PROM 8

Allergic to the word can’t, I demonstrate this consistently within education, politics and sport.

Signing for Arsenal at age 12, I've achieved accolades including the FA Cup, Premier League and Championships in America.

Alongside sporting success, I excelled into Leadership positions within education. Receiving accolades including Sports Teacher of the Year, School of the Year and a Global Teacher Prize Finalist from over 34,000 nominations across 173 countries.

I love that I still find time to be an active within my community, holding a unique position as a Cllr on the only Parish Council in London advocating for vulnerable groups.  As a trustee of The Avenues Youth Project, I've been nicknamed ‘Trustee on the ground’ by young people.

Despite all this, I make time to volunteer in my community following the Grenfell Tower Fire & set up my charity the ESP Foundation to consolidate all the different professions I support.

In England there were 7,900 permanent exclusions, with more than 40 pupils permanently excluded daily! As a result we don’t know what education, if any, thousands of children are receiving. These are often the children most vulnerable to exploitation or grooming by gangs. 78% of exclusions were issued to children who had SEN, classified as in need or eligible for free school meals.11% of exclusions were to children with all three characteristics

Prom 8 is designed to be inclusive with not just the brightest but all pupils working tirelessly to close the gap including those with low prior attainment/starting points. Prom 8’s focus groups will crucially include the cohorts of underachieving ethnicities in individual boroughs.

Prom 8 provides a student led approach to actively inspire alongside motivate attainment, the programme changes the dialogue of success for young people so that they feel part of their own unique journey and achievement.

Some groups of pupils are more likely to be excluded and disproportionately affected, all too often the moment of school exclusion is the tipping point that leads to young people picking up knives

(Sarah Jones MP - Chair, APPG on Knife Crime).

Children excluded from mainstream schools are at serious risk of being groomed and exploited by criminal gangs, only 1% of excluded pupils get the five good GCSEs they need to access the workforce and a study of UK prisoners found 42% had been permanently excluded from school.

Exclusion is a marker for increased risk of being both a victim and perpetrator of crime. I am clear that engagement with and success in education is a protective factor for children. Circumstances vary for each child and factors will vary according to local context, it is therefore important to understand what lies behind local trends.

Two of the largest under-performing groups in London are Black Caribbean and White Boys (free school meal eligible). The boys are less likely to achieve good educational outcomes and more likely than many of their peers to experience exclusion (Department for Education, 2018).

Prom 8 supports underachieving pupils make accelerated progress whilst remaining in school.

1.Each month pupils can be nominated for significant progress made

2.This could be academic attainment, attendance impacting learning, behaviour for learning etc

3.Nominations can be made by ANYONE! Pupils, Teachers, Parents & Mentors etc who have recognized significant progress from a pupil.

4.Top 3 Finalist from Nominations submitted are shortlisted

5.Top 3 Finalist complete a short reflection log on why they might have been nominated and how they feel they are progressing

6.As part of their reflection log, they identify x3 Social Influencers that inspire them

7.The winner of the month will then receive a ‘Shout Out’ on social media platforms and subject to availability a surprise visit from one of the named Influencers to celebrate their progress.

8.Schools will display winners/finalist internally monthly alongside cohorts Prom Attainment 8 and Prom 8 school placing (1st, 2nd) as an additional visual motivation tool.

9.The school that has made the most progress following 9 months will win a Prom of a lifetime

PROM 8:

1.Improves student attendance

2.Creates an inclusive platform to celebrate all

3.Improves parental engagement

4.Closes the gap on academic attainment

5.Improves student leadership

6.Engages potential NEETs

7.Develops student engagement with personal data 

8.Breeds motivation & allows pupils to smile!

Key underachieving groups feel the curriculum lacks relevance to their lives and that it does not link to their career prospects. This combined with other factors outlined, can lead to feeling alienated from school/education.

Teachers’ expectations for pupils influence educational outcomes, the better a teacher expects a pupil to perform academically the better a student is likely to do. Youth view their abilities in terms of their physical/social characteristics, rather than in terms of their academic and personal strengths [Nguyen & Ryan - 2008]. Working with parents can also have a positive influence on young people’s outcomes, with evidence that parental aspirations in particular support academic outcomes.

Pupil feedback stated that recurring regular praise for progress over attainment motivates them to increase work ethic. So including their heroes in this process, increases engagement and desire to succeed. 

Any empty qualifications will be awarded as a zero / Any permanent exclusions will equal automatic deduction of Attainment 8 score predicted for that pupil. All targeted pupils and those with no KS2 Data, will be given a consistent aspirational target. Any underachievement from targeted pupils will be deducted from cohorts final figure, however if over-achievement has occurred this will be positively added.

Pupils in London are more likely to achieve better outcomes at the end of both their primary and secondary schooling than pupils elsewhere in the country (Greater London Authority, 2017). However, by the age of 16, attainment among London’s most disadvantaged young people lags an average of 12 months behind their more advantaged peers.

Prom 8 has been designed to address these entrenched and stubborn inequalities, and is the result of consultation with young people. It sets out steps that can be taken to secure improvements in outcomes for pupils, whilst acknowledging the challenges requiring action in education and beyond.

This programme was organically birthed from my passion for both entertainment and education. I have worked with young people through a range of industries before becoming an educator, in youth clubs, soccer schools and volunteering to name a few. Entertainment on the other hand has the ability to tell a story and communicate in not just a verbal form but through audio and kinaesthetic expressions. 

I am passionate about knowing my students and finding ways to inspire them towards self discovery to find their 'why'. We often tell pupils they can be anything they want, so it is imperative we give them that opportunity by exposing them to everything. The Latin translation of education is to draw from within, therefore the idea to use their heroes allows the process to be personal to them.

A prom is used to celebrate the end of a journey and after an extended period of 5yrs, young people will go their separate ways having grown together. Around 5yrs ago I started developing Prom 8 with consistent/continuous consultation with young people, with a clear focus on breaking down barriers to support pupils through providing access and opportunities using locality specific data driven needs.

Research evidence emphasizes the need for support across a range of areas, including academic progress, social and emotional well-being. Particularly in the London context, where nearly all schools are good or outstanding, its clear that the focus for action must move beyond classroom teaching alone. 

The 5 key areas that motivate me are:

• Enhancing pupils’ emotional well-being and mental health
• Working with parents and families, involving them in their children’s education.
• Raising teachers’ expectations and addressing their biases
• Encouraging peer support among young people. 
• Rethinking the curriculum for a more broader and diverse offering 

The emotional well-being and mental health of all children and young people should be everyone’s responsibility. Parents can feel disengaged from their children’s education if they themselves had negative experiences of school, or feel alienated from settings whose behavioural norms and expectations differ from their own. Currently biases affect experiences at school, where they impact upon areas such as setting and streaming, teacher assessment outcomes, and disciplinary measures such as exclusions. Young people should have access to peer support, particularly during the secondary transition phase.  

As a pupil I ticked every box of 'need' excluding disabled and could of easily been one of these underachievers!  

In my various roles as a educator, councillor, youth club director, charity founder and global ambassador for the likes of the Varkey Foundation and Nike, I have a vast amount of experience that spans across a range of industries. 

Holding roles of leadership within all these fields of work, I believe I am uniquely positioned to deliver such a groundbreaking programme. Due to my experience at both a grassroots level, along with academic research and partnerships across education establishments, trusts and foundations. 

Living within such communities of high deprivation and austerity, I am able to both engage and support those most vulnerable through a civil participation capacity. In addition through opportunities as an elite sportswoman, I am able to deliver programmes of excellence driving aspirational attainment through stretch and challenge.

Having continuously invested in extensive continuous professional development, I am able to organize, mobilize, deliver and monitor projects on a large scale. As the current Chair of the Children's and Young People's working group for the local council, I demonstrate this through data collation and creating relevant/reliable strategies to overcome areas of concern through solution finding. 

Having delivered and coordinated projects across the whole E-Act Trust which included 29 schools (both primary and secondary), I am confident in my ability to deliver initiatives both on time and within cost. 

I believe life at its highest level is about giving your most authentic, original self, therefore through my continual practice I deliver work that compliments rapid improvements.

The biggest setback to date has to be the impact of the national tragedy which happened at Grenfell Tower. With at least 72 lives lost within the local community, for a period of time each day felt like a roller-coaster. Having responded following the tragedy which included friends and family who had differing outcomes (survivors/deceased), I became one of the lead partners in communication with Gold Command (government team set up to respond in replace of the local council).

This all in addition to continuing my day to day role as an Assistant Headteacher, followed by long evenings and weekends into the early hours of the morning serving survivors, bereaved and local community members in need.

With the idea to deliver initially in local schools, I was fully aware of the psychological impact the fire had which caused an obvious pause on the programme. This also impacted the need to look at adding additional tools that could support Prom 8's impact, such as motivational assemblies and visits.

However I used this time to continue with consultation and network building, which would allow the delivery to be even more effective embedding long term culture changes within both the schools and communities. 

The most recent act of leadership took place recently following lockdown restrictions being eased, there was subsequently a block party organised and attended by 100's of people from across London. Having been sent some video footage of the unlicensed event, I swiftly attend to support both the police and constituents to re-establish a safe environment. 

On arrival there was a heavy police presence, to which I asked to speak to the Chief Inspector in charge and asked what their priorities were. Which was simply to clear the area, which they were having trouble doing with a current stand-off.

Having a good community engagement as a resident first and foremost, I was able to clear the whole street of close to 500 people within a 20 minute period.  This included identifying two other community members to support with communicating my ask and ensuring this was done with familiar faces most people had engaged with in advance of the pandemic. 

With the police having initially been reluctant to allow me to support their operation, this quickly turned into trust and praise after seeing the swift action and outcomes I was able to achieve in such a short period of time.

Prom 8 was a hit at The Crest Academy in June 2018. Having done proms for over 15 years the Prom 8 experience was genuinely unforgettable.

All proms are memorable however what Prom 8 did was treat students to a celebrity experience which they still talk about today. For many students seeing their favourite artists is a dream but for Crest students this dream came true.

The intimate and yet dynamic performances of chart topping Fredo and Abracadabra left the children feeling as if they had literally had the best day of their lives! After selfies galore and dancing and singing until they lost their voices, students (and staff alike) were literally ecstatic.

What Prom 8 did was give students a focus and a goal. They worked together towards a common aim.  Ultimately it was a great reward for a year of extremely hard work. Students felt valued and appreciated. They felt special.

Prom 8 now has developed into a more focused reward which I am confident will inspire and motivate all students, especially those who have, historically under-performed, to reach their goals.

Cristalina Ferenandes – Headteacher at The Crest Academy (Top 5 Progress 8 in Brent 2017-2018 Academic Year )

*CURRENT: 200 [based on a cohort capacity of 200]

*1 YEAR: Between 400 - 1600 [depending on school sign up/MAT focus]

*5 YEARS: The aim for the programme to role out Nationally but at least in each Borough in London [there are 33 Boroughs and each will have the capacity for up to 1600 pupils each]

The goal is to deliver this programme globally using connections as a Global Teacher Ambassador. With a current unique network of 300 teachers across 180 countries, this is a programme if resourced correctly can have a huge impact globally with young people across the world positively impacting education on the whole.

Resources to scale up the programme is the most obvious limitation. As a new innovative programme which has no resemblance to any traditional interventions, it's about convincing the right partners to come on board. This can be through financial assistance, product or both, in order to have an impact with longevity. 

GDPR, legal complexities and marketing will all need attention to detail, but are all barriers that can easily be overcome with the right support/expertise in place. 

Work hard through, networking, collaborating, partnering and connecting with the relevant areas of expertise to ensure the programme is delivered with confidence, no corners cut and outcomes that speak for themselves. 

Recent interest from global organisations such as BBC, McCann, Nike, Varkey Foundation to support such a groundbreaking initiative, suggests it's not so much overcoming barriers but securing long term investment to impact systemic changes.

*NIKE

*E-ACT

*YOUNG BRENT FOUNDATION

*McCANN

*BBC

*VRU [LONDON]

Funds will be applied for from Trusts, Foundations and Grant Giving organisations to cover both core cost and programme delivery. Schools will also be asked to contribute to participation within the project, which can be sourced from school budgets or local sponsors etc.

Funds hoped to be raised in advance of the start of the new UK academic year due to start back in September 2020. With fundraising continuing to deliver for future academic years, including expansion of the programme in different locations. 

- SIMs Capita: Data collation, Tracking and Insights

- Sky Sports/Fox Sport: Leading sports brand connecting with influencers

- Billboard/Tidal: Leading music brand connecting with influencers

- TedTalks: Motivational experts that help drive change, contributing to academic findings impacting systemic change

- Vouge: Brand support with Fashion and Styling for Prom

- Oscars/Emmys: Leading film establishment connecting with influencers

- YouTube: Leading content creators connecting with influencers

- Forbes: Sharing success stories and offering opportunities for young people to connect using philanthropic connection to provide access for young people

- Merky: Relatable grassroots driven organisation that can connect to young people and offer opportunities in a range of creative industries. 

- British Airways/Virgin Atlantic/ Emirates: To offer global opportunities that impact life experiences and promote aspirational goals

Apple: Help provide resources to close the gap on inequities that are ever present in education

Facebook: To support celebrate young people via the range of platforms connected with FB e.g. Instagram 

Microsoft: Educational software that can support young people learning and help close the gap through programmes made available/resources.