Nesta: Solving Together Fund

Overview

Through this fund Nesta want to find some of the most effective digital technology interventions for improving parental engagement in their child's maths education, and which of these interventions can have a positive impact on maths outcomes for young people.

Nesta believe that digital technology can offer cost effective and scalable approaches. This fund is part of Maths Mission a partnership set up by Tata and Nesta in 2017 aiming to find innovative ways to increase young people’s interest in maths, and improve their maths and collaborative problem-solving skills.

Objectives

This £40,000 fund (two grants of £20,000) will support two high-potential, early-stage interventions which use digital technology and aim to improve parental engagement in maths and maths outcomes for secondary students (11-16). Please find further details in the selection criteria. The financial support will last for a period of 6 months and grantees will have access to non-financial support provided by Nesta and Tata.

This fund supports grantees with existing early-stage interventions that have shown potential for significant impact on parental engagement in maths and maths outcomes. Nesta are open to supporting organisations that are in the early-stages of developing their intervention e.g they have tested it in one school/location and have received some initial positive results and would like to test it further. Nesta are also open to supporting organisations who have tested their intervention in more schools but would like to test it further or pilot the intervention in a new context e.g they have implemented it in primary schools and would now like to test it in a secondary school setting. The Solving Together grants will support grantees with their:

• Implementation - testing their projects in more locations or a new context in order to further improve and refine them and reach more schools, parents and students
• Evidence - supporting organisations to gather further insights into the effectiveness of their intervention, that can be used to improve the intervention

Who can apply?

The fund will target a range of organisations including social enterprises, charities and private enterprises. Interventions can be delivered within the school curriculum, in non-curriculum time or outside of/separate from school. The projects should be delivered in the UK.

Eligibility

The aims of this fund are to:

• Identify high-potential digital technology interventions that can improve parental engagement in maths and maths outcomes for young people
• Support organisations to further grow their work and gather new insights into the effectiveness of their intervention

This fund supports grantees with existing early-stage interventions that have shown potential for significant impact on parental engagement in maths and maths outcomes for young people.The Solving Together grants will support grantees with their:

• Implementation - testing their projects in more locations or a new context in order to further improve and refine them and reach more schools, parents and students
• Evidence - supporting organisations to gather further insights into the effectiveness of their intervention, that can be used to improve the programme

Nesta are looking for interventions that:

• Aim to improve parental engagement in maths and maths outcomes in young people aged 11 - 16. They will consider applications from organisations working on parental engagement across different subjects, but the application must be for work focused on maths.
• Use digital technology as one of the primary means of delivery. Nesta are particularly interested in interventions that promote meaningful parental engagement, beyond sharing information with parents, and which are accessible to all parents.
• Have already been tested at least once in one school or location and will be seeking to test the implementation of their intervention further, potentially in a different school context
• Have developed an intervention that is used within the school/college curriculum, in non-curriculum time or outside of/separate from school/college
• Deliver in any part of the UK, but we are particularly interested to hear from applicants working in communities with lower educational outcomes (category 5 and 6 areas as defined by the Department for Education)
• Are committed to using evidence, understanding and improving their impact and can evidence that they are at least at Level 1 on the Nesta Standards of Evidence
• Can commit to involvement in non-financial support that Nesta and/or Tata will provide. More detail will be available to shortlisted applicants
• Can demonstrate how this funding would support further testing and implementation
• Can explain sound ideas for how the project could be sustainably grown in the future, and how the intervention can be replicated across schools/locations
• Nesta are ideally looking for organisations who work collaboratively with schools and parents to ensure their intervention is implemented effectively e.g they provide training to teachers and parents on the intervention works
• Have a lead already in place, who is supported by a competent management team or board, who are open to challenge and support
• Are being implemented by organisations e.g a social enterprise, charity or company. They cannot support individuals.
• Advance Nesta’s charitable objects for public benefit. Applicants must make the public benefit of their work clear in their application form.

Selection Criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

1. Your idea: the intervention aims to improve parental engagement in maths and maths outcomes for young people aged 11-16. Applicants can demonstrate a clear and compelling case for why and how they will do this. There is a clear link between the proposed activities/intervention and the outcomes of improved parental engagement in maths and maths outcomes for young people. Digital technology is used as one of the primary means of delivery in the intervention.
2. Evidence and impact: the application demonstrates that the intervention meets at least level 1 on Nesta’s Standards of Evidence. Applicants are able to provide convincing evidence in the form of their own data/insights into the wider evidence base for why the intervention has potential for impact. The application demonstrates a clear and convincing commitment to gathering insights into the effectiveness of the intervention, including some ideas of the measures that could be used to monitor and measure outcomes.
3. Potential for growth: Applicants have piloted their intervention in at least one school or location and can provide clear and convincing evidence of the potential for impact.

The intervention has a convincing plan for how the funding would be used, and it is clearly part of a longer term plan for development of the intervention. The demand for the intervention is clearly articulated and evidenced. The application demonstrates that there is a suitably experienced and capable team that can deliver on the plans, and potentially take the intervention to scale.