New programmes worth £1.6 million will support young people and their families living on the North Yorkshire Coast with practical help to boost early learning at home and improve access to extra-curricular activities.

Parents who struggle to help their young children develop reading, writing and language skills will be supported by a £800,000 scheme that will offer support such as community workshops with early years experts.

The project will also fund the creation of 40 speech and language ‘champions’ to work with nurseries and preschools in the area, helping identify earlier when children might need better support and make sure they arrive at school ready to learn.

It will also provide support to more than 20 primary schools to improve pupils’ speech, language and communication skills. Support could include an onsite therapist in more severe cases – an expansion of the Scarborough Pledge, which tackles educational disadvantage.

Alongside this, a second scheme also worth £800,000 will launch in September to improve access to sports, arts and cultural activities for more than 3,500 young people aged five to 18 in Scarborough, Whitby and Filey.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:

It was great to visit Scarborough today and hear first hand how the Opportunity Area programme is having a positive effect on families’ lives and young people’s opportunities.

The Opportunity Area programme is about making sure we create the right conditions to broaden the horizons of young people from disadvantaged areas, and give them the best start in life.

The funding announced today will help to support parents on the North Yorkshire Coast with their child’s early language development and also help young people access extra-curricular activities that build the resilience and character they need to fulfill their ambitions, whatever they may be.

The Education Secretary launched the projects, all part of the government’s £72 million Opportunity Area programme – of which North Yorkshire Coast is one of 12 – during a visit to Coventry University Scarborough Campus where he met with members of the Partnership Board and young carers who will benefit from the investment.

Some of the area’s most deprived young people will have access to free extra-curricular activities from September through 18 new projects aimed at giving them the opportunity to develop lifelong skills in leadership and teamwork, character, resilience and confidence so they can become successful adults.

These include:

• An out-of-school Life Skills Club at Stephen Joseph Theatre for young people across nine schools to engage with the performing arts, with sessions in street dance, drumming, drama, film-making, and singing;
• Workshops with Krash Labs, using computer gaming and digital tools to boost children and young people’s social skills – particularly those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities; and
• Sports sessions through North Yorkshire Sport to teach young people about the values associated with those activities and deliver their own community social action challenge, such as a sports day or work with local schools.

The Opportunity Area Partnership board is also match-funding £50,000 of investment from the Two Ridings Community Foundation as part of the #iwill fund. This fund aims to increase volunteering among young people in the area by 50% by 2020, encouraging them to fundraise, give up their time or campaign for a chosen cause.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds or those with additional needs can face the greatest barriers in their early development, so it is important that where that help is needed it is in place as early as possible – such as through the government’s free childcare offer for two-year-olds from lower income families, which has been used by nearly 750,000 children.

The funding builds on the Education Secretary’s vision to halve the number of children finishing reception year without the early communication or reading skills they need by 2028, and on £20 million of investment already announced to improve early language and literacy for disadvantaged children around England.

Chair of the North Yorkshire Coast Opportunity Area Partnership Board, Sir Martin Narey, said:

I’m delighted the Secretary of State is visiting the North Yorkshire Coast Opportunity Area to see the efforts we are making to improve social mobility along the coast.

I know that improving social mobility has long been a priority for this Education Secretary, and I want him to see the encouraging progress we are making. Too many children along the coast do not fulfil their potential. The Opportunity Board, all volunteers and which I chair, is determined to address that.

Each of the Government’s 12 Opportunity Areas receive a share of £72 million for a tailored plan to improve social mobility for children and young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

North Yorkshire Coast’s plan, which covers the district of Scarborough, focuses on improving the quality of the early years’ education available, boosting maths teaching in primary and secondary schools, developing children’s literacy skills and creating more good secondary school places.

One of the most widely spoken languages in the world, English is the language of businesses and trade across the globe. At Anglolang College in Scarborough, a British Council accredited college, partnerships and collaboration with other European countries is helping to build a global Britain and creating vital links between the local community and international students.

During his visit, the Secretary of State met staff and students at the college to discuss how English language programmes – such as Erasmus+ – are contributing to the success of this country by giving opportunities to foreign students to train and study in the UK, learn our culture and contribute to our education system.

The Education Secretary also spoke to senior leaders at Anglolang about the government’s overall plan for leaving the EU, setting out how the White Paper proposal will ensure a deep and long future relationship with the EU, including on Erasmus+, while also taking back control of our laws, borders and money as voted for in the referendum.

Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds said:

English is a global language and today it was a pleasure to meet international students who have a love of our language which they will share through teaching it across the world. It is the language of business, of trade, and of course that will continue when we leave the EU in March.

We place enormous value on international exchange schemes and collaboration – like Erasmus+ – all of which is part of our vision for a global Britain. That’s why we have guaranteed funding for students and organisations participating in this programme to continue to the end of 2020.

A British Council accredited college, Anglolang has provided training for more than 1,000 teachers of English as a foreign language from the EU, through the Erasmus+ programme. Colleges like this are driving a global Britain by linking local communities and international students to benefit through the exchange of cultures and skills.

The Education Secretary met teachers from around the European Union who are training at Anglolang to teach a range of subjects in English to non-native speakers. Trainees stay anything from one week to a year at Anglolang, living on campus or with local host families, and use the stay as an opportunity to develop their English skills, network with other teachers, visit local schools and learn more about British culture.

An Anglolang Academy spokesperson said:

We have been successfully running EU funded teacher training programmes for over 14 years, most recently the Erasmus Plus KA1 programme. This enables our school to operate year-round in a highly seasonal marketplace, thus providing employment and income to staff and accommodation providers in Scarborough, not to mention the extra spending in the local economy and leisure venues.

Additionally, the resulting intercultural awareness and understanding has benefitted local people and Europeans alike and enabled us to cooperate and network together for our mutual benefit.

The Erasmus+ programme, which offers international exchanges for students, provides funding for education, youth, training and support projects up to 2020. The UK is a key country in the programme, with 35,000 higher education students and staff coming here under the Erasmus programme in 2016.

To ensure that the UK continues to benefit from this, the government has guaranteed that – subject to discussions with the EU commission – that funding will be available for UK institutions for projects which are agreed before 2020, so they can continue with any Erasmus+ programmes they are involved in where possible.

The UK-Southern African Economic Partnership Agreement is a key element of a package of measures to boost African growth outlined by the Prime Minister, who highlighted that Africa’s long-term success matters to the UK, so it is in the world’s interest to help secure African jobs and growth.

Trade Minister George Hollingbery, who is joining Theresa May for her Africa visit, met with his counterpart from Botswana, who represented the trade ministers from the five Southern African Customs Union countries (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini (Swaziland)) and Mozambique.

Today in Cape Town, Minister Hollingbery and Minister Kenewendo signed a joint statement confirming that our trade agreement will be ready to enter into force as soon as the EU deal no longer applies to the UK. This means that UK consumers will be able to continue to enjoy Southern African wine, tea and fruits, among other popular goods, helping to support Southern African producers and exporters.

Further, UK businesses will continue to be able export goods including cars, motor parts and pharmaceutical products into Southern African economies – the overall trading relationship between the UK and these countries is worth nearly £10 billion annually.

This is one part of a package of trade measures to bring the transformative power of private sector trade and investment from the UK to Africa, a continent that is home to 16% of the world’s people but just 3% foreign direct investment and 3% cent of global goods trade.

Other measures, which are all part of the UK’s new and distinctive offer to work alongside, invest in, and partner with African nations for our mutual benefit, include:

• The UK Government has made an extra £5.5 billion in support from UK Export Finance available to 8 markets across Africa, supporting UK-Africa trade. This includes Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia.

• This announcement follows substantial increases to UK Export Finance’s appetite for 10 African markets over the last 18 months, as well as the introduction of support in 16 African countries.

• A new Prosperity Fund programme of up to £8 million will support implementation of the new UK-Southern African Economic Partnership Agreement. The funding will increase trade with and within Southern Africa by helping to remove barriers to trade, and in doing so expand import and export opportunities for UK and African businesses.

Trade Minister George Hollingbery said:

This week’s visit with the Prime Minister has highlighted the importance of the UK increasing trade with our partners in Southern Africa, through transitioning existing trade arrangements, supporting exporters and reducing barriers to trade.

Our trade relationship with the region is already worth £10 billion, and trade is a key driver of economic growth for both Southern Africa and the UK and will support UK producers and value chains, as well opening up new markets for UK exporters.

Today’s announcement is the most advanced statement of progress to date with around 40 existing EU trade agreements that the UK is transitioning, and an important step in positioning the UK as a global champion of free trade and development.

Strengthening our partnerships with Southern African nations demonstrates that the UK is committed to deepening our relationships across the world as part of our Global Britain vision.

About UK Export Finance:

• UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, provides export finance support, to ensure no viable export fails due to lack of finance or insurance from the private sector.
• This support can take the form of loans, guarantees and insurance to help UK exporters win, fulfill and get paid for exports, and offer their overseas buyers attractive financing terms alongside high-quality goods and services.