King’s Leadership Academy Hawthornes are delighted to be working in partnership with Right to Succeed, a place-based change charity that supports communities in areas of high deprivation to work collectively to give children and young people the best start in life. The charity brings together residents, professionals and decision-makers to co-design programmes that are tailored to the needs of the local community.
Their Cradle to Career programmes work at a local level to improve education, youth services, and family support, empowering communities to take ownership of local development. The Linacre Cradle to Career programme focuses on supporting young people at key life stages, particularly the transition between primary and secondary school. By working with education providers, the programme strengthens literacy, inclusion, and evidence-based teaching. It also supports families with guidance on child development and access to early help services while ensuring meaningful youth services through community collaboration.
King’s Hawthornes has been an essential partner in the Linacre Cradle to Career programme. From the initial discovery phase to mobilisation and now into delivery, the school has played a vital role in identifying workstreams based on feedback from the young people and families they serve.
The programme has been funded for three years, and as it progresses, King’s Hawthornes will continue to drive collaboration across Linacre schools. Since the official delivery phase began in September, 266 initial student assessments have been conducted, including NGRT and PASS evaluations, along with a detailed school analysis. These assessments form the baseline for measuring and reporting changes and impacts. The primary focus for the remainder of the project is to improve literacy and language levels among young people and support the review and development of inclusive practices. All programme decisions will be collectively determined by the network of participating schools across the Linacre area.
As part of the project, Right to Succeed recently launched a logo design competition, inviting primary and secondary students across the area to represent Linacre through art. King’s Hawthorne’s Assistant Principal Pete Kilroy, who has played a key role in delivering the Cradle to Career initiative, was delighted when Year 10 student Natasha Idusogie was announced as the competition winner. Pete asked Natasha about her inspiration behind her logo design, to which she explained: “I liked the idea of using the canal because it is right in the centre of Linacre and would therefore be recognisable to many people who pass by. I also liked how the trees could envelop the canal and the overall appearance of the logo and how it represents unity and community because it passes by a large amount of land, reaching as far as Leeds.”
Natasha was awarded a £50 prize voucher, and her fantastic design was then used by Right to Succeed’s in-house communications team to develop digital and print-ready logos. Natasha’s logo design will be used on all branded materials, merchandise and digital communications related to the Linacre, Sefton Project.
Right to Succeed summarised the valuable partnership with King’s Hawthornes by stating: “We’re excited to partner with King’s Hawthorne in supporting the young people of Linacre-Sefton through place-based change initiatives supported by data-driven solutions. The leadership team’s dedication has been outstanding, fostering collaboration across schools and community organisations with young people at the heart of it all. The school’s enthusiasm for the logo competition perfectly reflected this spirit—engaging pupils, supporting their creativity, and celebrating their success. We are very excited to see how the programme can support the King’s Hawthornes community and we can only see this working partnership grow from strength to strength.”