Innovation Award Winner - PLACE to page and practice
In Autumn 2024, Tees Valley Education Multi Academy Trust were honoured to receive the Fair Education Alliance Innovation Award. Our initiative, PLACE (People, Learning and Community Engagement), is embedding place-based approaches, helping us better understand and tackle inequality in the Tees Valley, particularly child poverty.
Child poverty casts a long shadow across the entire UK, but in the North East, it is particularly pervasive. A staggering 89% of constituencies in the region have at least one in four children living in poverty. In Teesside alone, over 50,000 children are growing up in deep poverty, and they are the households we know about.
A key takeaway from the FEA Summit last year was the mantra "no egos, no silos," reinforcing the need for partnership and collective action. Alongside this came another challenge: educational inequality cannot be addressed through education alone. Schools play a vital role in communities, but they are part of the solution, not the solution. To drive system change, organisations and leaders must move beyond competition, personal agendas, and working in isolation.
PLACE is our response to some of these challenges. By developing community-based, sustainable solutions, we aim to tackle the root causes of child poverty.
Bespoke professional development for schools, equipping educators to better understand and address the complex realities of child poverty.
Establishing community hubs in Teesside, designed to listen and respond to local needs through grassroots involvement.
Developing our community magazine, co-created by children and families, which seeks to support families and children in navigating local issues and the cost-of-living crisis.
Expanding our ‘classroom to careers’ programme in collaboration with local industry leaders, bridging the gap between education and employment opportunities.
Our ultimate goal is to foster long-term, authentic change within our communities.
The ongoing support from FEA and Bloomberg has been invaluable in shaping our understanding of local disparities and refining our theory of change. But this learning is not passive, it grows through active engagement with the FEA network.
A tangible outcome of the collaborative ethos fostered by the Fair Education Alliance is our upcoming book, Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools, co-authored by myself and others. Launching on 13 March, it offers research, case studies, and practical strategies for educators navigating the complexity of inequality. It features contributions from organisations across the UK, including FEA members such as the Centre for Young Lives, the Chartered College of Teaching, and SHINE. This blog provides a behind-the-scenes look at the book and what to expect, including insights from those working in and alongside schools.
Since receiving the Innovation Award, our journey has reinforced the imperative value of collaboration in leveraging change, and we look forward to continuing our learning alongside the other award winners over the next few months.
Sean Harris
Director of PLACE and Innovation Award winner
The Fair Education Alliance (FEA) Innovation Award, supported by Bloomberg, nurtures new ideas from the public and FEA Members to tackle the root causes of educational inequality in England.