Greenhouse Sports Programmes
This project's parent organization is Greenhouse Charity
It operates in United Kingdom
It uses Multiple sports
Entered the Best New Project
More about Greenhouse Sports Programmes
Greenhouse seeks to break the strong correlation between low parental income and poor academic achievement by ensuring young people in disadvantaged London communities are engaged with their education. The problem is highlighted by the achievement of young people who receive Free School Meals (FSM – an indicator of pupil poverty). Those receiving FSM are less than half as likely to score 5A*-C at GCSE (including Maths and English) than those who do not. As a result, many have their horizons limited from an early age. Greenhouse uses sport as a tool to engage and develop young people, giving them the skills and ethos to succeed inthe classroom.
Greenhouse does this by placing full-time sports coaches into schools where there are a high proportion of pupils eligible for FSM (over 30%). The coach acts as a mentor and role model, with an aim of improving participants’ engagement with their education and community, whilst improving their health and wellbeing. Pupils who are least engaged with their education are targeted by the coach in partnership with the school, and their continued participation on the programme is dependent on meeting high expectations of behaviour, effort and attendance, both on the programme and in school.