Literacy hubs to be created across city after £450k investment from SHINE Sunderland
New city-wide literacy initiative to be led by the Northern Education Trust (NET)
News
SHINE: Support and Help IN Education
Every child deserves the best start in life.
SHINE gives children brighter futures by unlocking barriers to learning.
We support children and young people in hundreds of schools across the North West, North East and Yorkshire & Humber.
We focus on areas of deprivation where we have the biggest opportunity to make a positive difference to children’s lives.
Innovation
SHINE identifies, evaluates, and scales up the most promising educational ideas.
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Philanthropy
SHINE connects donors with teachers to create new opportunities for disadvantaged children.
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Insight
SHINE uses evidence from its work to influence positive changes for children.
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Our latest impact
What we achieved over the past 12 months
SHINE's projects have made a significant impact.
In the last 12 months, we have helped more than 100,000 children across nearly 750 schools, while also providing support to over 26,000 parents and 5,220 teachers.
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Information for schools
Get involved
Opportunities to join our network of successful practice across the North.
Discover our funding opportunities, the support we offer, and ways to participate in our programmes.
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Fundraise for SHINE
You could help transform young lives
It's easy to make a donation to SHINE. Even the smallest gift could make a big difference to the lives of children in the North.
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SHINE's projects
Find out more about the projects and programmes we support
SHINE backs innovative learning approaches aimed at levelling the playing field for all children.
We fund school-based projects supporting children aged 0-19, addressing a wide range of areas such as reading, maths, science, verbal communication, parental engagement, school transitions, and wellbeing.
Find out moreEducation should unleash life’s potential, but too often, a child’s future is shaped by their background and circumstances beyond their control.
Many from low-income homes start school without key skills, fall behind, and over half leave school without essential GCSEs in English and maths – limiting their opportunities for further education or good jobs.
The divide is particularly acute in parts of the North.
Quick links to our Latest Updates
Kepier Academy to deliver ambitious new school transition programme
Houghton le Spring school awarded £181,284 by SHINE Sunderland
News
SHINE’s submission to Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes
Call for policymakers to focus on tackling persistent poverty and structural barriers to learning.
Insight, News
A milestone year
SHINE CEO Fiona Spellman's End-of-Year Reflections
Insight, NewsInspiring Stories of impact
Louise’s story
When Louise started on the programme she had been going through a very tricky time at home. She struggled to concentrate and keep still in class.
Thanks to Ready Let's Read, created by teacher Rachel Ward, Louise is now able to read and her life chances have been transformed.
Lizzie and Lydia’s story
When I first met Jess I was really shy and didn’t speak much but now I talk a lot, like, a lot!
To begin with, Lizzie and Lydia were both very shy about sharing ideas with their mentor Jess. But as the project progressed, they soon came out of their shells. The friends are now happy to vocalise their opinions and to read aloud, and have come to realise that older students are not as scary as they previously thought.
Poppy’s story
When Poppy started school, she had a vocabulary of no more than 10 words and could not speak in sentences
Before joining St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, in Billingham, Teesside, Poppy had been living abroad, where limited opportunities for interaction with other children had hindered her social and linguistic development.