DonnaMarie Steel, The Robertson Trust Programmes and Practice Officer, shares her insights and learning from their Education Pathways work so far and provides an update on upcoming opportunities under this theme.
The Robertson Trust’s Education Pathways theme aims to shape an education system that maximises its contribution to wellbeing, to spotting and addressing trauma and to tackling poverty in Scotland. They’re now planning an open call for programme award ideas focused on delivering long-term change around engagement in school-age learning and education.
Over the past year, they’ve been working hard to understand the impact they could have on our Education system in Scotland, and how they can best contribute to big change that lasts to prevent and reduce poverty. They’ve continued their discovery work, including a series of stakeholder conversations, engaging with 130 organisations across all sectors, and schools from across 19 local authorities in Scotland.
Initially, the Trust had a focus on mentoring and tutoring provision in Scotland. However, during these discussions, it became apparent that they should be prioritising outcomes rather than solely specific interventions – particularly during their conversations with schools.
As an independent funder, we want to make decisions that are driven by evidence and with a focus on delivering big change that lasts on preventing and reducing poverty in Scotland.
The Robertson Trust is currently working on the details of an open call for applications under their Programme Awards, which will focus on improving engagement in education and learning to prevent and reduce poverty in Scotland. This priority area has emerged from extensive stakeholder engagement carried out across Scotland over the course of the last year, and they anticipate applications will open in early October. They will continue other development work in relation to attainment funding, school-age childcare and fair access so do look out for updates on those in the future.
Check out the webinar taking place on 11th October – A Conversation with The Robertson Trust About ‘Big Change that Lasts’ | YouthLink Scotland