New Funding Secured to Strengthen SEND and Disadvantaged Pupils Work Experience Opportunities
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We’re pleased to share that Consilium Academies has successfully secured £20,000 from the North East Combined Authority’s Inspire Education Grants Programme to support a new, inclusive work experience initiative for SEND and disadvantaged pupils across our North East secondary schools.
The funding has been secured by Claire Bell, Trust Careers Lead, and will support a three-year project designed to re-engage pupils, raise aspirations and provide meaningful exposure to the world of work. The programme will benefit students across several of our schools.
Supporting our most vulnerable learners
The project will focus on pupils in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, offering tailored work experience opportunities that meet a wide range of individual needs. For many students with SEND or those from disadvantaged backgrounds, access to high-quality work experience can be transformative, supporting confidence, engagement with learning and a clearer understanding of future pathways.
The programme aligns closely with the North East Combined Authority’s Excellence in Education agenda and the region’s Child Poverty Action Plan, both of which aim to remove barriers and ensure opportunities reach those who need them most.
Partnership working
Opportunities will be delivered in partnership with DUCTU, a specialist organisation with established work experience placements across the region. This partnership will help ensure placements are inclusive, appropriate and impactful for our pupils.
A Trust-wide effort
Successful delivery of the programme will be supported by principals and senior leaders, alongside SEND teams, careers staff and wider support teams across schools. Their involvement will be key in enabling access to placements while minimising disruption and additional costs. Where required, transport will be supported to ensure that no pupil is excluded from participating.
A message from Claire Bell, Trust Careers Lead
“This funding will make a real difference to some of our most vulnerable students. For many young people, particularly those with SEND or from disadvantaged backgrounds, access to meaningful work experience can be transformational. It helps them to re-engage with learning, build confidence and begin to see what opportunities exist for them beyond school. This project is about opening doors, raising aspirations and ensuring that young people across the North East have the chance to explore futures they may never have thought possible.”
Looking ahead
The Inspire Education Grants Programme forms part of the Combined Authority’s wider investment in education, skills and inclusion, and this project represents another positive step forward in our Trust’s commitment to equity, opportunity and improved life chances for all learners.