Schools can reconnect the loneliest generation
If this is a crisis of connection, we need to restore the experiences that make connection possible, argues Fiona Spellman
Insight, News
SHINE: Support and Help IN Education
Empowering teachers to change lives.
SHINE is an education charity that finds and backs exceptional teachers with the ideas to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children.
We fund, evaluate and scale evidence-based innovations that raise attainment and strengthen schools across the North of England.
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
GCSE results reveal a poverty gap schools cannot close alone
Every GCSE results day, we ask why some parts of England outperform others. Yet after decades of reform, one uncomfortable truth remains: England's attainment map still looks remarkably like its poverty map.
Insight, News
Join the team!
New job opportunity
News
Invitation to tender: learning programme for SHINE-funded project leads
SHINE is seeking an experienced partner to design and deliver a two-year learning programme that will support teachers leading SHINE-funded innovation projects.
NewsInspiring Stories of impact
Sofia’s Story
Sofia "had no idea what UCAS was" before starting her A-Levels. By the end of college, she had secured a place to study biomedicine at a top London University.
Sofia, who speaks English as an additional language, came to study at Leeds Sixth Form College. She struggled with anxiety towards learning and had low confidence in her ability, particularly when it came to attempting exam questions.
Khadija’s story
Khadija arrived in Bradford from Pakistan in 2019. She didn’t speak very much English and was particularly worried about how her youngest daughter, Hafsa, was going to manage at school.
Not knowing many people in the city, and with little knowledge of British education, Khadija tried her best to teach 3-year-old Hafsa with some resources she purchased herself, but it was a struggle.
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.