July 2024

Children at schools in Brent and Barnet who are at risk of exclusion from school have received help and support through a tried and tested system of mentoring and sport, thanks to a grant from London Freemasons to the Saracens Foundation charity.

The £30,000 grant will support the Saracens Foundation’s Go Forward programme, which uses sport and mentoring to prevent permanent exclusion and tackle the high rates of disengagement from education. Saracens Foundation identifies groups of children and young people in partnership with host schools as at risk of exclusion. 

The programme has been delivered in two host schools, Kingsbury High School in Brent and Saracens High School in Barnet. Year 6 students from feeder schools to the two high schools are first engaged with tag rugby taster sessions. In Year 7 they are formally enrolled into the programme, which includes multi-sport sessions, breakfast clubs including food and weekly one to one mentoring sessions. Year 8 students are provided with the mentoring sessions bi-monthly, and in Year 9 they are trained as mentors for the Year 7 and 8 pupils, with the aim that by Year 9 they are no longer considered at risk.

Saracens Foundation’s dedicated Project Officers work as youth mentors within the schools to provide 1:1 support for a small group of Year 7 students who have been identified as at risk of permanent exclusion. Individual action plans are created for each mentee to give them a focus during their school day, help them recognize their own triggers and provide them with the skills to manage their own behaviour in challenging situations. Project Officers are on hand during the school day to check in on their mentees during lessons, at break and lunch times and to provide support in dealing with challenging behaviour should it arise. 

A highlight of the Go Forward project is the end of year residential. This is where the group of mentees accompanied by our Project Officer and members of staff from the school have the opportunity to experience a range of team building and outdoor adventurous activities away from their normal school environment. For most, if not all of these young people, it will be the first time they have ever experienced these types of activities or had the chance to travel outside of their local community. It also encourages them to try new things that push them out of their comfort zone and achieve success that they previously would not have thought was possible.  

Only one per cent of permanently excluded children go on to achieve 5 GCSEs. Brent in particular has a poor socio-economic background, with poverty (33 per cent) and unemployment rates (7.7 per cent) above average when compared to the averages of all other London boroughs (28 per cent , 5.3 per cent). Research has shown that young people within the pupil premium and free school meal bracket are six times more likely to be permanently excluded from school.

The programme has shown positive outcomes: In 2023/24 Go Forward had a total of 870 total impacts, over 2100 hours of mentoring and over 700 sessions of delivery. This has led to a 50% increase in attendance, 60% reduction in detentions and 100% engagement with Go Forward mentoring sessions.

Through Saracens Foundation’s wider work at HMPYOI Feltham, the charity found that approximately 80 per cent of young offenders at this institution were permanently excluded from mainstream education. As a result, Go Forward was created to provide a level of empathy and support for those vulnerable young people that many state-funded schools do not have the resources to be able to provide. 

The grant from London Freemasons comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.

Richard Symonds, Head of Saracens Foundation, said:

“We’re very grateful to London Freemasons for their generous grant which helps us provide essential support for children in Brent and Watford at serious risk of exclusion from school, helping them take full advantage of their education. Exclusion will inevitably destroy their education and have a devastating effect on their life-chances.”

Paul King from London Freemasons, said:

“I’m really pleased we’ve been able to support the Saracens Foundation’s hugely important project to reduce the numbers of children excluded from school. Exclusion is very often the first step on a path through the criminal justice system and Saracens Foundation aims to help them turn their lives around before it’s too late.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Photographs: Students from Kingsbury High School and Saracens High School play rounders at the Saracens Foundation.

For further information about the Masonic Charitable Foundation, please contact Guy Roberts, Press Officer (groberts@mcf.org.uk | 020 3146 3311)

About the Masonic Charitable Foundation

The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) is one of the largest grant-making charities in the country. Funded entirely through the generosity of Freemasons and their families, the MCF awards millions of pounds each year to local and national charities that help vulnerable people, advance medical research and provide opportunities for young people. The MCF also helps to fund vital services such as hospices and air ambulances and regularly contributes to worldwide appeals for disaster relief.  In total, MCF support helps to improve the lives of thousands of people every year in England, Wales and internationally. As well as providing grants to charities, the MCF supports Freemasons and their families with a financial, health or family need. Visit www.mcf.org.uk