Grants of up to £25k available for teachers with innovative ideas in national competition 

Teachers with fresh ideas to raise the attainment of children and young people in the North are being invited to apply for grants of up to £25,000. 

Applications for Let Teachers SHINE, a funding competition for teachers run by the education charity SHINE, have just opened for 2024. 

Over the past decade, Let Teachers SHINE has awarded grants to teachers amounting to more than £4 million. In that time, the competition has supported some hugely successful projects, such as Bruno Reddy’s Times Tables Rock Stars and Colin Hegarty’s Hegarty Maths. 

More recent winners include Lucy Huelin, from York, who received her first Let Teachers SHINE grant in 2021, which allowed her to create Vocabulous, an innovative teaching resource for improving literacy skills. Vocabulous was launched this year, following a pilot, and is now used in dozens of schools across the country. 

Winning ideas this year included an app for A-level maths students, a GSCE revision podcast, a teaching method designed to improve students’ concentration, a project that uses rap lyrics and music production to increase literacy, and an online chemistry revision resource. 

The 2024 winners of Let Teachers SHINE will receive funding of up to £25,000 over two years, plus dedicated support from SHINE. 

To be eligible, you must be a practising teacher in England. SHINE is specifically looking for teachers with innovative ideas for projects with the potential to improve outcomes for children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds in the North of England.  

Teachers do not have to be based in the North, but they need to be able to demonstrate how their project can be introduced in the region. 

SHINE is particularly interested in projects aimed at boosting attainment in the core subjects. 

Helen Rafferty, SHINE’s interim CEO, said: “At SHINE, we firmly believe that the best ideas to narrow the attainment gap are found in the classroom. Teachers know better than anyone how to unleash the potential of their students. 

“Through Let Teachers SHINE, we have enabled dozens of innovative teachers to take their project ideas to the next level. 

“Some of the biggest names in education started with a Let Teachers SHINE grant, and many of the smaller-scale ideas have made a huge impact as well. 

“We can’t wait to hear from this year’s applicants and to discuss their ideas with them. If you have an exciting new idea to improve attainment, I would urge you to apply to Let Teachers SHINE. Your idea could be the spark that ignites positive change in education and makes a lasting impact.” 

Applications to Let Teachers SHINE are open until 15 January, 2024. The online application form can be found here. 

Anyone interested in applying is invited to one of two information sessions, held on Zoom in November. To book your place, see www.tfaforms.com/5091271.