The Boxing Academy

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by The Boxing Academy's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from The Boxing Academy is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.theboxingacademy.co.uk

1THE BOXING ACADEMY |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE

Headteacher Anna Cain

Role models as a source of

inspiration

The Boxing Academy offers opportunities for learning and

development to the most hard-to-reach young people,

realised through the discipline and ethos of boxing. It

started life as a community project in a boxing gym and opened

its doors to 12 pupils in the first year. The academy converted

into an alternative provision free school in 2017 and is the only

government-funded boxing-based school in Britain. Anna Cain

was appointed headteacher in 2009 and developed its unique

and innovative approach to working with the most challenging

and vulnerable children in the education system. The school has

a reputation for achieving extraordinary outcomes for a cohort

that many have written off – something Anna expands upon.

The Boxing Academy caters for pupils who are at risk of exclusion, or who have

already been excluded, from mainstream education. For many of our pupils,

education has felt like nothing more than an elaborate punishment since they

started in reception. Prior to us, they have not settled into an incremental process

of learning, nor have they become acquainted with the value of a “proper” job,

so they struggle to negotiate the school journey. Primary school with its nurturing

structure can be moderately successful, but the transition to secondary is often the

trigger for a cycle of disengagement, exclusion and low self-esteem.

The evidence around the importance of education during early teenage years is

compelling. Statistics published by the Youth Justice Board show that over 85 per

cent of the 15 to 18-year-olds currently held in prisons had been excluded from

school, and around 40 per cent had last been at school when they wereunder14.

REPORT CARD

THE BOXING ACADEMY

»Headteacher: Anna Cain

»Founded in 2007

»Based in Hackney, East London

»Type of school: Alternative

provision free school

»No. of pupils: 40

»No. of staff: 17

»100 per cent of leavers

have gone on to further

education, apprenticeships or

employment since 2014

»TES AP School of the Year

2017

»www.theboxingacademy.co.uk

The Boxing Academy

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

2| THE BOXING ACADEMY

These pupils are vulnerable to

exploitation, and being excluded is

a lengthy process that leaves them

sitting at home waiting for a referral,

which makes them a perfect candidate

for gangs to groom as carriers.

Most of them have attachment or

trauma-related issues from early

childhood and can present as

aggressive, violent and antisocial in

order to mask their vulnerability. In the

early years of the Boxing Academy,

I was advised to offer shorter – that

is, more lucrative – placements for

schools who wanted respite, but we

do not believe this is in our pupils’ best

interests. There is no quick fix; they

require a longer-term commitment than

most alternative programmes allow.

Helping those who most need

our help

A typical Boxing Academy journey is

two years long, throughout Key Stage

4, at which point they reintegrate

back into mainstream education by

progression to an apprenticeship or

college. Some pupils have even been

accepted back into the sixth form at

the school that referred them to us.

The Boxing Academy has a capacity of

40 pupils, of which currently five are

girls, and all of them are registered as

SEN Support. There are eight pupils

on an EHC Plan and three are LAC.

Of our current cohort, 20 per cent

attended more than two secondary

schools during KS3, and 58 per cent

have been rejected from two or more

alternative provision placements before

coming to the Boxing Academy. Most

of them have an episode of violence

or aggression on their school record

that makes it easy for placements to be

refused in other APs.

Nevertheless, our outcomes are

exceptional in the sector: pupils make

significantly more than mainstream

expectations of progress from their

baseline starting point, and all of

our leavers gain a place in further

education or an apprenticeship. During

most weeks at the Boxing Academy,

a former pupil will drop in to do

some boxing, seek advice or give us

an update. They’re all still part of

thefamily.

Why boxing?

Our ethos reflects our origins as a

boxing gym: a small, comfortable

and familial environment with clear

boundaries, a system of rewards and

an emphasis on discipline, achievement

and hard work. The school’s success is

built on relationships, and the boxers

we employ as pastoral staff are key,

because young people instinctively look

up to and respect them as strong role

models. Within the boxing gym, they

present a positive image of respect

for others, discipline, responsibility,

a work ethic and good manners.

Having a consistent adult role model

in a child’s life allows for genuine

breakthroughs in behaviour, conflict

resolution and anger management,

as well as academic improvement and

raisedaspirations.

We’re registered as a boxing club

with England Boxing, so the training

is of the highest quality. Interestingly,

though, most pupils referred to us

don’t usually have any interest in

Raising aspirations and

improving mindsets

through boxing

All of our

leavers gain a

place in

further

education or

apprenticeship

“

3THE BOXING ACADEMY |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE

boxing. However, once they’ve settled

in, they agree that boxing gets them

fit, teaches them anger management

and discipline, and improves their

confidence and concentration. The

boxers support them both in the gym

and during academic classes, which

provides consistency throughout the

day. Our staff are locally recruited,

trained and emotionally intelligent.

They get involved in their pupils’ lives,

even collecting them from home if they

need support with their attendance.

The result is a strong relationship that

provides a foundation from which the

pupils can rebuild their self-esteem and

start a positive cycle of achievement.

Expanding horizons

We believe our duty to provide a

good education involves much more

than classroom teaching and exams.

It involves debunking myths such

as “prison is calm” and countering

their ingrained belief that nothing

positive will ever happen to them,

so they might as well not try. To

be independent and successful in

adulthood, they need to experience

a flavour of the world outside

their filters, a world that they find

uncomfortable at first.

City firms are kind enough to host us

for days of employability workshops

and lunch in the boardroom so that

they can experience the challenges

and opportunities for skill-building

that are essential to grow strong. Our

pupils also visit museums, work on

art projects in universities and host

visitors at the Academy. For pupils

who were routinely hidden from view

in the mainstream, it is empowering

to be presenting to guests, parents

and local dignitaries. We take them

out of their comfort zone, but with

all the wraparound support, love and

encouragement that our noisy family

of a school provides.

This is why, in January 2019, we took

a party of pupils and staff skiing in the

French Alps (funded in full by a kind

donor). To avoid educational and social

isolation, children need to work through

their fears and conquer their doubts.

If you help disadvantaged children see

the world and form an understanding

of how other people live (here and

abroad), then you build resilience, which

raises aspirations, improves confidence

and expands opportunities. As the

saying goes: “Prepare the child for the

road, not the road for the child.”

We’re

registered as a

boxing club

with England

Boxing, so the

training is of

the highest

quality

“

Engagement as a key to

learning

Broadening experiences

www.theboxingacademy.co.uk

This article was sponsored by The Boxing Academy. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from The Rt Hon Professor The Lord Blunkett.

The Rt Hon Professor The Lord Blunkett's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Professor The Lord Blunkett

A new Prime Minister, a new Education Secretary and, as we're all painfully aware, a deeply uncertain future. It is in this context that the education service continues to deliver for individuals, communities and of course for our nation.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the education service as a whole, schools, post 16/Further Education, and yes, lifelong learning, needs the most enormous injection of cash. Independent analysis shows that there has been at least an 8% average reduction in the amount of spend per pupil in our schools. Those damaged most by this have been pupils with special educational needs, whose voices are sadly rarely heard. The necessity of urgent action was underlined in July by the report of the all-party House of Commons Select Committee on Education. They could not have been clearer about the need for substantial funding and a long-term 10-year commitment.

At the same time, there are a number of reviews taking place. One of them, in relation to post-16 qualifications, is in danger of a classic mistake by politicians and officials who have little or no understanding of the complex territory they're dealing with. Namely, the ridiculous proposition that BTEC National Diplomas might be set aside because 'T Levels are the gold standard'!

I'm in favour of T Levels, but in the right context and for the right outcome. They are intended to be extremely focused specialist qualifications in defined areas of employment. When and if they eventually take off – there is predicted to be just a thousand students in 2021-22 taking up the qualification – they will not replace the BTEC, which has been the workhorse providing a general and high-quality education for decades. The BTEC has equipped young people for a variety of opportunities in a very changing employment market where the development of artificial intelligence, robotics, and changed working practices makes confining the choice of vocational pathways to one narrow focus, frankly ridiculous.

Meanwhile, her Majesty's Opposition continue to throw out titbits which do not give, as yet, a very clear idea of what, if elected, Labour would do in office. What is needed is positive proposals. Abolishing this, that or the other – assessments/tests for those leaving primary school, for instance – is not the same thing as a very forward-looking agenda for radical improvement in standards and equity between those who can and cannot afford additional help for their children.

There are a handful of Labour Party members, supported by some people who ought to know better, who have decided that a full-frontal assault on private education would be a good idea. For those worried about this, stop worrying. A party that put this in its manifesto wouldn't get elected, and if by some fluke it did, it would be challenged in the courts to the point where all the contradictions would be exposed for everyone to see.

Just contemplate one simple fact. 20% of secondary schoolchildren in the borough of Hackney attend private schools! Yes, Hackney. This is because a large number of parents, some of whom scrape the money together, are sending their children to private education in London which happens to be the area of England with the best academic outcomes from state education. What's more, very large numbers (again, particularly in London) pay for private tutors. At the last estimate 40% of parents in London had at some point over the last year paid for a tutor for their child!

Perhaps therefore an opposition party, hoping to provide unity rather than division, opportunity for all rather than a futile class battle against educational privilege, would seek ways of ensuring that those who can't afford tutors have the kind of support outside school that would put them on equal terms.

One thing is very certain, no government would be able to stop parents buying additional tutoring for their children.

So, a practical agenda for equalising opportunity, for investing where it's needed most, for transforming the pipeline from school through college, apprenticeships, or university, is a goal worth fighting for. A positive way of linking business and education through political decision-making, with the delivery by excellent professionals in the education service, to the children of today and the economy of tomorrow. Surely that is a much more progressive and less negative way forward for both government and opposition.

The Rt Hon Professor The Lord Blunkett
Co-Chairman