Education charity SHINE (Support and Help in Education) is launching its annual Let Teachers SHINE competition with support from Capita SIMS. Teachers across the country are invited to submit their ideas for raising the achievement of disadvantaged children and ten grants will be awarded to help successful applicants develop their individual projects.

The competition is open to teachers in England from Friday 26 February to Sunday 17 April 2016. Grants of up to £15,000 will be awarded in June 2016, and projects deemed to have the most impact on pupils will also have the opportunity to receive additional funding to roll their scheme out to other schools.

Previous winners have included Amanda Poole, who is raising the aspirations of children through her Space Camp project and Colin Hegarty, founder of Hegarty Maths and a finalist for this year’s Global Teacher Prize worth $1 million. SHINE has been supporting Colin since 2012 to realise his vision to help GCSE students with their maths exams. To date, he has produced over 1,000 revision videos to help children pass their exams.

Phil Neal, director at Capita SIMS, says: “We are proud to be working alongside the fantastic team at SHINE for the third year running. Over the past 16 years, the charity has helped more than 140,000 children from over 5,000 schools – a phenomenal achievement that we are happy to support. I continue to be humbled by the breadth of the ideas submitted to the Let Teachers SHINE competition and the determination of teachers to do all they can to ensure every child succeeds.

“The competition is testament to the power of an idea born out of the classroom to address the attainment gap. If you are a teacher that thinks you have the makings of a great project to help disadvantaged children, I urge you to enter.”

Bruno Reddy’s Times Tables Rock Stars project was awarded funding in 2014 and has since grown from strength to strength. “To date, Times Tables Rock Stars has raised the ability and confidence of more than 300,000 pupils,” remarks Bruno. “Emails from parents and teachers tell us how happy they are to see their children excited and empowered by maths, simply from mastering their times tables. Thanks to the Let Teachers SHINE competition, Times Tables Rock Stars is now on the right path to becoming a sustainable social enterprise. We also have ambitions to grow internationally.”

Paul Carbury, CEO of SHINE, says: “We are committed to changing the lives of disadvantaged children. Every child deserves the right to fulfil their potential in the classroom – and beyond. With the help of Capita SIMS, the Let Teachers SHINE competition will continue to provide opportunities for many more children to succeed.”

Teachers entering the Let Teachers SHINE competition must demonstrate that their idea will help disadvantaged children by raising attainment in English, maths or science.

For more information, please visit www.capita-sims.co.uk/shine-4

Notes for editors:

• The competition is only open to those who teach in England.
• The competition is also being supported by the TES.

ENDS

Ref: CAP1729

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About Capita SIMS:

Capita SIMS is the leading supplier of information systems to the education sector, providing a range of software and services to schools and local authorities to help raise standards and reduce administration. Capita’s SIMS is the most popular management information system for schools and is used every day by more than 22,000 educational establishments in the UK.

Website: www.capita-sims.co.uk

Twitter: @CapitaSIMS

About SHINE (Support and Help in Education):

SHINE funds and develops additional educational initiatives which encourage underachieving children and young people to raise their academic attainment levels. SHINE works in partnership with primary and secondary state schools, the independent sector and world class universities to develop innovative projects.

Since August 2000, SHINE have committed £22.6 million to projects helping more than 140,000 children from over 5,000 schools. SHINE rigorously monitor and evaluate the projects funded to ensure that they make a sustained and positive difference to the young lives they help.

Website: www.shinetrust.org.uk

Twitter: @shinetrustuk