We at 2kickstartu celebrate the breath-taking diversity of human talent and its extraordinary potential for growth and development, given the right conditions under which it can flourish.

Sadly, these conditions do not always exist for all students. Educational inequality still remains a massive problem within the UK, with the percentage of Year 11 pupils on free school meals (low-income households) achieving five A* to C grades (including English and maths) falling to 28.5% (2016).

This is why we are focusing on raising funding for our Aspirations project, a project aimed at tackling the educational inequality we see every day in our local communities in Mitcham and Pollards Hill, by providing free or heavily subsidised tuition for students from eligible, low-income households.

Our project will follow on from a highly successful pilot project delivered November 2016 to April 2017, where 80% of pupils completed the pilot, with 100% achieving “expected level” in at least one SATs subjects (Math and English), and 80% achieving ‘expected level” in both subjects.

Feedback from pupils’ parents included:

“Thank you so much for running, this project, my daughter now has the confidence she needs going into the exam.”

“My son is now one of the top students in his math class! and since moving to secondary school, he completes his homework without us chasing him”. “I would like the same for my daughter who is struggling very much in math”.

“My daughter did better than expected in her SATS.” “She would really like to return next year and help other pupils on the programme.”

Our second phase will run from October 2018 to April 2019. We will work with a group of 15 of the most disadvantaged higher KS2 pupils(Yr6) from Mitcham Town who are in transition to secondary school. According to the Institute of Education, the transition from primary school to secondary school is a point in time when a person’s entire future can be decided.

The target groups will consist predominantly of students on Free School Meals but also include young people who have difficult home lives; who aren’t fulfilling their true potential; young people that have some form of disability or special education need; or who would benefit from additional learning opportunities that they otherwise would not access.

This is a school referral project and the school link teachers select students according to the above criteria. Through the pilot project, we developed close working relationships with the Mitcham Town cluster of primary schools who will support us with referrals and following-up students throughout the project.

We will offer regular after-school tuition and SATs exam preparation, delivered through a personalised learning approach. The project will inject an additional 120 hours of study for each learner. Children will be offered a library of learning techniques according to their personal learning style, preferences, and the initial academic assessment. The approach has been trialed and tested and has already shown rapid progress in key subjects.

Recent studies (Shine Trust) show that additional targeted study support creates a significant impact on children's attainment and progress. And when compared with the children in similar circumstances who do not have access to extra tuition the data shows that our students do better than their peers.

As part of the second phase, two graduates of the pilot project will be offered voluntary placements as peer mentors. They will support pupils on the project and also receive relevant training through our partnership with Merton Shine.

Once a term Youth Forums will be held; where feedback from sessions will help design the supporting curriculum and personalised learning experience to be tailored for the specific needs of your new cohort.

This project represents an opportunity to change the course of a young person’s future, providing them with the skills and support they need to truly thrive.

We at 2kickstartu thank you for your time, and we hope by reading this, we have gained an ally who will support us in supporting the next generation.