery of complex programmes of work with multiple stakeholders; Jo has an interest in SEND, mental health and wellbeing and all that plays into inclusion for all children and young people.
Adrian’s role: Head of Education Improvement
Responsible for: Ensuring that his team successfully delivers on the programmes it is undertaking to improve the outcomes and life chances of children in our region and developing a strategy for future interventions
Past experience: Following a decade in the classroom, Adrian has worked at a national and regional level to support teachers, leaders and schools. He is particularly passionate about addressing regional disparity and socio-economic inequality for our young people.
How we are working to close the gap for disadvantaged children across the region
We know that children in the North East faced huge disruptions caused by the pandemic. The recent exam results are showing a widening gap between the North and South of the country, with evidence telling us that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are being disproportionately affected.
And we know that child poverty rates were rising even before the pandemic across the North of Tyne area. Consequently, some of the challenges and issues we face have now intensified.
We have therefore worked with colleagues from across the local education landscape to create an innovative programme that is fit for purpose and will help us to meet the needs of our school communities, whilst remaining flexible to adapt to an ever-changing list of challenges.
To date, these activities include:
Inspire Programme
We are proud to have launched our ‘Inspire’ Programme, providing grants to help 12 schools to focus on and address an identified issue or need. We wanted ideas to be school-led; teachers and school leaders know what issues are affecting their school community far more than we do, and the response has been phenomenal.
We have welcomed a broad range of ideas from schools, including projects designed to improve literacy outcomes, projects focusing on oracy, supporting outdoor learning and forest school, developing cultural capital, improving mental health and wellbeing, and re-engaging with families.
Literacy
Improving literacy outcomes has become a golden thread throughout the programme. We have worked with Launchpad for Literacy, an approach to literacy readiness for all children within the Early Years and beyond, to provide toolkits and support to over 100 schools across Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle. This part of our programme was launched via an online conference in July to 50 Early Years practitioners.
Supporting School Leaders
Supporting school leaders and the existing school improvement system are key priorities for us. We have worked in partnership with Newcastle Research School and Education North Tyneside to bring together a cohort of Headteachers and Deputies from across North of Tyne for peer learning in our ‘Linking Leaders’ programme, and this will continue into the next academic year with two new cohorts. We have also convened 36 heads, multi-academy trust leaders and local authority school improvement colleagues to become accredited through the Association of Education Advisers, enhancing the capabilities of the local school support system and connecting our education advisers to an international network of best practice.
The AoEA Associate Briefing, North of Tyne Combined Authority Cohort, held on the 13th September. Adrian provides an introduction to NTCA.
Andrew shares details of NTCA’s Education Improvement Programme
Careers
Work will soon begin on two strands of work in partnership with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership. The first will see three Secondary Schools and their feeder Primary/First Schools work together on a careers-focused transition project, and the second will involve ten schools working on a project to support Secondary and Middle school curriculum leaders and teachers across North of the Tyne to engage effectively with local employers, empowering young people at Key Stage 3 with the knowledge and understanding to make informed decisions including progression to level 3 STEM subjects with a focus on physics.
School Mental Health Award
Another key part of our programme will be the launch of a fully funded schools mental health award later this year.
This will be open for all schools to access across North of Tyne, providing them with a development framework to improve their mental health and wellbeing provision and celebrate their successes. We will be inviting schools to sign up for this soon, with an in-person launch event happening after October half term, so watch this space!
Other things to look out for include research and publication of a range of case studies and supporting materials designed to help schools with their blended learning curriculum, and a pilot project to improve the transition of children between Early Years and Reception.
If you’re interested in finding out more and would like to sign up for the school Mental Health Award, please contact:
Andrew Garrad
Senior Programme Manager, Education Improvement
E: andrew.garrad@northoftyne-ca.gov.uk
Tel: 0191 277 4726
Our Child Poverty Prevention Programme
As Senior Programme Manager for North of Tyne’s Child Poverty Prevention Programme, I am responsible for delivery of the programme and developing our knowledge, understanding and strategic partnerships, to allow us to contribute to breaking down persistent inequalities for young people across the North of Tyne.
As you will all be aware, the North East now has the highest prevalence of child poverty of any English region at 38%. Over 70% of those children are in working families and I know many of you will be living and breathing the challenges for these families on a daily basis.
The structure of the Child Poverty Prevention Programme is such that it aims to build on the established work of local authorities by extending good practice and enabling additional activity which would otherwise not occur, to address the causes and symptoms of child poverty across the North of Tyne, thus providing evidence of how social and economic resilience work together to improve productivity within areas.
In consultation with partners, the programme was developed in late 2021 comprising three pillars of work:
Pillar 1:
Funding an innovative programme of poverty interventions in schools across the North of Tyne
Pillar 2:
Welfare support through the school gate
Pillar 3:
Working with employers to tackle child poverty
We now have a total of 70 schools participating in the programme and we will deliver support to these schools throughout the 2022-23 academic year, completing all work by August 2023.
We are seeking further schools in North Tyneside to join the programme, so please get in touch if you would like more information.
All of these schools are able to choose from a menu of poverty interventions through pillar 1 of the programme – from family learning, to Poverty Proofing© audits, to afterschool provision or bespoke grant funded activity. Thirty schools (10 from each LA) will also be provided with welfare support, with focused work helping employers to develop anti-poverty strategies being targeted towards key employers in these school communities.
Please contact me for further information on the programme or to discuss support for children and families experiencing financial hardship.
Joanna Unthank
Senior Programme Manager
(Child Poverty Prevention Programme)
E: Joanna.Unthank@northoftyne-ca.gov.uk
Mob: 07812 995520
Coming Up
We have a range of new activities coming up, so watch this space!
Multiply
Multiply is the new national programme focused on improving adult numeracy skills. In response to regional need, our Multiply programme for North of Tyne will focus on three delivery themes: community engagement; family learning; and numeracy skills for the workplace.
Aspects of this programme which will be accessible to schools will be: family learning, which will comprise courses designed to help people use numeracy to manage their money and skills for parents. This is a 3-year programme with delivery starting in North of Tyne in November 2022.
The Mayor’s Climate Change Challenge
We have worked with Newcastle University, Ubisoft and Bring It On to engage with pupils to create innovative ways to tackle climate change. Hear from the pioneering pupils involved in the project and there’s an opportunity to hear from The Mayor too, on Wednesday 9th November at 5pm at the Urban Science Building, Newcastle Helix.
Now is the time to find out how your school can get involved in the next round of the project. To attend the screening, please confirm with jade.coulson@northoftyne-ca.gov.uk before Friday 4th November.