Harris Hill is working with an Independent School in Berkshire, in their search for an interim Fundraising and Alumni Development Manager, covering whilst they recruit permanently.

This role is full time and will be an integral position that brings together the school community, communications and Events programmes that maintain close relationships with students, parents and staff etc.

As an interim, you won't be asked to fulfil the more strategic sides of the role, but rather cover the immediate requirements of the organisation, This would include events, communications, database work and some fundraising. With this in mind, we are looking for suitable candidate who has experience with events, databases and ideally fundraising campaigns. Any previous experience in development and the alumni sector would be advantageous.

The salary works out at £30-35kpa pro rota, dependant on experience, so please apply for further information.

Please note: There are two vacancies available. One is a permanent role and one is a fixed-term maternity cover role ending in October 2022. The post holders can be based in London, Birmingham or Manchester, with regular travel required across all locations.

Job Description

As a Recruitment Officer within the Attraction Team you will be responsible for delivering a targeted recruitment campaign to engage university students and graduates with the Frontline programme. You will play a key role in working towards our mission, promoting social work to recruit outstanding individuals to be social workers and leaders, to transform the lives of the most disadvantaged children and families.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about turning ideas into action. You should have strong verbal communication skills, as well as professional experience of building successful relationships with organisations and/or groups that will enable Frontline to reach new audiences and promote the programme to a broader range of individuals.

You’ll be comfortable working as part of target-driven team and will need to demonstrate your experience of effectively managing your areas of work and delivering outcomes in a professional setting. You will need strong written communication skills with an interest, or experience of adapting communication to engage difference audiences. Experience in public speaking is desirable as it will allow you to confidently deliver a range of events like workshops and presentations. While not essential, experiences within recruitment, advertising, communication or marketing which provide an insight into attracting audiences from different genders and ethnicities would be advantageous.

We believe that diversity makes for a stronger team and want our organisation to better reflect the communities we serve. Therefore, we are actively seeking applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds for this role. We are also a disability confident employer and welcome applicants with disabilities. Please let us know how we can make the recruitment process more accessible for you.

External Communications Manager - Oral History Collection

Archives of IT (AIT) is a charitable archive that tells the story of how the UK has played a leading role in the development of Tech industries, which now play such a large part in all our lives.  Tech industries have brought about unparalleled changes in society and the UK economy. We want people to understand this success story; to encourage study of it and to make young people aware of the important career opportunities. Our expanding digital database of interviews tells the story in the words of the people who made it happen.

We now seek a “people person” to play a key role in the team, managing relations with our key external stakeholders: a hub for communications with stakeholders and users of material

• Alumni and donors – newsletters and donor communications
• Grant making bodies – including applications for funds
• New interviewees in the pipeline – including securing agreements and gathering background info
• Volunteer recruitment – advertising and managing relationships
• Media and partner relations and communications – placing articles and promoting new exhibits etc

The role

• Notionally three days per week, flexible to match your needs and ours
• Self employed at £15 per hour
• Working from home or other own premises. 
• Physical meetings (when permitted) may be required in various locations

The Person

Skills and attributes

• Highly desirable
  • Interest in history and technology
  • Experience in museums and / or academic research
  • Fundraising
  • PR and marketing communications
  • Charity sector
• Essential
  • Competence in office technology and applications
  • Good communication skills are vital – written and verbal – including good telephone manner
  • Numeracy skills / simple financial and other calculations and record keeping
  • Working with a wide range of people from Tech experts to senior industry and Government figures.
  • Cheerfully getting things done by influence rather than authority
  • Completer-finisher

Regular Giving Officer

Ref: PA5008-21-212

Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement

£26,715 - £30,046 per annum

Contract length: 12 months

An exciting opportunity to join the University of Brighton. We welcome applicants with experience of digital and telephone fundraising to come and be part of our friendly Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement team.

Raising vital funds for our Student Potential Fund, the Regular Giving Officer drives growth and diversity in our sustainable regular giving income stream by creating compelling campaigns and delivering a year-round donor journey experience.

The Student Potential Fund aims to create equity for all our students by raising funds that will attract talented and diverse students, help students achieve their learning and career goals, and participate fully in their university experience. By delivering the best possible experience, our students will have the tools they need to shape their future for themselves.

Using your well-developed project management skills and drawing on your knowledge and understanding of audience segmentation, you will deliver successful multi-channel fundraising campaigns and projects. You will be confident in using a variety of digital platforms and your exemplary written communication skills will be critical in producing compelling and motivating content to successfully acquire, retain and uplift regular giving donors. You will have experience in telephone marketing (preferably fundraising campaigns) and any experience of training and managing student callers is highly valued. On occasion, you will be required to liaise directly with individual funders and also with staff across the university, so confidence in communicating in person is essential.

The University's values celebrate diversity and inclusion, creativity, sustainability and partnership. If you believe in these values and are motivated by running successful online and telephone fundraising campaigns, are a strong communicator and enjoy working as part of a small but supportive team, get in touch today.

This is a full time, fixed term contract for 1 year covering a period of maternity leave.

Further details:

The University is committed to an inclusive environment which embraces equality and diversity in our working, learning, research and teaching environment. We particularly encourage applicants from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background because the University is underrepresented by BAME staff.

Closing date: Friday 27 August 2021.

Sheffield Hallam University is seeking to appoint a Senior Philanthropy Officer to join the Development & Alumni Relations Office (DARO). This is a unique opportunity for an ambitious individual to play a central fundraising role in support of the University’s core strategic aims for scholarship and research at an exciting time in Sheffield Hallam’s story.

For five years running, Sheffield Hallam University has welcomed more students from disadvantaged areas than any other university in the UK. We are committed to championing social mobility and inclusion, and we have ambitious targets to support the delivery of a range of projects which will transform the lives of our students and support applied research in the heart of our communities.

Working closely with the philanthropy manager and the head of development & alumni relations, you will be responsible developing relationships with a portfolio of individual and organisation prospects who have the capacity to give five and six figure gifts. You will also lead on the implementation and delivery of an effective donor stewardship programme, building relationships with student beneficiaries and academic colleagues to bring donors closer to the work they support. 

The successful candidate will be able to fit in with a small, but agile, team that prides itself on creating an exceptional experience for our alumni and supporters. You will have experience managing relationships, with exceptional written and verbal communication skills and an ability to tell stories that inspire people.

You will be able to work independently to manage and prioritise your own workload in order to meet competing deadlines and deliver against annual financial targets, and you will be willing to commit to a supported programme of personal development to become an outstanding fundraiser.

There will opportunities to travel and work in a hybrid model both on campus and remotely as part of the role. 

For this job we particularly welcome applications from minority ethnic applicants who are underrepresented in this area/ this type of job at Sheffield Hallam.

Fourth Monkey are recruiting for the role of a Training & Academic Services Officer to join the dynamic staff team based in their North London centre.

An ideal role for a proficient administrator with previous experience of working within the Higher Education sector, the successful candidate will play an integral role in helping the school achieve its organisational objectives by providing essential support to the Director of Training and senior teaching team in developing, improving and integrating systems and processes associated with the school’s academic, programme and student support services, providing effective, professional guidance and signposting to students on a range of issues including welfare and well-being, academic progression or assessment.

Responsible for administering and coordinating Fourth Monkey’s academic services within the organisation’s drama school provision, the Training & Academic Services Officer will provide key support and management in evolving internal processes and systems related to the smooth running of the academic team’s work, as well as to student services and support infrastructure. They will be experienced in supporting senior teaching and academic staff through the administration of programme and student information and will be a primary academic point of contact for Fourth Monkey’s academic partners whilst supporting the Director of Training / Head of Actor Training and their team in the development of the courses.

Key aspects of the role:

• Course Development – supporting and assisting the Director of Training plus Heads of Course in developing all courses, including administering the approval and validation process where necessary.
• Student Development – supporting and assisting the Director of Training plus Heads of Course in developing individual student learning plans, as well as in monitoring and evaluating student achievement against learning goals set by academic partners.
• Practitioner Liaison & Management – supporting and assisting the Director of Training in maintaining a cohort of high-standard practitioners, including setting and monitoring quality standards and establishing contractual agreements.
• Course Management & Coordination – including responding to day-to-day enquiries from students-in-training, reporting and documenting student progress, maintaining practitioner and graduate databases, and being students’ first point of contact for signposting to the relevant channels in relation to training and pastoral needs.  

Fourth Monkey are looking for a passionate, enthusiastic and self-motivated individual with a minimum of 2 years’ experience of working in an academic services role at a senior level, ideally within a Higher Education institution or charity, or creative arts training environment. They should have a proficiency in using CRM and VLE systems, excellent written and verbal communication skills, demonstrative ability in reporting and administrative management, and awareness of pastoral and welfare support in an educational setting.

How to Apply:

To apply, please submit an up-to-date CV, including details of two referees (only to be contacted on shortlisting, with the candidate’s consent), a Covering Letter of 2 pages maximum, plus a completed Equality & Diversity Monitoring Form.

Applications should be submitted by email, no later than the deadline for application submissions of 5pm, Friday 6th August.

Please note: candidates will be invited to interview on an ongoing basis from the point of application.

Fourth Monkey is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive. We welcome applications from those who are currently under-represented in our workforce - in particular, those who are ethnically diverse.

About Fourth Monkey:

A drama school, arts organisation and registered charity based in North London, Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company was founded in 2010 and are now recruiting for a variety of new roles within their core office team to support their ongoing growth and evolution.

It’s an exciting time to be joining the Fourth Monkey team; since marking our 10-year anniversary in 2020 whereby our two-year training course was successfully accredited as our BA (Hons) Acting Accelerated Degree by our degree-awarding partner Falmouth University, we have subsequently added the newly accredited CertHE Acting & Theatre Making and MA Collaborative Theatre to our training provision. In 2021, we also announced our new Regional Centre of Excellence in Bristol, whereby students from Bristol and the surrounding area will be able to learn on our CertHE Acting & Theatre Making course from September 2021.

We are seeking an exceptional Programme Officer to join our Research team.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we are growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation, and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public.

Together we are working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

This is an exciting opportunity for the right person to join our Research team and make a real difference. The Academy’s Research programmes support excellent engineering researchers working in partnership with UK industry to drive innovation.

Your main role will be on a particular scheme, but you will support other programme activities when responsibilities to that scheme allow. We are looking for someone who can run both efficient application and selection processes for grant schemes and help build and maintain engagement with a community of practice. You will play an important role in making sure that grant recipients have a strong, beneficial relationship with the Academy, and each other.

To be successful, you will have broad knowledge of administration systems, procedure and processes and be highly organised with excellent time management skills with the ability to work on your own initiative.

We are small enough that you will be known, seen and understood, and big enough to offer great benefits which you would usually associate with much larger organisations. We offer an unrivalled package of benefits including a non-contributory pension scheme, BUPA cash plan, private medical insurance, subsidised restaurant, regular social activities, health and wellbeing programmes and the possibility of flexible working, as well as significant investment into your personal and professional development.

We have an inclusive and flexible approach to hybrid working based on trust and respecting individual difference, with a fantastic central London office near St James’ Park when you need it.

To find out more and to apply, please visit our website via the apply button.

Closing date: Midday on 3 August 2021.

Interview date: 12 August 2021.

Founded in 1646, Reading Blue Coat is a leading independent day school of 785 pupils; 705 boys aged 11 – 18 and a further 80 girls in the co-educational sixth form. The School is located on a beautiful 46 acre campus in the village of Sonning, just outside Reading.

The School employs over 170 staff, of whom 50% are academic staff, and provides a stimulating, friendly and supportive atmosphere in which each pupil can realise his or her full intellectual, physical and creative potential.

Whilst philanthropy is embedded in the School’s history, the Foundation Office was only established in 2018.

The School has had an ambitious campus enhancement plan and whilst rated as one of the 10 best value schools in the country, has maintained an impressive building programme. The School seeks to complete its current campus plan with a new Performing Arts Centre before moving ahead with the next 10 year strategy.

Reporting to the Foundation Director, the Foundation Manager will play a crucial role in bringing together the whole school community, running communication and events programmes to grow and maintain strong relationships with alumni (Old Blues), parents, staff and friends. You will also administer the Foundation database and online networking portal, and provide support to the Foundation Director, working on several projects at once and playing an active role in the different fundraising programmes undertaken by the office.

The Foundation Office has put in place the groundwork for successful engagement and fundraising activity and is working towards launching the School’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign, focusing on Bursaries and the Performing Arts Centre.

Candidates will have some experience of managing events and working with databases. It will be helpful to have some experience of fundraising campaigns, as will an understanding of the Development and Alumni sector. You should have accomplished interpersonal skills, an excellent memory for names and faces and an ability to build trusted relationships. You will demonstrate an ability to manage social situations with grace; alacrity; creativity and resilience. Education to degree level would be advantageous.

The role will require some work on evenings and weekends.

We offer an excellent salary and benefits package, dependent on qualifications and experience.

Further details and an application form can be downloaded from our website or contact the Human Resources Manager by phone or email.

Closing date for applications: 09:00, Monday 9 August 2021

Applications must be submitted to the email address above by CV or an application form, and accompanied by your covering letter. Applicants must already be eligible to work in the UK.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Applicants must be willing to undergo checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced check.

Registered charity number 1087839 • No agencies, please

Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company are recruiting for the role of a Student Welfare & Learning Support Coordinator to join the dynamic staff team based in their North London centre.

An ideal role for a proactive, passionate individual with excellent communication skills, previous experience of working within a Higher Education environment, and relevant experience in providing a variety of welfare and disability advice, they will be the primary point of contact for all students seeking professional guidance or signposting on issues relating to learning differences or mental health support.

The Student Welfare & Learning Support Coordinator will play a vital role in helping those students with learning differences or welfare needs access their training fully, by providing support, direction and practical help to all students requiring access to Student Support. This will include being responsible for management and implementation of action points arising from student DSA applications, managing the referral system to Fourth Monkey’s bank of external counsellors to support those students who are dealing with or require support for any mental health needs, leading staff, student and practitioner sessions in the wider Fourth Monkey Learning Support Philosophy, helping students manage the demands of drama school training with their own mental health and welfare needs, and managing all Student Welfare and Learning Support administration in collaboration with the Admissions and Academic Services teams as applicable.

Fourth Monkey are looking for a passionate, enthusiastic, and self-motivated individual with relevant experience in providing welfare and disability advice, as well as experience of working in a Higher Education environment. They will have strong inter-personal and relationship-building skills, both with academic and professional colleagues and students / young adults, experience, and evidence of an ability to interpret and apply operational procedures within a working environment.

An awareness and understanding of Higher Education learning and / or creative arts training would be desirable, as would an understanding of Higher Education procedures, data processing and reporting.

How to Apply:

To apply, please submit an up-to-date CV, including details of two referees (only to be contacted on shortlisting, with the candidate’s consent), a Covering Letter of 2 pages maximum, plus a completed Equality & Diversity Monitoring Form.

Applications should be submitted by email, no later than the deadline for application submissions of 5pm, Friday 6th August.

Please note: candidates will be invited to interview on an ongoing basis from the point of application.

Fourth Monkey is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive. We welcome applications from those who are currently under-represented in our workforce - in particular, those who are ethnically diverse.

About Fourth Monkey:

A drama school, arts organisation and registered charity based in North London, Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company was founded in 2010 and are now recruiting for a variety of new roles within their core office team to support their ongoing growth and evolution.

It’s an exciting time to be joining the Fourth Monkey team; since marking our 10-year anniversary in 2020 whereby our two-year training course was successfully accredited as our BA (Hons) Acting Accelerated Degree by our degree-awarding partner Falmouth University, we have subsequently added the newly accredited CertHE Acting & Theatre Making and MA Collaborative Theatre to our training provision. In 2021, we also announced our new Regional Centre of Excellence in Bristol, whereby students from Bristol and the surrounding area will be able to learn on our CertHE Acting & Theatre Making course from September 2021.

Location: Home based but preferably in London or within easy travelling distance.

Hours: 30 - 37.5 hours per week (with the option of working fewer hours in the school holidays)

At BTS Spark our work is all about shifting mindsets, unlocking potential and building leadership capability. We are a not-for-profit coaching practice within an award-winning global company (BTS) and are committed to helping school and other public/third sector leaders to do their best work, by bringing them the highest quality professional development opportunities at affordable prices.

We're looking for a versatile, highly organised and proactive individual, experienced in working in or with schools, and interested in contributing to all aspects of our programme delivery and organisational development.  Excellent communication and customer relationship skills are a must too and we'd love to find someone with the experience to give our social media activities a real boost.

About the role

This is an exciting time for BTS Spark. We are growing our reach and impact each year and have big aspirations to build our presence across the education sector and enable many more school and non-profit leaders to benefit from our programmes and leadership expertise.

Whilst being part of a global organisation and having the support of a much wider team of UK colleagues, including our coaches and finance, operations, design and IT staff, our BTS Spark core team is small, comprising our Head of BTS Spark, our Programme Support Manager and two part-time associates (Spark Partners) who help to raise awareness and bring in work from parts of the country where we are currently less well known.  The Programme Support Manager works closely with our Head of BTS Spark UK to support pretty much all aspects of our work to grow and deliver our programmes. This means that the role includes more routine and administrative tasks, particularly those involved in loading details to set up new coachees and programmes on our operating system, as well as managing client relationships and helping to identify and develop new opportunities for growth.

The top priority for the role is ensuring that our programmes are delivered effectively to meet our high standards and that we build and maintain strong relationships with our clients and our coach team, and are seen by clients and prospective clients as a credible and trusted partner. This will involve providing an end-to-end service from agreeing programme details with clients through to overseeing delivery.

We would also like our Programme Support Manager to take an active role in supporting the delivery of our young people’s programme in secondary schools in London and Essex. This programme is funded by the Jack Petchey Foundation to build young people’s sense of agency and personal resourcefulness, and entails the delivery of three half-day workshops in each participating school, with follow-on sessions delivered by school staff. Seven schools will be participating during the 2021-22 academic year, with the workshops delivered to whole year groups by our team of 11 facilitators. We need a programme manager with the experience and credibility to oversee the workshop delivery in each school, liaising with school staff and supporting our facilitator team.

The third core element of the role will be to help us grow awareness of our work across the education sector, particularly through building our presence on social media and developing our community of supporters and alumni. 

Whilst the scope of the role is broad, the balance between the different elements will vary at different times of the year, and may well evolve over time. There will be periods when new programmes or cohorts are launched and overseeing those will take precedence over everything else, and other times that will allow more scope to focus on development work and raising our profile across the education sector.

About you

Our Programme Support Manager will have a track record of successful programme management and enjoy providing an end to end service for our clients. You will understand the education landscape, having worked in or closely with schools, and have the confidence and credibility to build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders. You'll also have a genuine interest in leadership development and the ability to write clearly, concisely and engagingly about our work - for prospective clients, for social media and to help to build an active community of alumni and others interested in our work.

New opportunity not to be missed! Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, is looking for a Youth Network Coordinator (Alumni) to join our Communications team based in London. In return, you will receive a competitive salary plus excellent benefits.

This is a permanent, part-time opportunity with a closing date of 9 August 2021, 10am. 

Salary £17,259.60-£18,987.60 (depending on experience)

Hours- 22.5 hours week. 

We help vulnerable young people by giving them the practical and emotional support they need to find a job and live independently.

You will be responsible for defining Centrepoint’s former resident network/alumni programme through research and insight from young people, and Centrepoint’s business needs across media, fundraising and outcomes.

You will recruit, build and develop a network and community of former Centrepoint residents (alumni), liaising with Support and Housing for referrals and set up an alumni programme to promote continued participation. To develop communications and engagement plan for the network.

You will be the main point of contact for young people in our services looking to join the programme and former residents. You will be responsible for supporting and promoting the involvement of former and current service users in internal and external campaigning and fundraising.

We would welcome applicants from our services or from former service users or residents.

In return for your efforts you’ll receive a competitive salary, excellent training and development, and a host of staff benefits including:

• 25 days of annual leave per year, rising by one day per year to a maximum of 27 days
• Excellent training package to ensure you have the skills and knowledge to build a new career
• Employer pension contributions of 4%
• Clear career progressions, linked to portfolio work, that enables movement up the pay scale
• Access to Cycle 2 Work loan scheme
• An interest-free travel loan

We seek to challenge discrimination and are committed to fairness and equality within Centrepoint. We welcome applications from anyone with direct experience of being homeless or using young people's services.

Members have been core to the Ri since 1810 and their contribution and commitment to the Ri helps us inspire even more people to think more deeply about science.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Membership Executive to join the team to help deliver an innovative sales and marketing campaign to produce growth and improve engagement within the vibrant membership community.

You will act as the first point of contact for all members and prospective members, taking enquiries via multiple communication channels and providing an exceptional level of customer service. You will work closely with the Marketing, Development and Public Programmes teams and collaboratively with the wider Ri team on other projects. 

To be successful in this role, you will have exceptional people skills and a positive ‘can-do’ attitude, the ability to communicate and sell effectively to a range of audiences, including members, and the ability to present information clearly and concisely, with excellent attention to detail.

You will also have some office-based customer service experience, experience of working with a CRM system, ideally in a membership organisation or with a loyalty/alumni scheme.

Close date: midnight on Monday 16 August 2021.

Scheduled Interviews: 26 and 27 August, by MS Teams

Growing Diverse Talent

Regional Programme Manager (North)

We are a small charity doing great work connecting state school pupils with former students to show them a future that can be theirs and a pathway to get there. Hearing from past pupils gives students resilience, confidence and the motivation to study harder. We are actively expanding our reach to more schools and pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged.

The Regional Programme Manager plays a key role in growing our footprint in the north, delivering our programme in schools, supporting improvements, driving forward sales, securing funding to tackle entrenched issues in the region, and establishing regional partnerships. The role responds to the demands and growth of the charity, making for an exciting and varied role and giving the post holder the opportunity to develop themselves across a range of projects and functions.

You will be situated in Manchester, allowing you to easily reach schools in the region. We are mainly home working at present. Pre-pandemic we had three permanent office spaces, though we are presently working remotely and using touch down space while we allow things to settle back to a more normal position. We will be reviewing the charity’s requirements and consulting staff on preferences in the Autumn and it is likely that we will take a base in London and Manchester at some time after that.

We would particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and people with lived experience of the communities we serve. We are an equal opportunities employer committed to recruiting a diverse workforce. 

To join us, you will need: experience of working with schools and young people, ideally as a qualified teacher; a desire to reduce inequalities among young people in the region; to be comfortable pitching and undertaking business development activity, with the ability to influence and win others to your way of thinking; excellent communication skills; superb organisational skills; and to feel at ease with an evolving role that will adapt as the charity grows.

In return, we offer you a supportive working environment with plenty of learning and development opportunities. You’ll work with dedicated, determined colleagues and witness the tangible difference our work makes to the lives of young people across the region. We live by our values of social justice, collaboration, innovation and role models. If these values resonate with you, we’d love to hear from you!

We are seeking to recruit a director to set up and manage our exciting and innovative virtual and residential programme for looked after young people. To develop, scale and enhance our world-class learning content. You would be responsible for managing the virtual learning environment, ensuring the STEAM lecture series is delivered, working with delivery partners, supporting a network of freelance education tutors and mentors, mentoring our scholars, delivering our alumni programme, delivering some learning sessions and activities, working on session and activity content and ensuring that all of our learning materials are engaging for our scholars and of the highest standards. You will lead, organise and engage with university partners in the provision of our annual 1 week residential for scholars on the virtual programme 

First Star Scholars UK improves the lives of looked-after children and young care leavers by partnering with universities, virtual school heads, schools and designated teachers, social services and carers, and local authorities to ensure looked-after young people have the academic, life skills, and adult support needed to successfully transition to higher education and adulthood. 

We pursue our mission through innovative university-preparatory programmes, providing professional assistance to stakeholders, and advocating for policy change. First Star Scholars offers the UK’s only long-term university preparatory programme for looked-after children as they transition through GCSE and post 16 education – offering a pathway to university and careers through academic support, life skills development and carer engagement. This project supports the Centre for Social Justice ‘12 by 24’ pledge to double the number of care leavers entering university at ages 19-21 (from 6% to 12%) by 2024.

Covid-19 and the worldwide pandemic has significantly impacted and continues to impact society’s most disadvantaged young people and in response First Star’s mission to support the aspirations of young people in care is developing a strong online presence.The impact of Covid-19 is revolutionising the way students and First Star scholars learn. To accomplish this, we are launching a virtual programme mirroring our successful campus-based programme in a hybrid online/face to face model. Developing our interactive teaching model to support more scholars through our diploma led curriculum, scholar support and carer engagement will be primarily delivered through online provision that enables scholars to thrive as part of the First Star programme. Creating this requires a programme director with excellent IT skills and a strong understanding of technology as a learning tool, and the ability to clearly communicate, work with partners, programme directors and providers and, most importantly, engage, motivate, and inspire to aspire our young scholars and their carers.