LIFT

LIFT (Learning for Life with Technology)

The ESC has donated a total of £97,000 to LIFT, an educational charity that works to increase levels of digital literacy  among school children and their families.

LIFT is an innovative charity whose mission is to transform the life chances of those who do not have an equal chance to learn and succeed, using technology as a motivational hook. It was formally launched in 1995 with a speech by Sir David Puttnam at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).  Dr Maggie Holgate recognised that her expertise in the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and education fields would enable her to address in a practical way the growing ‘digital divide’ that was starting at an early stage in schools. Maggie founded a group that would act as a catalyst for programme development and research, publishing their findings in order to have the widest influence, rather than aiming to build a large service provision capacity.

Many of the most disadvantaged youngsters are struggling to achieve in education and are unable to take advantage of the new digital learning opportunities. They are already failing in school as early as nine years of age and are seriously at risk of failing more profoundly in some way in the future.

LIFT’s DigiSmart project is a motivational, high impact scheme delivered through weekly after-school clubs for children aged 9-13. DigiSmart successfully equips youngsters with the ICT skills vital for educational success and future life prospects. The project also improves children's reading skills and greatly boosts their self-esteem and confidence.

Children undertake weekly club activities and work towards achieving their DigiSmart licence. A built-in assessment feature provides measurable indicators of children's progress and developing strengths, as well as highlighting areas needing extra support. The DigiSmart children find this feature highly motivating.

The children selected to participate in the DigiSmart clubs are significantly under-achieving. Many attend behaviour support units, are excluded or in danger of exclusion from school, are truanting or have very poor attendance records. The project results to date are remarkable, especially in view of the fact that, prior to DigiSmart, all participating youngsters were failing in education and seriously disengaged from learning.

21% of youngsters improved their performance in ICT by one NC (National Curriculum) level, 48% improved by two NC levels and 31% improved by three NC levels. Over 60% of youngsters improved their reading age by more than 12 months and 25% showed an extraordinary improvement of more than two years. Overall, reading test results show an average improvement in children’s reading ages of 1.4 years.

LIFT's objective is to create a transferable and replicable model in order to roll DigiSmart out more widely to reach many more children. The ESC has provided a two-year grant to support the further trialling and extension of DigiSmart.

“The ESC is a brilliant partner. Their support is helping us to upscale the charity's work both strategically and operationally, enabling us to achieve our goal of turning failure into success for many more disadvantaged and under-achieving children.” Dr. Maggie Holgate, Director, LIFT

The ESC has made a three-year commitment to donating £120,000 to Whizz Kidz, the largest charity in the UK supplying mobility equipment to children. click for more

The ESC has made a three-year commitment to donating £120,000 to Whizz Kidz, the largest charity in the UK supplying mobility equipment to children. click for more

On the Run! Join the ESCapees on the Asics Reading Half-Marathon on April 9th 2006 and raise funds for the ESC