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Excell3 celebrates it's 10th anniversary | |
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Presentation awards to the original
participants of Black Boys Can
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In September 2009 Excell3, a national education charity celebrated their 10th Year
Anniversary! The charity has experienced an amazing journey from a small church
group running a six week summer programme with 20 Black boys back in 1999 to a national
charity representing the National Black Boys Can Association – the UK’s leading
organisation addressing the specific educational needs of Black boys;
and the WISE
Project, working to raise the aspirations and achievements of under-achieving children
regardless of race or gender, with a particular focus on white working class boys,
Bangladeshi and Pakistani girls and “looked after” children
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Dr Cheron Byfield, chairperson of the charity, attributes this success to the charity’s
Christian roots and its ability to be responsive to changing demands: “One of the
things I love about Excell3 is that it is a dynamic organisation based on sound
Christian ethics.Our board of Directors are constantly re-evaluating what we do and how we do it
in line with our mission.”
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Excell3 now has an established network of over 40 Community
Franchises and projects throughout the UK supporting our mission to raise the academic
aspirations and attainment of pupils from socially and economically disadvantaged
backgrounds. The charity works closely with Central Government departments and is
often consulted on policy issues and reviews such as the Department for Children
Schools and Families school exclusion policy review, culminating in the “Getting
it. Getting it Right” strategy paper. In addition we are a strategic partner for
the Department for Communities and Local Government and sit on the department’s
central group for the REACH project. |
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Excell3 is actively involved in the Centre
for Social Justice, playing a key role in the Education Failure policy group culminating
in the Break Through Britain Report and the Conservative Party’s Education Green
paper. We also sit on the Looked After Children and Young People, Guns and Gangs
policy groups. We work successfully in partnership with several Local Authorities
and with key national bodies, including the National Union of Teachers. We deliver
joint programmes with a number of Britain’s top universities including the University
of Oxford and the University of Birmingham and more recently we have become one
of Central Government’s approved academy sponsors. The great news is that it does
not stop here either! |
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In 2010
we plan to launch one of our most ambitious projects to date. World of Words is
an online education resource for Key Stage 2 English designed for boys aged 7-11.
World of Words is a response to recent findings highlighting that approximately
35,000 children leave primary school without the most basic reading skills. Nearly
two thirds of these are boys. |
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Excell3 have uniquely tailored the themes to reflect
youth culture and the interests of boys in particular. The aim is to turn this generation
of 7-11year old boys, as well as generations to come, into enthusiastic ‘readers’.
With animated stories, fact sheets, educational games and over 200 activities mapped
to the KS2 National Curriculum, this exciting new resource is designed to make a
real impact.
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