Deloitte Jersey is embarking on an exciting new partnership over the next three years with local charity Every Child Our Future (ECOF).
This is the latest community partnership formed as part of Deloitte’s One Million Futures initiative.
Siobhan Durcan, Partner at Deloitte, explains: “One Million Futures is our national community impact programme, the purpose of which is to make an impact that matters while supporting our global commitment to help 50 million futures prepare for a world of opportunity.
“It has an overall aim of helping one million people get to where they want to be through access to education and employment.”
The professional services firm has recently concluded its previous One Million Futures partnership with Mind Jersey.
The aim of Every Child Our Future is to enable 95% of children in Jersey to reach their age-related standards in literacy and numeracy by the end of primary school through providing early intervention in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
In partnership with the Government of Jersey’s Department of Education, the charity delivers the expert provision of trained practitioners in Reading Recovery at States primary schools. ECOF also recruits, vets and trains up volunteers to regularly read with those children who are behind their age-related level. The charity’s work in the island already involves 500 volunteers helping 850 children a week across 19 schools.
Deloitte’s initial involvement with the charity in Jersey will be in a pilot numeracy project in Springfield School this term. A number of employees from Deloitte will volunteer for an hour a week in term time, supporting children in a local school.
Sarah Sandiford, the Deloitte Associate Director who has been responsible for kick-starting the project, says: “We are excited to launch our new One Million Futures partnership with this pilot numeracy project. The initial 20-week scheme will see Deloitte sending in five volunteers a week to work with children in Reception and Year 1.”
“We are delighted to be entering into this partnership with Deloitte at a very exciting time in Every Child Our Future’s growth,” says Gillian Arthur, Director at Every Child Our Future.
“With a well-established literacy programme, the numeracy pilot at Springfield School allows us to help those children struggling to develop basic numeracy skills. We feel confident it will make a big difference to children’s ability to use and enjoy numbers and that we will be able to extend this support across the island.”
