Flying High

SHINE grants provide funding to school-led projects of two to three years’ duration, which provide innovative solutions to the education challenges experienced by children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. SHINE grants support projects that can be evaluated for their impact on the educational attainment of disadvantaged children.

We provide funding to help schools, charities and other organisations to develop projects that can build on the evidence of what works in supporting children and parents during this phase. We’re committed to sharing our learning with like-minded organisations so that, together, we can help high achievers to excel at secondary school and beyond.

Flying High: Evidence shows that children from low income homes who are high attaining at the end of primary school can struggle to attain the top grades at GCSE, despite having the academic potential to do so. Through our Flying High fund we are interested in supporting projects that recognise and nurture the academic potential of these students and support them to achieve the very best grades during KS3, which will ultimately prepare them for study at GCSE and beyond. Under these transition themes, SHINE wishes to support applications that: -support improved academic progress in maths, English and/or science in Years 7 and 8. -involve collaborations between primary and secondary school teachers, to promote curriculum and pedagogical continuity. -improve information and practice sharing between primary and secondary schools. -support schools to develop more inclusive practices for children during the transition from Key Stage 2 to 3, to help reduce exclusions and promote better academic progress during this phase. -improve the strength of partnership between schools and parents in the first few years of secondary school and draw on the available evidence of what works to support children in the transition from Key Stage 2 to 3.

We fund projects that: -Build achievement in maths, English and/or science in the first few years of secondary school. -Establish better ongoing communication between primary and secondary school teachers and making sure that primary teachers work with secondary teachers to help them identify the most able students. -Assign imaginative school and homework that challenges children and helps them to maintain pace in their learning. -Make sure that schools engage parents and carers as equal partners in their child’s learning during the move from primary to secondary school. -Improve information and practice sharing between primary and secondary schools.

We’re a ‘hands-on’ funder and we’re happy to advise and support you as you develop your proposal. Our deadlines for applications are usually around the end of January, the end of April and the end of October each year. Successful applicants have generally been in contact with SHINE for at least one to two months before these deadlines.

The normal range of SHINE grant funding for the full duration of a two- to three-year project is around £20,000-£100,000. Projects that are new, or being piloted/tested for impact, or that impact on smaller numbers of students, will be funded at the lower end of this range, whereas projects with a stronger evidence base and that reach a greater number of beneficiaries will be considered at the higher end of this range. SHINE can also award grants for over £100,000, in some circumstances. Such projects usually have a strong evidence base, a history of improving attainment for disadvantaged children, and will have the potential to have an impact on a larger number of schools, students or other beneficiaries.

All proposals must:

• be led by a school, early years setting, Multi Academy Trust (MAT) or informal cluster of schools.
• meet our core funding priorities (Ready for School, Bridging the Gap or Flying High).
• target children, schools and/or teachers within the North of England (the North East, North West or Yorkshire & Humber regions).
• target children from low income homes: we use Pupil Premium eligibility as a general indicator of economic disadvantage.
• focus on raising academic achievement levels in core subjects (English, maths and science).
• demonstrate some innovation over what is currently practiced – applicants need to show how their idea is different, or an improvement on what is currently practiced.
• be a sustained intervention (rather than a ‘one off’) which can show potential improvements in educational outcomes over time.
• be cost effective and offer value for money.
• have the potential to achieve measurable impact.
• have a realistic plan for sustainability after the funding ends.
• can grow, scale or be replicated into other environments if successful.

We will look favourably on applications for projects that:

• have some match funding in place, this could be ‘in kind’ funding from your establishment
• work in collaboration with other schools or networks in your locality
• have a clear plan for scaling or replication
• have a clear plan for monitoring or evaluation (particularly a Theory of Change).

We do not fund:

• programmes that take place outside the North of England.
• short-term or one-off projects.
• projects that don’t link to attainment and cannot be measured for impact.
• bursaries or any kind of student fees.
• direct replacement of statutory funding.
• capital build programmes for schools or other education institutions, including gardens, libraries, vehicles or school/area refurbishments.

If you are outside the North of England but have a passion to support disadvantaged children in the North, we recommend you look at our alternative funding stream, our Let Teachers SHINE competition, which is run annually and offers grants to individual teachers working anywhere in England.

As well as funding, SHINE offers our grantees ongoing support with evaluation and adaptation to local contexts, as well as opportunities to work with our other funded projects and collaborate in a network of best practice and educational change across the North of England.