May 2012

The know zone

  • Anti-Social Media
    With the use of social network sites becoming a daily ritual for the vast majority of us, Richard Bird explains why personal photographs, inappropriate comments and hackers are still causing problems for staff in schools and colleges. More
  • Tough love
    Jo Shuter CBE is headteacher of Quintin Kynaston School, a community academy in London. She co-founded QK House, a charity for homeless sixth formers at the school. More
  • Great rewards
    The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) offers grants to help schools support the most disadvantaged children. More
  • A partnership to support school improvement
    Capita SIMS has renewed its partnership with ASCL for the next three years, meaning that members will continue to have access to great deals on SIMS support. More
  • Same difference?
    Now that the DfE has published the final list of vocational equivalencies, is it a step backwards, a step too far or just right? More importantly, what effect will it have on curriculum pathways or options in schools and colleges? ASCL members share their views. More
  • Leaders' surgery
    Advice on careers advisers and School behaviour policies More
  • Decisive deliberations
    As the March Council meeting took place a few weeks before ASCL Annual Conference 2012, government messages about the education system, as well as recently announced proposals to change school inspection, were high on the agenda. More
  • A brighter forecast?
    In his speech to delegates at ASCL’s Annual Conference in March, Brian Lightman challenged members not to be sucked into the splenetic tornado of negativity coming from some corners of government and the media. In this excerpt from his speech, he lays down the challenge. More
  • You can’t win...
    Leading a school is nothing compared to coaching an under 8s football team, although the similarities are striking. More
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The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) offers grants to help schools support the most disadvantaged children.

Great rewards

What does the organisation do?

EEF is an independent grant-making charity dedicated to raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in English primary and secondary schools. It challenges educational disadvantage by sharing evidence and finding out what works. It was established by a Department for Education endowment of £125m and founded by the Sutton Trust as lead charity in partnership with Impetus Trust. Its chairman is philanthropist Sir Peter Lampl.

Where do the grants go?

EEF provides funding for specific projects which seek to expand the evidence base of what works. In its first full round of grants in February 2012, EEF awarded £3.2m to six innovative school projects with school, charities and universities among the recipients. Examples include a project which uses animation as a means of engaging parents in children’s learning, another which explores how to deploy teaching assistants more effectively, and a professional development programme for under-performing schools.

What specific resources does it provide to schools?

It provides schools with information about what works via a Pupil Premium toolkit which is available on the website at http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/ The toolkit enables teachers to compare a wide variety of approaches and interventions in terms of their cost, their likely impact on attainment, and how strong the evidence supporting each approach is.

“We want to support teachers and schools by providing them with clear, independent information about what has been proven to work to increase the attainment of pupils,” says EEF Chief Executive Kevan Collins.

How does EEF measure success?

All of the projects it funds will be “rigorously evaluated by independent evaluators from major educational research institutions,” says an EEF spokesman.

What events are planned for this year?

EEF runs three grant rounds a year, the next of which closes on 1 June. Individual schools, clusters of schools, registered charities, not-for-profit organisations, local authorities, teacher groups, universities, colleges, academy chains, mutuals, co-operatives, or any combination of these can apply.

A conference is planned for October which will offer opportunities to learn about which approaches have been proven to raise the attainment of disadvantaged children, as well as about applying for funding.

Further information

To find out more about the EEF, visit the website www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk or email info@eefoundation.org.uk

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