Pennywell schools to benefit from windfall to improve attendance and attainment
Six schools are in the Pennywell Fellowship
Schools in the Pennywell area are set to benefit from a £350,000 donation of cash to help boost attendance and attainment.
In September, Sunderland MP and education secretary Bridget Phillipson visited Academy 360 to launch the Pennywell Fellowship, with six school’s forming an official partnership to work collaboratively, sharing resources, expertise and common goals to “increase the academic, sporting and employment opportunities for Pennywell pupils”.
One of the key targets for the schools - Academy 360, Christ’s College, South Hylton Primary Academy, Highfield Primary School, St Anne’s Primary Academy and North View Academy - is to improve pupil attendance.
Attendance across the fellowship schools stands at 86.6%, with more than 42% of pupils persistently absent.
With attainment intrinsically linked to attendance, academic outcomes remain among the lowest nationally.
The donation of £351,115 is from SHINE Sunderland, a charitable trust which has committed to invest £11 million in schools across the city to “help improve GCSE attainment and access to future opportunities”.
The fellowship’s key aims includes improving employment and higher education opportunities, expanding sporting and co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities, and to increasing engagement with families and the local community.
The fellowship is being spearheaded by the Laidlaw Schools Trust.
Speaking about the donation, the Trust’s project lead Sarah Hammond said: “We know this could be transformational for our community. But we wouldn’t be able to move ahead and achieve the quality of what we want to achieve without this funding.
“SHINE’s funding will enable us to build something robust, that is sustainable for the long term – not just for Pennywell, but something that could ultimately benefit other communities too.
“Most civic organisations: the police, public health, children’s services, schools, businesses and the volunteer sector, are working towards the same social value missions and goals.
“But we’ve been doing it in silos. It makes sense that we pool, not only financial resources, but also our different expertise, experiences and lens' on possible solutions.”
A Community Connector will be appointed to support the implementation and embedding of the plan whilst Together for Children are supporting the fellowship to recruit and train a group of Family Champions – trusted community members who will act as bridges between schools and families.
Sarah added: “We’ve identified key influencers in the community, parents who other parents trust.
“When someone they recognise and trust says, ‘I’ll go with you to that group’ or, ‘this support is for you’, that’s powerful. If we can build a strong network of Family Champions, that could be transformative.”