posted by Pauline Stephen, Head of Service, Schools and Learning
Grants to Help Schools Celebrate National Science and Engineering Week (UK)
To help celebrate National Science and Engineering week, the British Science Association has joined up with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, to offer grants of up to £700 to eligible schools in the UK.
In addition, schools will have access to a wide range of free resources, activity ideas and ‘how-to’ guides. Schools can use the grant to fund a wide range of activity, including starting a Stem Club; booking a science presenter; organising a memorable science fair; purchasing resources for cross-curricular activities; and taking a class on a trip; etc.
To be eligible, schools must have either a high proportion of pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds (over 30%); have a high proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium; and/or be a small school in a remote and rural location.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on the 21st November 2016.
https://www.britishscienceweek.org/about-us/grants/kick-start-grant-scheme/
Lord Taverners Minibuses Grant Programme (UK)
The Lords Taverners, the UK’s leading youth cricket and disability sports charity, has announced that it will re-open its Minibuses grants programme on the 1st December 2016. Applications will be accepted from schools/ organisations that cater for young people under the age of 25 who have a physical/ sensory/ learning disability. Please note that the Lords Taverners are unable to support schools that cater for socially disadvantaged children, or mainstream schools for children with behavioural problems.
Last year the Lords Taverners, delivered 32 specially-adapted, wheelchair-accessible minibuses to schools, clubs and youth organisations across the UK. These vehicles give young people with disabilities access to new places and experiences. Examples of schools and organisations that received funding include: the Bendrigg Trust which will help to better enable their young people to benefit from residential trips and other adventures in and around Cumbria; Yeoman Park School in the East Midlands; and Mont a l’Abbe School which provides a broad and balanced education for children with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties aged 3-19, whose needs cannot be met within a mainstream setting in Jersey.
Lord’s Taverners minibuses are based on the current Ford Transit model, with a diesel engine. The average cost to the charity of an accessible minibus is £52,500.
The closing date for applications will be the 28th February 2017.
http://www.lordstaverners.org/minibuses
Generation Green – Smart Power Competition (England, Wales and Scotland)
School pupils now have the opportunity to take part in the Smarter Power Competition which is being run by British Gas.
Pupils will learn about the importance of saving energy, what smart technology is and how it can help save people energy, what smart meters do and their benefits and then apply their learning to draw a comic strip of their energy saving day using a smart energy monitor. One national winner will receive a £50,000 energy makeover for their school and a trip to the science museum. Two runners up will receive a £25,000 energy makeover for their school and eleven regional winners will receive an Einstein+ tablet for their school, an iPad and a Wilbur toy.
The closing date for competition entries is 5pm on the 12th January 2017.
http://www.generationgreen.co.uk/teachers/resource/smarter-power-competition
One Stop Shop Carriers for Causes Grants (England, Scotland & Wales)
Schools as well as other local organisations can apply for grants of up to £1,000 through Carriers for Causes grants programme. The Carriers for Causes grants programme is funded through the money raised from the 5p bag charge in One Stop stores.
The types of projects funded is very broad and could include organising a sports events; purchasing items to run a project such as specialised football/cricket /netball kit, arts and craft materials for a workshop, kitchen equipment for a healthy eating project; improvements to community buildings such as painting, refurbishing buildings such as hospices, scout or guide huts, school building, community centres; and improvements to external spaces such as schools gardens, disabled access projects and food growing projects; etc.
Schools that have recently received funding include:
- Friends of St Pauls School in Yorkshire – Funding allowed the school to run a school trip to the cinema to celebrate World book Day. Funding also allowed the school to invite two Olympic athletes to the school to talk about mindfulness.
- Clifton All Saints Academy – Funding provided electronic tablets for children to use across the school for a variety of activities. This will benefit children with writing, spelling and memory processing difficulties by providing access to apps that target these skills areas.
To be eligible to apply the schools needs to be within two miles of a One Stop Shop. Carriers for Causes is a rolling programme and schools can apply for funding at any time. Applications are shortlisted on a quarterly basis for panel decision which will take place every three months. Applicants will generally know the outcome of their application within 16 weeks of applying.
http://www.groundwork.org.uk/Pages/Category/carriers-for-causes-uk
Funding for School Environmental and Conservationist Projects (UK)
Schools can apply for funding to support environmental and conservationist projects to the Naturesave Trust. The Naturesave Trust is supported by Naturesave Limited, an ethical insurance company which invests 10% of personal insurance premiums into the Naturesave Trust. The funding is available to support specific projects.
For example, Pilling St John’s Primary School received funding towards the installation of a wind turbine at the school, providing energy and income to the school; Fitzmaurice Primary School received funding to install solar panels on the roof; Great Oaks School received funding to create a wildlife pond and meadow; and St Wilfrids RC Primary School received funding towards setting up a Bee Club.
There are no deadlines for applications, and no limits on the number of applications that can be made. The Trustees aim to make a decision on application within six to eight weeks of receipt of a completed application form.
http://www.naturesave.co.uk/the-naturesave-trust/
Training and Funding for Breakfast Clubs (UK)
Kellogg’s, Forever Manchester and Northumbria University have joined together to provide free online training to help run successful breakfast clubs. The training includes information on the benefits of breakfast clubs, healthy eating and child nutrition, effective planning and handy hints on funding and marketing. Breakfast Clubs can apply for this training up until 31st May 2017.
Breakfast clubs who have successfully completed the training will be eligible to be assessed for further support from Kellogg’s, in the form of a sustainability grant to the value of £1,000. To be eligible your breakfast club must be already set up in a school or community organisation in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Priority will be given to schools that have 35% and above of children eligible for free school meals and community based breakfast clubs that can evidence how their children are disadvantaged.
Schools that now have a breakfast club include:
- Atherton St George’s C.E. Primary School, Greater Manchester – Since they started the Breakfast Club, not only has attendance risen by 4%, and SAT results improved, but we have moved from the bottom of the area’s school league table to somewhere in the middle.
- Ysgol Y Faenol Primary School, Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire; and
- Beechgrove Primary School, Middlesbrough.
http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/en_GB/whatwebelieve/breakfastsforbetterdays/supportforbreakfastclubs.html
UK-German Connection: Flexible Funding Scheme (UK)
Schools and youth groups in the UK can apply for grants of between £500 and £5,000 to bring young people of the UK and Germany together to facilitate an exchange of ideas, joint learning and open discussions on special topics and current issues. Projects must address specific themes. The current themes under the flexible funding scheme are World War I; and Our future in Europe – maintaining the UK-German connection.
To be eligible for funding, activities must be:
- joint and bilateral [UK-German], with a high level of relevant interaction between the young people;
- the young people actively engage in an educational learning and thinking process, including discussion, debate and reflection; and
- the activity has a strong wider impact, and the young people take an active role in this.
For example, Mildenhall College Academy, Suffolk, and Gymnasium Theodoranium, Paderborn took part in an exchange project that looked at the cultural importance of the Christmas Truce 1914.
Applications can be submitted at any time, however proposed project activities cannot start until at least six weeks after the application has been submitted.
Sutton Trust Summer School Programme (UK)
The Sutton Trust has announced that its Summer Schools programme will re-open for application in January 2017.The Sutton Trust summer schools programme provides year students from non-privileged backgrounds with an opportunity to taste student life. During previous application rounds, the programme will provide an opportunity to over 1700 students to experience student life at the universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial, King’s College, Nottingham, St Andrews, and UCL. All expenses are met by the Trust and participating universities.
To apply, applicants must be in Year 12 or equivalent (eg S5 in Scotland) and attend a state school or college with a low overall A-Level, Higher/Advanced Higher (or equivalent) point score and/or schools or colleges with low progression rates to higher education. In addition, applicants need to come from neighbourhoods with low overall progression rates to higher education or high levels of socio economic deprivation.
http://www.suttontrust.com/programmes/summer-schools/uk-summer-school-2/uk-summer-schools/
Gas Community Energy Fund Opens for Applications (England & Scotland)
IGas Energy Plc is one of the UK’s leading onshore hydrocarbon producers has announced that its Community Energy Fund has opened for applications. Over the past eight years IGas has allocated some £700,000 worth of grants to help local communities located close to the oil and gas production and exploration sites where they operate.
The fund covers specific areas of Hampshire; Surrey; West Sussex; Lincolnshire; Nottinghamshire; Leicestershire; Cheshire; Greater Manchester and Caithness. IGas support projects that make a difference to life in the mainly rural communities where they operate.
Organisations that are eligible to apply include community and voluntary organisations that are charitable, educational or benevolent in purpose; as well as local schools. Applicants will need to demonstrate need for their project, real community benefits and value for money.
Projects funded in the past range from a primary school in West Sussex that engaged pupils to help elderly neighbours with their computers, to a project in the north of Scotland training unemployed people in building skills to support community groups and organisations. Money has also been allocated to several rural villages to buy potentially life-saving defibrillators.
The closing date for applications is the 31st January 2017. Applicants need to register their interest before applying.
http://www.igascommunityfund.co.uk/projects.html
Strategic Partnership in the Field of Education, Training and Youth (UK)
Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. One part of this programme is the Strategic Partnerships in the Field of Education, Training and Youth. Strategic partnerships are transnational projects designed to develop and share innovative practices and promote cooperation, peer learning and exchanges of experiences in the fields of education, training and youth.
Applications for this programme must be led by a public, private, or non-governmental organisations based in a programme country, and involve at least three organisations from different programme countries. Projects can undertake a broad range of activities and there are also opportunities for pupils, students, learners, and staff to learn, be trained, or to teach abroad. Grants for projects are capped at € 150,000 per year.
The closing date for the current call for applications is the 29th March 2017.
The Bulldog Trust Announces New Funding and Support Programme (UK)
The Bulldog Trust has announced that the Temple Place Partnership will be launched early in 2017. The partnership programme will run between 2017 and 2020 and will provide strategic support and up to £10million of funding to develop, scale or improve the sustainability of the highest quality social impact organisations enabling them to reach their full potential. Over this period the programme will work in collaboration with carefully selected members of the business community with the aim of empowering 420 dynamic small charities to access longer term funding streams and social investment.
Previous projects supported include:
- Hartsbrook E-ACT Free School which received funding to run specialised English language classes for pupils who do not speak English or have English as their second language; and
- The Big House Theatre Company which received funding to support young care leavers by using theatre to provide a structured environment to support their development in the complex transition from looked-after child to independent member of the community.
The partnership will run three funding rounds per year in line with the academic calendar; further details will be announced shortly.
http://bulldogtrust.org/grant-making/
Award for Supporting Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Higher and Secondary Education (UK)
The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) has announced that it is seeking applications through The Ray Y. Gildea Jr Award. The Ray Y. Gildea Jr Award is the society’s first endowed award to support innovation in teaching and learning in both higher and secondary education. RGS offers a single annually grant of £1,000. Applications can be made for projects to research, develop and/or pilot innovations in teaching and learning in any field of geography in higher or secondary education.
Previous winners have included:
- Nicola Rowland (John of Gaunt School, Wiltshire) – ‘A virtual journey across Greenland’. The purpose of the expedition was to send four teachers of different disciplines to carry out scientific experiments, in the harshest of polar conditions, with the aim of encouraging and inspiring their students by creating material and resources that meets the needs of the National Curriculum.
- Ruth Hollinger (Tapton School, Sheffield) – ‘A virtual fieldtrip to discover Union Glacier in Antarctica’ To mark the 50th anniversary of the first crossing of Antarctica, four geography and science teachers travelled to the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica to conduct scientific research.
The applications deadline is the 30th November 2016.
http://www.rgs.org/OURWORK/GRANTS/TEACHING/RAY+Y.+GILDEA+JR+AWARD.HTM
In the mornings, the pupils went to observe and contribute to the running of the places and in the afternoons, they were involved in a range of activities such as social interactions with pupils from other secondary schools or Spanish lessons.
