Harpur Trust Accelerator Programme expands to support 25 Bedford primary schools after successful pilot

At the event held at The Quarry Theatre, teachers heard from The Harpur Trust’s Chief Executive, David Steadman, about the expansion of the Accelerator Programme, which was set up to increase the educational attainment of children aged 0-11 on free school meals in Bedford Borough, to help them reach nationally expected standards.

The programme has been running as a pilot for more than two years, but it’s now being offered to 25 primary schools where there is a need.

Head of Educational Partnerships Caroline Downing said: “It is exciting to be able to move the Accelerator Programme to the next level. We have taken the learning from the last two years of our programme to make it clearer for schools to know how to apply for funding, so we can help even more children eligible for free school meals to achieve.

“After a review of the most impactful programmes we’ve run to date, alongside the latest education research, we hope to fund more projects that benefit all children in partner schools, as well as more projects that support specific learners with specific interventions and programmes.

“We have already benefitted hundreds of pupils across Bedford Borough with our Accelerator Programme and we hope to benefit thousands more, with our reviewed approach.”

Kings Oak Primary Deputy Head Teacher, Abby McStraw, told the audience about the funding the school received through the Accelerator Programme for a Year 6 Intervention Teacher and a Writing Intervention Teacher. She spoke about the positive effects this has had on pupils.

The school reported a 36 percent increase in writing attainment at the end of KS2, as well as improvements in other subjects, with math scores increasing by 13 percent and reading scores by 19 percent.

She said: “We are really grateful for The Harpur Trust’s support having seen enhanced motivation, behaviour, and academic engagement among participating pupils and a positive effect on classes where all pupils could access a higher level of teaching in core subjects. We would encourage other schools which are eligible to apply for funding.”

Best-selling education author Kate Jones, who is a Senior Associate for Teaching and Learning at Evidence Based Education provided training at the event. She talked about maximising learning opportunities and gave hints and tips about how to improve pupil’s long-term memory to ensure pupils from all backgrounds are able to retrieve the information when needed, through a variety of easy-to-use practices.

Kate explained: “Retrieval practice may appear to be the latest buzzword in mainstream education, but it’s a very powerful learning strategy. There is a big difference between working memory, which is limited and long-term memory, which is powerful.

“Every time you use your memory you improve it and little changes to teacher practices can make a big difference to pupil’s learning, such as the effective use of quizzes and refreshers, and encouraging teachers to break down a topic into small manageable chunks, for pupils to learn little and often.”

The Harpur Trust will be running another event for schools at the end of March with an education expert and a focus on Accelerator Programme initiatives.

Find out more about The Harpur Trust at www.harpurtrust.org.uk