The Reach Foundation

Interested? Find out more 👇

Know someone who’d be perfect for this role? Tag them below, or share this post!

www.reachfoundation.uk/join

✅ Guiding strategy—helping us scale and deepen our cradle-to-career approach.
✅ Providing challenge and support—to ensure our work delivers meaningful, systemic change.
✅ Expanding our reach—leveraging your networks and expertise to strengthen our work.

If you share our passion for rethinking education, place-based change, and supporting babies, children and young people in underserved communities, this could be a great opportunity to make a real impact. As a trustee, you’ll play a vital role in...

We’re particularly keen to hear from those with expertise in educational leadership and/or community programme development—and *especially* from candidates based outside London.

🫵 We need you!

We’re on a mission to ensure that every child, no matter their background, has the opportunity to thrive from cradle to career—and we’re looking for a new trustee to help shape our next chapter.

www.reachfoundation.uk/join

We're looking for schools and trusts to join our growing network of Cradle-to-Career Partners for an October 2025 start.

Head here for more information 👇

gamma.app/docs/250205-...

Breaking out of the bubble Apply for the fifth and final cohort of the SW100 now

Great leadership requires perspective.

Yet, in the intensity of school life, it’s easy to fall into routine—talking about the same constraints and missing out on fresh ideas.

This is where we hope the SW100 offers something different 🧵

sw100.substack.com/p/breaking-o...

I spent the day at Charles Dickens Primary School today and it’s so good that I almost cried.

It was a privilege to join a group of some of Wales’s finest primary leaders and reflect on what we saw.

The standard in writing books was off the scale, but we were also wowed by their expression in art.

We're looking for schools and trusts to join our growing network of Cradle-to-Career Partners for an October 2025 start.

Head here for more information 👇

gamma.app/docs/250205-...

The Engagement Platform TEP exists to help schools improve pupil outcomes and build sustainable working cultures. We do this by enabling schools to easily interpret, compare and take action on robust staff engagement data.

Established by ImpactEd Group and convened by representatives from the @ascl-uk.bsky.social , @cstvoice.bsky.social , @thereachfoundation.bsky.social and Challenge Partners, includes representatives from 18 academy trusts and local authorities from across the country.

Joining the x100 — The Reach Foundation Do you aspire to lead a school within the next five years?  Do you want to lead a school in your community where all children thrive—especially those underserved by our current systems...

📣 We're delighted to announce that applications are now OPEN to join our 'x100' leadership development programmes for aspiring headteachers in:

🟣 the East of England,
🟢 the South West,
🔴 the West Country, and
🔵 Yorkshire.

www.reachfoundation.uk/insights/joi...

How schools could lead a transformation of childhood Published today, the South West Social Mobility Commission's report shows the power of heads as community leaders

Alternatively, start here, with Anne-Marie's op-ed in today's @schoolsweek.bsky.social

👇

schoolsweek.co.uk/how-to-deliv...

Headteachers becoming “community connectors” to address multiple challenges of disadvantage in local areas, study shows Headteachers are increasingly acting as “community connectors” - offering extra support services from their schools to address disadvantage in their localities, a new study shows. Food banks, parentin...

The message is clear: when schools embrace their civic role, the ripple effects reach far beyond the classroom.

👉 Read the full report and discover how the C2C Partnership is reimagining education here: news.exeter.ac.uk/uncategorize...

Key insights include:

✅ Eight foundational steps to build C2C models.
✅ Fifteen shared practices driving collective impact.
✅ Real-world outcomes, such as improved attendance, stronger relationships, and better opportunities for all.

From 'Chat and Choose' coffee mornings to multi-agency hubs, these schools prove that strengthening community capacity is a driver—not a byproduct—of school improvement.

How Chiltern Primary School is becoming a force of support and advocacy in Hull — Cradle-to-Career Partnership Thrive’s Chiltern Community Hub in Hull has redefined parental support with its innovative 'Chat and Choose' initiative. What began as a simple foodbank-coffee morning hybrid has evolved into a vibran...

and 4️⃣ Chiltern Primary School and the Thrive Co-operative Learning Trust in Hull

👉 www.cradletocareer.uk/results/hull

How Holyrood Academy is bridging gaps and building futures in Chard — Cradle-to-Career Partnership Holyrood Academy in Chard, Somerset, is demonstrating how schools can play a vital role in developing a joined-up, local response to improve children’s outcomes.

3️⃣ Holyrood Academy in Somerset

👉 www.cradletocareer.uk/results/chard

How King’s Oak Academy is rebuilding trust in South Gloucestershire — Cradle-to-Career Partnership On the outskirts of Bristol, King's Oak Academy has ambitions to be the school of choice—not convenience—within its local community. Read about the work they’re doing to restructure the school to embe...

2️⃣ King's Oak Academy in South Gloucestershire

👉 www.cradletocareer.uk/results/king...

How Cranbrook Education Campus is anchoring a new community in East Devon — Cradle-to-Career Partnership At the heart of the UK’s youngest town lies Cranbrook Education Campus, a pioneering all-through school that embodies the Cradle-to-Career (C2C) approach. Designed to serve a community in its infancy,...

1️⃣ Cranbrook Education Campus in East Devon

👉 www.cradletocareer.uk/results/cran...

This report, co-authored by Dr Anne-Marie Sim and Prof. Lee Elliot-Major, highlights the pivotal role schools and trusts play as community anchors, showcasing inspiring case studies from 4️⃣ of our partners...

Report: “Heart of the Community” — Cradle-to-Career Partnership The University of Exeter's report on The Reach Foundation's Cradle-to-Career Partnership emphasises the evolving role of schools as community anchors. The report, co-authored by Dr Anne-Marie Sim and ...

📣 New Report: Schools at the Heart of Their Communities

Today, we are thrilled to share the @exeter.ac.uk's landmark report on our Cradle-to-Career Partnership—a model transforming how schools drive change for underserved children, families, and communities.

www.cradletocareer.uk/results/hear...

We’re at a very exciting point at @thereachfoundation.bsky.social

Our journey began with a school in Feltham. The team there help secure brilliant outcomes for children.

But for ALL kids to flourish, a great school is necessary but not sufficient.

So we started to work deeper in our community.

Aaaand we're recruiting for the next cohort right now.

More information ➡️ east100.substack.com/p/what-is-e100

One term in the rock tumbler We asked our current crop of participants to reflect on their first 100 days on the SW100.

This week, we asked our current crop of SW100ers to reflect on their first 100 days on the programme—and here's what they said 👇

sw100.substack.com/p/one-term-i...

Few people asked me about the presentation I did for @thereachfoundation.bsky.social cradle to career leaders on teacher agency and codification. Thought I would do a thread 🧵to capture my thoughts:

Ganging up on the problem Rather than on each other...

'Ganging up on the issue, not on each other'

Why partnership development is critical in tackling inequality in and through the education sector

thatpovertyguy.substack.com/p/ganging-up...

#Partnership #Collaboration #TVEd #TeesValleyEducation #PLACE #WorkWithUs #GangUpWithUs #ChildPoverty

Joining the Yorks100 - cohort 3 👋 Hello, Are you interested in joining the Yorks100 school leadership development programme? If so, you're in the right place! Applications for cohort 3 are now open! They will close on 24th Februa...

Information sessions about how to apply for cohort 3 of our exciting leadership development programme for aspiring headteachers in Yorkshire start TODAY. Sign up here;
forms.gle/N4MUCFLUDfHr...

Alternatively, perhaps you know someone who'd make a great headteacher one day?

Today's a *great day* to let them know that you think so.

If you want to lead a school in one of these four regions within the next 5 or so years—a school where *every* child can thrive—we're thrilled you're reading this and really want to hear from you!

Please follow the link above to learn more about the programmes.

Joining the x100 — The Reach Foundation Do you aspire to lead a school within the next five years?  Do you want to lead a school in your community where all children thrive—especially those underserved by our current systems...

📣 We're delighted to announce that applications are now OPEN to join our 'x100' leadership development programmes for aspiring headteachers in:

🟣 the East of England,
🟢 the South West,
🔴 the West Country, and
🔵 Yorkshire.

www.reachfoundation.uk/insights/joi...